Monthly Archives: April 2021

Race report

Race report Sunday series 1.4 & 1.5

Wind direction: West
Wind speed: 12-14 Mile p/h
Handicap race, course E, D, K to starboard, A to port.

David Mark and Jamie got a flying start while Tony was caught out on Port tack and had to avoid the fleet. Helen chased across the line having had to rush up the loch from a rescue mission near “Z” and was soon in 3rd place. Tony capsized on the 3rd Lap and Dave ended up briefly encountered on the spit leaving the Radials to romp home in the first four positions with Jamie, Becci, Helen then Mark showing how it’s done.

  1. Jamie
  2. Becci
  3. Helen

Second race, same course but windspeed reduced to 4-7 Miles

The wind was still lively as we started Race 1.5, but by the time the fleet had reached “E” for the first time the wind was dropping. The second lap was dire, with the wind falling to nothing as it edged to the South. Much determination was needed to finish, especially Lyall in his Topper who managed to scrape in just under the hour in 59:45 (for 8th place)

  1. Tony W
  2. Conor
  3. Mark K
Race report

Tuesday series 1.2 *

The excitement was tangible, we were finally getting back on the water to race. And what a turnout for 1.2 Tuesday points, Helen in a club Laser radial, Becci in her newly acquired laser (immaculately kept and with an incredible reputation from TC) with a radial sail and Conor with his new Laser from ”down south” and a brand new radial sail and rigging… that’s all going to be some competition this season! Joining the fun Erwin concluded that the boom acquired whilst his was repaired did not pass muster forwent his Solo and joined Bill in his Wanderer for their first time together. Nick Whyte’s Solo had appeared during the week after a  full years absence suggesting his potential presence which was not to be a disappointment and Tony W joined him in another Solo.

An interesting undulating breeze that had turned quite cold but from ESE, an unusual direction welcomed the fleet and to keep the numbers up  a pursuit race ensued with the Wanderer starting on time, Laser Radials 1min 56sec later and the Solos 2min 9 seconds after the Wanderer. Because of the wind direction and the lack of buoys in the right places (where has G gone what’s A mark doing marking the gap?) the course was set as h port, k starboard, L starboard, and f port… and a lot of puzzled faces, but we thought we’d all got it sorted out.. not completely though!

Bill and Erwin got off to grand start demonstrating the best point on the line.. we all thought, then Helen started further South, found the wind and was off apparently very quickly catching up on Bill and taking a march on Becci who started further down the line. Nick very quickly made up the Solos handicap time whilst Tony made the wrong choice going lower than Becci. Where was Conor… well when you have all that new rigging you’ve got to enjoy putting it all together…. but it can mean you miss the start of the race… he enjoyed the sailing when all assembled!

Helen and Nick lead the race 1 and 2 until Nick decided to take L to port and had to revisit it to give everyone else a chance. At that point Bill was Third and Tony and Becci were having a chat at the back! In total only one lap was completed in the 40 minutes, Helen , with a significant lead running to F lost the wind completely and allowed the rest of the fleet to catch up significantly and was overtaken by Tony and Nick on the last leg. Giving a result of:

1 Tony
2 Nick
3 Helen
4 Becci
5 Bill and Erwin

But enjoyed by all
(* the first Tuesday series was not raced due to stormy conditions)

MarkSetBot Introduces Hit-Mark Penalty System

(from Scuttlebutt Sailing News)
“Hey!  You hit the mark!  Do your turns!” 
“No way, man!  I didn’t hit the mark!” There’s always that one guy on the course who definitely hit the mark, but never wants to take the penalty.  With MarkSetBot SplatterBeta, it’s not a problem anymore! The MarkSetBot team is thrilled to announce its latest race course innovation: a hit-mark penalty system, MarkSetBot Splatter.  Now, you can equip your MarkSetBot buoys with dye pack technology and stop the “did we hit the mark” question for good. Through a sophisticated network of low-latency sensors, MarkSetBot’s hit-mark technology accurately recognizes contact – from a slight brush of the mark to a head-on collision – and with a boom, deploys the dye pack.  Forty-seven ultrasonic nozzles receive sensor inputs 400 times per second and stand ready to punish no matter the location of impact.  Notably, they adjust dynamically to direct the splatter at only the offending boat.  A 360-degree camera add-on records the moment of impact and instantly uploads it to the MarkSetBot.com Wall of Shame. MarkSetBot’s proprietary, non-toxic, biodegradable dye easily washes off fiberglass and sailcloth with a simple water rinse, but it bonds with skin for days.  So, sailors take note.  Let’s see some clean roundings or find your way to a Blue Man Group audition. “When I first pitched MarkSetBot Splatter to the team, our CEO said ‘I love it, but won’t people be upset when we ruin their sails with dye?’  He had a good point.  So I watched a lot of Bill Nye videos, learned the finer points of chemistry and developed our washable dye.  I managed to make it washable on all surfaces except skin,” snickered Jim Thompson, chief engineer of MarkSetBot Splatter. – Full report