VANE M MYA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 NOTICE OF RACE

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The 2017 Championship is scheduled to be held at Fleetwood Model Yacht Lake, Laidleys Walk, Fleetwood, FY7 7JL, in conjunction with the “Commodore’s Cup” Vane “M” weekend,on Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th October 2017. This is in line with a request made by certain skippers last year, to return the event to the last weekend of October, to be once again consistent with half term holidays for schools.

Entries will be accepted up to 8-00 pm Saturday 14th October 2017. The race entry fee will be £15-00 per yacht. The Race Officer’s Briefing will be at 09-45 am on the Saturday followed by commencement of racing at 10-00 am. Skippers’ MYA status will be checked on the MYA Web Site, but they will be required to show their yacht Measurement Certificates and, if applicable, their Personal Sail Number Certificates.

Racing will be governed by rules as defined in:

  • MYA Regulations for the organisation of National Championships
  • MYA Regulations for race entry and competitors’ conduct at National Championships
  • MYA Free Sailing Yacht Racing Rules
  • MYA Free Sailing Class Rules Supplement
  • (These can be downloaded from the MYA Knowledge Base)

In addition to the “Marine Models International M Class National Championship Trophy” for the overall winner, the”Model Maker Trophy” will be awarded to the highest placed skipper who has not previously won a vane National Championship. Teams of Two Yachts (TOTs) will be drawn at random before the start of the competition and there will be a prize for both skippers in the top team. Fleetwood Club trophies will also be awarded. The Northern District Championship Cup will be awarded to the highest scoring skipper on the Saturday and the Clapham Cup to the highest scorer on the Sunday.

The Commodore’s Cup will also be awarded to the overall winner for the two days of racing. This year there will be an additional trophy awarded to the highest placed “Classic or Vintage” Vane Marblehead; i.e. a yacht designed prior to 1980. This has been introduced by request of some members of the “Vintage Model Yacht Group”. It is hoped the extra trophy will encourage more entries into the overall fleet, as in the last few years we have struggled to achieve the minimum requirement of 7 entries from at least 3 different clubs.

There is no charge for car parking at the lakeside car park or on the promenade, but please note that overnight stays in the car park are banned by the Wyre Council. All on-road parking in Fleetwood is free, but there are time restrictions in parts of the town centre. Competitors’ yachts and equipment can be stored in the Clubhouse overnight, at owners’ risk. Tea and coffee will be available in the Clubhouse before and during racing. There is a café close to the West end of the lake and a kiosk selling snacks situated close to the Clubhouse.

There is a toilet cubicle in the Clubhouse and public pay toilets (20p charge) are located at the cemetery on Beach Road, close to the West end of the lake.

There are plenty of restaurants in Fleetwood and some of the hotels and pubs serve food at lunchtime and evenings. It is hoped that competitors and their guests will wish to socialise after Saturday’s racing, at one of these establishments. A list of accommodation and places of interest in the close vicinity is attached.

If you wish to enter please print off a copy of the attached entry form and return to myself with the entry fee, by the above closing date. Please make cheques payable to Fleetwood Model Yacht & Power Boat Club. Anyone wishing to sail as a “mate” or join the team of race officials, for all or just part of the event, will be most welcome. A recent reinterpretation of MYA ruling has now decreed that only skippers need to be affiliated members of the MYA and mates affiliation is optional.

Entry Form

Last year we had to cancel the event due to weed growth in the lake. This year, however, we have been weed-free in the lake so far, probably due to the environmentally safe dye supplied by Wyre Council added to the lake after water top-ups.

If you care about keeping this competition in the MYA’s annual Sailing Programme, please give it your support; as in the last few years it has become an “endangered species”.

Yours sincerely,

Peter L. Whiteside

FMY&PBC

Dragon Warmup Weekender – results

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Saturday – Dragonforce 65 Open

11 skippers turned out for the DF65’s to be greeted by a dubious wind coming over the sand dunes.

Despite the efforts of club members (notably Eddie Greenwood and Bob Jolly and their incredible jellyfish trawl net) we did suffer from a bad case of the jellies. I suppose it the same for everyone but annoying none the less.


Well done to John Plant for winning the day (with v2 boat and original sails)

Sunday – Dragonflite 95 Open

Firstly, a special mention to those who made the smooth completion of sixteen highly competitive races possible: Tim Lanigan for his excellent course setting in a shifting A rig breeze which varied from NNW right through to WNW. Peter Jackson for calculating the hand written results which enabled various competitors, (especially Brian Holland from Abersoch), getting on the road home in good time.

The breeze and the sunshine provided ‘Champagne Sailing’ the problem being that Champagne is normally accompanied with oysters and not the Genus Aurelia ie the Moon Jellyfish! This, of course, had its influence on more than one occasion, although the final positions still proved that the cream rises to the top.

Congratulations to John Sharman on a well deserved victory and it was really good to see Eric and Russell back amongst us after their recent sabbaticals.

I hope to see you on the water on the 14/15th of October at the Dragon TT Weekend at Weecher’s Reservoir, Keighley and Saturday the 21st at Fleetwood for the first of our Autumn Series.

Garry Benson / DF95 Club Captain

DF Squadron 2017 Saturday Series 6

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Saturday 9th September

A very poor turnout saw the DF95 event at 12 noon being cancelled. Final positions will be posted later.

Four skippers for the DF65 meeting donned B rigs in a strong NNW wind and managed the usual eight races without any disasters. This was the sixth and last meeting in this series, the results and final league table are below. Congratulations to Chris Chatfield, winner of the series and Eddie Greenwood, runner up in what was a closely fought contest..

   

KC DF65 Fleet Captain

DF Squadron Club Racing Series 3 No.7

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DF95 Series 3 Event 7

Tuesday 5th September

The final Tuesday evening DF95 racing in a brisk B Rig Westerly was hotly contested by nine skippers and a culmination of circumstances including Chris C’s failing rudder servo, and myself having a detached winch main sheet resulted in one of the closest event results of the year.
Congratulations to John Sharman’s well-deserved event win and to Chris Chatfield and Derek P for the Series Overall first and second respectfully!
This series was contested by seventeen of the Fleetwood DF95 Squadron and big thanks to those who travel a considerable distance and also to DP, CC and to Peter Jackson for their invaluable help to make this racing so enjoyable.
This Saturday we have 95 racing at 12 noon followed by our Fleetwood Dragon Open (Saturday the 16th DF65s and on Sunday 17th September the 95s) .
Don’t forget the Dragon Travellers TT at Weecher Reservoir, Keighley on the 14/15th October.

See you on the water.
Garry Benson
DF95 Club Captain

  

DF65 Wed. 6th Sept

A blustery westerly wind and choppy waters pointed to use of C rigs but nine hardy skippers opted for the Bs. As most of our buoys had been blown out of position a starting line the full width of the lake was easier to manage in the conditions and a shortish course of what is best described as a sausage followed by a short reach and then a short beat to finish at the start line allowed Peter to take shelter from the wind in his car. Was Paul too cocky that he was in an unassailable position overall? Or was his B rig playing up. Whatever, John took adavantage to score another event win.

Many thanks to Peter for scoring and generally organising things in my absence for the series.

 

So the final league table shows Paul and John tied on 390 points. How to resolve that? Count back? John has only four events so no count backs. Does that make Paul the winner? Or do we say John got 390 from only four events so he wins? Or, if we look at race wins in each of their four best events we get: Paul 11; John 14. So, with my captain’s hat on I have decided that the latter two viewpoints prevail and John is the winner with Paul runner-up.

KC DF65 Fleet Captain

Fleetwood Dragon Warmup Weekender

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You are cordially invited to the Fleetwood Dragon WW which is not a TT event.

Here’s the craic:

Saturday 16th of September – DF65

  • 09:45 Briefing
  • 10:00 Warning Signal for first race
  • No race to start later than 16:00
  • Decant for a debrief in the Mount on Saturday evening

Sunday 17th of September – DF95

  • 09:45 Briefing
  • 10:00 Warning Signal for first race
  • No race to start later than 15:30

How to enter & further information:

  • Entry costs £4 a day or £6 for both, pay on the day
  • We need your name & which days & sail number please:
  • Use the contact form to enter

Entry List:

Saturday DF65’s

  • Tim Lanigan 502 Fleetwood
  • Chris Chatfield 183 Fleetwood
  • Snackers McSnacker Shorts 99 from that Abersoch
  • Brian Holland 795 Abersoch
  • Bob Jolly 314 Fleetwood
  • Garry Benson 688 Fleetwood

Sunday DF95’s

  • Chris Chatfield 183 Fleetwood
  • Tim Lanigan 420 Fleetwood
  • Peter Iles 98 Fleetwood
  • Brian Holland 795 Abersoch
  • Bob Jolly 214 Fleetwood
  • Garry Benson 20 Fleetwood

The Jellyfish Question:

As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.

When it comes to the Jellyfish in the lake at the moment… Yes, they have developed a taste for keels but the situation is improving. The population of strangely coloured water blobs is on the decline… fingers crossed eh 🙂