The Fleetwood Club is saddened to hear of the passing of Keith Partington and Trevor Claxton.
Keith a member of the Ashton Quays Club supported our club over many years competing in open events and assisting in the running of national championships. He was a Senior Measurer for the Northern District.
Trevor a member of the Gosport Club competed in the A Class Championships at Fleetwood many times and was well known to the vane sailing members of our club.
Our thoughts are with their families at this sad time.
Eight skippers turned out, on a dry cold afternoon to contest part four of our Winter Series. The wind was good to begin with, although blowing from the worst direction, as it meant the start line being over in the corner by the bridge. Most of the fleet set out on A rig, but all ended up on B later on in the day, as the threat of Storm Ciara predicted for later that afternoon started to show its face.
Conditions were very awkward as lulls and gusts came through and directions changing all the time. A rectangular shape course was set to start, and changed to more of a zig zag after our half time cuppa, to add a little more interest.
Eight races were had before we called time, and it was Garry who easily came out on top mastering the challenging conditions better than us all, and he took five bullets in his final points tally of 7. A mention for Steve who continues to improve, and he took a well-deserved runner up place with some consistent sailing and six top three finishes.
It was good to get back on the water with the 65 after a lengthy lay off, but for some of us it was a day of hardship trying to get to grips with the unpredictable conditions, which amazed us at times.
Our next outing for the 65 is on Saturday 14th March, 12 noon start.
On Sunday it was the turn of the IOM’s. Again with 5 competitors.
This time the wind was southerly & very light so we had a zig-zag course to get some tacking in.
We welcomed Peter Iles to the fleet, he having bought a boat from David Rose & had a great day finishing 2nd behind Chris Chatfield by some 4 points after 12 races.
Results below.
Club boats.
Yesterday Derek was racing one of our “club IOM’s” This is in addition to our other club boats.
We currently have the following club boats,
6m, IOM, DF65, Laser.
All of these boats are available for all members to use just ask the relevant fleet captain & he will arrange it for you.
A fine day, and a nice westerly breeze of about fifteen mph, allowed us to set a triangular course of two laps per race, using about three quarters of the lake, for the five skippers who turned out, with new recruit Malcolm Clement joining us for the first time.
The wind was a little unpredictable at times and it became a good challenge, with every race being different each time. As usual it was Derek who mastered the conditions the best, and with his experience it was no surprise that he took the honours on the day.
The wind had picked up a little after our half time cuppa, and it had become very cold, and we had just about had enough after our eight races, and we were more than ready to call time and get back into the warm.
Our next outing for the 95 is on Saturday 15th February, 12 noon start.
The Club as part of its 90th year celebrations is staging the IOM National Championships over the August Bank Holiday 29th-31st. We are hoping that this will attract an entry of 84 skippers and it promises to be a spectacular event. The entry for the event is £50 and entry can be made though the MYA Online Payments System. An entry form can be obtained by clicking the following link – https://mya-uk.org.uk/event/iom-national-championship/
Entries will be prioritised to MYA members up until 1st April, whereafter entries will be open to overseas competitors.
Seven skippers turned out for the first IOM club racing session of 2020. With the wind coming from a reasonable SW direction it was anyone’s guess whether A or B rig was the correct choice, most opting to watch me ( B rig ) and Doug ( A rig ) practicing before still not being sure, in the end all started with B except for Doug.
Racing started just after 10:30 on a course set over 1.5 laps using 3/4 of the lake. Plenty of shifts & plenty of gusts to keep us thinking followed by a bit of a lull during race 4. We decided we would complete the next race before changing up to A rig, a good choice since in the end Doug changed down a rig as the wind increased for race 6.
The top two positions in most races were fought for by Rob & Derek with a bit of a repeating pattern of results occurring. With 10 races completed we went in for lunch at 13:00, two of our number having to leave for other commitments & with damage to Doug’s viper meaning he could not continue either. Four hardy skippers continued for a further 4 or 5 races until the rain beat us into retreat as well.
All in all, a good session particularly for the time of year and hopefully this will be a kick start to regular IOM club racing.
