RC Laser Summer Series at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club - Week 2
by Tony Wilson 21 Jun 2022 08:41 PDT
19 June 2022
RC Laser Harrowside Trophy at Fleetwood © Walter Audley
With just 2 replies as a 'Yes' to Elizabeth's sailing request, it was looking pretty grim and highly unlikely to whether we would be sailing, on what looked to be a reasonably good day. Something like 15 MPH from a near West direction was on the cards and then it dawned on us that most would probably be celebrating 'Fathers Day'.
Even so, five boats were being readied in the boat house dressed in 'B' rig. No-one had taken a real look from the lakeside. Tony went straight for a 'C' sail and that's what we were using from the word go.
With a slight bias on the start line we could use most of the lake and opted for a rectangular shaped course, with by now eight boats on the water. We sailed three quarters of the lake up to the far bank, beating as required. Eric was in good stride and hit the first mark ahead of the rest. A reach back across towards ourselves and a nice broad reach, diagonally back down the lake to the pump station mark taken to Starboard. Then across to the flagpole and a short beat back a third up the lake to finish.
Repeated for another race and it was 2:0 to our Eric, he was in good form. It was proving to be the top end of the 'C' rig, but if you held on and could manage it, you were alright. With the run being slightly off, you could dump some of your lift to save the dunking.
Race three and four were wins for Tony and now it could be someone else's turn. The racing was good and fairly evenly spread out throughout the fleet and it was a guess for anyone who wanted to take the lead. A bit of a fluffy zone in the middle area of the lake, unless you kept your speed up and also for if you hit the far bank too early, as it was pretty lame coming back on the starboard tack. Most folk probably over shot the far mark, but it was easier and you could always drop back for the rounding.
Race Five and our long distance John hit a winner. John's racing was also going good and then for the final race before lunch Garry won race six. Peter hadn't been faring too well, probably worn out from looking after us all, with all the great workshop maintenance he's been up to and was the first to down size and go with a 'D' rig.
On to the afternoon's sailing and Bob had decided to rest his legs and help Trevor out with the scoring. Families started to come out from hiding and also wanted to enjoy the day as it was starting to warm up. The wind strength seemed similar as earlier and then John hit his second win and then another. Race 9 and Garry having downsized, also hit his second win. Maybe 'D' rig was now the sail to use.
The fleet now had a split mix of rigs with a few others following suit, But it was really only for a couple of races before returning to the big.sail. John now being greedy had a few more victories, three in a row to be exact before Eric was able to take one.
Rob having the occasional depth of view perception on rounding the mark was able to finally come up with the last winning score.
Fourteen good races had and a very enjoyable day. Thanks to the scorers and to Liz for our weekly race reminders. Next race with the Lasers is in about a month's time.
Race results:
1 John Armstrong - 24 pts
2 Tony Wilson - 31 pts
3 Eric Auswick - 35 pts