The Forester Shield for Vane 36R model boats at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 18 Nov 2022 03:36 PST
12 November 2022
Forester Shield for Vane 36R model boats at Fleetwood © Tony Wilson
Although there was little positive response to Peter's invitation to come sailing, somehow we knew our faithful Eric would be at the club house, even if it was only to top up the lake at high tide. This was the last Vane sailing event scheduled for the year and if nobody else turned up, it could always be used for practise.
Walter was also coming along to gain in vane expertise and had cobbled together his small pond boat, with a set of Dragon sails. On entry to the clubhouse, he exclaimed "It fit's in the box!" So to our understanding, if the hull fits into a box of 36" x 11" x 8" it's fine. These seem to be the only "R" Restrictions for the class. His hull is only about 30 inches long, but this small pond boat with a short keel is a little Beauty.
Alan also arrived with his new carbon hull 'Remix' and decided to put on a big set of sails. Eric had already taken off his largest set, following Tony who was already rigged with his second suit sails. The forecast wind was for 16 MPH, but from the Club side, so it was going to be a challenging day for the newest of the blind leading the blind
As soon as Walter had had his baptism test of the precious tiddler, the pre-written score cards were dealt out. Four boats then broadly reached to the bottom end of the lake for their first 2 points. Walters boat broke a sheet line, sailing against Tony, so he was out for some repairs. Eric and Alan sailed up and down to complete some scores.
It was nice to have a few visitors for the day. We had the two Bobs, Peter Guest for a spot of RC Laser practise and Paul and Steve with their DF95s for some sail tweaking in the large areas not sailed and well out of the way of the uncontrolled Vane boats.
Pairings were swapped about and it was back to task. Walter eventually rejoined us and had decided to use a bigger feather for better vane control. We had nearly completed the one short round and decided we would do a second after lunch as we all seemed to be having some success, which certainly aids the day to be somewhat more enjoyable.
For a short time the wind was on our backs just before setting off on Tony and Walter's catch up beat leg. By the time we had sailed through the middle lake and back to the finish, it was in our faces again. We stuck to the same direction on points awarded and reversed the start choice for the second round on the cards.
The best success was to be had along the beach side of the lake, but now and then, the odd boat got through nearby even though there looked to be not a ripple on the water close in. There were odd bits of confusion and excitement as one's boat did a searching 360 degree pirouette at sometime along the course, but it's all part of the journey.
In all, a good day and well done to Eric again on his winning success.
The good thing with the 36R Vane competitions, is each Trophy is usually just for the day and you're not tied to a complete series. They are usually held on Saturdays which is also good or even better for some folk. So let's hope for another half a dozen or so for 2023.
Results:
1. Eric 21 pts
2. Alan 17 pts
3. Tony 16 pts
4. Walter 9 pts