Article1

Archive Article

KWSC Newsletter

September 2004

The KWSC Open Meeting 2004

A couple of articles on our Open Meeting thanks to Giles Passmore (Race Officer) and Steve Young (from the Patrol Boat crews). In addition here are a number of links to some excellent reports on the Yachts and Yachting web site thanks to the Moths, Cherubs and Ospreys. These are well worth visiting - click on the links.

A Race Officer's View
A Patrol Boat Crew View

A Race Officer's View

Being a race officer is an interesting part of being a member of a sailing club. You can learn quite a lot about your sailing area, the various wind effects by watching how the boats react to the wind. You can also see how the better boats perform, the mistakes of other sailors and hopefully learn from both. You also have ample opportunity to make mistakes, but that in itself is not a disaster - it gives you a chance to learn from discussing these matters and hopefully you and the club can improve. Everyone makes some mistakes; the important point is to learn from them.

Being the Race Officer at the Club Open Meeting is perhaps the most difficult duty of the year. Of course it is a very public occasion and you are ‘on parade’ for everyone to see. Also, unlike a single class event, you have multiple starts and times of finishers to take, and if there is a wide variety of boats taking part you can have competitors spread over the whole course area, all needing monitoring. However, it is a challenge and can be great fun if you get a good team of helpers – both on the committee boat and in the patrol boats - to work with. This year we had an excellent team and despite the frustrations of the weather and having only one race it was enjoyable.

I feel that the greatest satisfaction comes from having tried to do the best you can. The early preparation, the contact with the members of the team to ensure that as far as possible everything will be all right on the night. The day before the event I spent with Steve Gibbon laying marks and getting everything ready. It was a fantastic day, warm and sunny, and we were able to lay two sets of marks for the racing, one course for the ‘adults’ and one for the juniors.

So the Saturday arrived, and with it the wind! The wind eventually produced a full range from 16 to over 30 knots.

Pre-start.

I was truly impressed with the way the patrol boats re-laid all the marks for the two courses with apparent ease, perhaps they have a different view! Then just before the start the wind backed again about 15 to 20 degrees and was swinging about, do we move the marks again? We held our nerve and then it slowly started to lift. Fortunately at this point a Fifteen appeared and started to explore the beat. The beat was fine, relief all round the committee boat.

The Start.

This was a strange experience. We started a countdown sequence 10 minutes before the first start and there was hardly a boat on the water. Were they all chickening out? I called the Race control to see what was happening. The answer was that they were starting to come out. My time keeper suggested that that was rendering outside assistance and I was out of order, and who would argue with his wife at a time like this? Eventually boats appeared and we got events under way. Sadly the wind speed increased dramatically and we had to signal an abandonment for the Junior race, but fortunately we were able to do this before they were all on the water. This was disappointing after the efforts to get 2 courses laid.

The Race.

As the race progressed there were boats in varying states of distress all over the course. I was very impressed with the performance of the patrol boat teams. Quite rightly crews received priority and in some cases boats were abandoned to be recovered later. The Moth class is incredible. The boats looked so fragile, yet three out of the five starters finished, and it would have been spectacular if Colin Newman had put his aerofoils on. I was reliably informed that he could do 30 knots with them! Another Moth sailor claimed he had been sailing them for 20 years, and he only looked in his mid twenties – Moths must be good for you. One of their number said they had sailed in winds over 35 knots and not been in trouble so they assumed that we had had about 40 knots in the worst gusts, the RS600 helm agreed with this. I don’t think it was quite as bad as that. The Cherub performed some spectacular nose - dives. One minute they were there then all you saw was the hull in a vertical position – quite dramatic. Perhaps the most incredible sail was the lone Topper. He seemed to be way behind, but of course he was – he started 20 minutes after the Ospreys. Taking this time into account and the PY of 1290, he actually finished in a very good corrected time.

Mistakes.

As I said in my opening paragraph we can all make mistakes. So what did I get wrong? Well I made a mistake with the shortened course flag which affected the Fast Handicap. The explanation of this error could be the subject of another note in another Newsletter. The important point was that we were able to produce an acceptable result for the competitors affected. This was because we had taken times for all boats in earlier roundings.

Abandonment.

It is always a sad thing to have to do – to abandon racing, especially as competitors had come from so far afield. Yet you have to think of the safety aspect of the event. This does not just involve the competitors but also the safety of the crews in the patrol boats. It is their job to sort out boats in rough water and high winds and it would be quite easy to end up with broken fingers, wrists or worse. Happily the competitors were quite happy with the decision, saying it is all part of going to Open Meetings. Happily as well, they all said how much they enjoy coming to Kielder as we are such a friendly club and looked forward to coming again. I hope that the entry forms have been kept so that an invitation could be sent to them all for next year.

But still 14 out of 51 entries completed the course. Three of these were Fast Handicap boats so 11 boats sailed the same ‘full’ time and as we had the times of them all, out of curiosity, I put them into a Handicap group with the following results:

1	S Robinson	Flying Fifteen
2.	R Shaw	Osprey
3.	A King	Flying Fifteen
4.	T Ollerenshaw	Moth
5.	P Chambers	Topper
6.	A Mamwell	Osprey
7.	K Carrol	Osprey
8.	V Scott	Osprey
9.	R Jefferson	Flying Fifteen
10.	K Cuthbert	Moth
11	P Hignett	Moth.

Epilogue.

Pity about the weather.

Any regrets? Sure, I wish I had been sailing in all that wind!

Giles Passmore

A Patrol Boat Crew's View

The Kielder Open 2004 – A novice view from the back of a RIB.

Having volunteered to do rescue duty (my first ever) for the open, I gamely set off from my sunny front garden, equipped with shorts, flask of tea, two ham sandwiches and my sunglasses, ready for a nice bit of race watching (as a second thought I threw my wet suit into the back of the car – might get a bit of sailing in later).

Driving along the A69, I got the first warning signs as the smoke from the Hexham works seemed to be at a perfect right angle to the top of the chimney, “looks a bit blowy today”.

Anyway duly arrived at the club to a rather serious briefing of what was expected of the brave few for the remainder of the day, I started to look around the room when it was mentioned that we would need to let the dinghies flounder in favour of bringing the crew ashore safely (had I missed something in the job description).

As we stepped outside it was obvious from the stern faces of the race team that we could be in for a bit of weather. However things brightened up when an array of Moths and Cherubs started arriving – real enthusiasts. I was paired with an experienced pilot (Mr Gibbon – who it turns out drives a RIB like David Hasselhoff on steroids), “hold tight” he shouted as his peaked cap shot of the back of his head and hit me straight between the eyes (what was to be a regular occurrence for the rest of the day – as the offending cap was tied tightly to his Thunderbirds dry suit).

After moving various markers back and forth and ferrying race crew to the start line, several craft started to edge out to the start line rather tentatively. Our first sighting was one of the enthusiastic Moths, the crew dressed like the human cannonball, equipped with crash helmet and Lycra suit. He proceeded to practice capsize drill several times, which I thought was quite dedicated.

We got our first real job when we were asked to go and hurry up the some of the Ospreys as the start was only 6 minutes away. The weather was starting so show some serious signs – gusting sporadically between really windy and head for shore.

One minute to the start and most of the fleet had made it out (the junior were watching anxiously from the shore). We were stationed at the windward mark (I think) as the race started with the Ospreys making a flying start, suddenly a particularly nasty gust rolled in, and left a wake of destruction through the centre of the field felling all in its path, this was starting to get very hairy. We attended numerous capsizes (too many to count), when we came across an Enterprise with a dad and his young son in the water holding the rudder in his hands, we hauled him (and the rudder aboard), when Mr Gibbon volunteered me to enter the water and assist the remainder of the crew in righting the Enterprise. This was starting to get serious. We eventually got the enterprise upright and even recovered the tiller which had miraculously snagged on the main sheet. We towed the enterprise and crew to the north shore (our nearest land fall) and returned to capsize duty. All four rescue boats were heavily engaged as the conditions started to bite into the ever dwindling field.

Many boats went over, but the capsize prize for the day surely went to a particularly plucky Moth trading by the name of ‘Predator’ – a tenacious young lad who just wouldn’t be beaten (I think he was one of the few who finished).

Several rescues later, including a water search under an upturned Topper, and we were starting to run out of competitors. The first race finished as the wind searched to reek havoc on anyone mad enough to still be out on the water.

Just the Enterprise to bring off the north shore and we were done, “that’s” it called Mr Gibbon as his cap flew off and hit me for the 11^th time (not that I was counting). I retrieved my flask of tea and sandwiches from the storage under the passenger seat of the RIB – untouched - and limped up to the club house, slightly worried by the look of enjoyment on Mr Gibbon's face.

Unfortunately the weather worsened and the first race ended up being the last race. Overall a very exciting day if a little different from what I expected, never a dull moment at Kielder!!

Steve Young (bruised knee, aching shoulder and a bump between the eyes).

Steve Young

Ed: (I deny I was wearing a cap at all that day - must have been someone else impersonating me.) Not once did Steve Young complain about my cap. It was not until the following Monday at work that Mark Hawes mentioned I had cut Steve's eyebrow with my cap and nearly put his eye out. Now that is called and uncomplaining dedicated Patrol Boat Crew. I would like to thank Steve and all of the many Patrol crews who assisted me on the weekend in what turned out to be very demanding conditions. Many thanks one and all.

Steve Gibbon

Back to front page