ELSC Windmill Autumn 09 All at the club send their condolences to Ken whose wife Betty passed away recently Bob leads the way with the Wednesday sailors Summer s end!! BBQ Cook-Off and Bar Saturday 12 th September 5.30 onwards after racing finished. (Veggie options available- let us know in advance if possible) email suestewart1@btinternet.com www.earlswoodsc.co.uk Events Diary: ~End of Summer BBQ Sat 12 th July 5.30pm ~ Novice Endeavour Cup Sat 19 th Nov ~KING GEORGE FUND Sun 4th October ~ Match Racing! ~ RNLI Sat 31 st Oct 10am Sun 1 st Nov 10am ~Saturday Sailing Ends after 31 st October ~Halloween Party November 7th Commodore s Report Wow! That summer went so fast but we packed a lot into it. On the water we had the Topper open (won predictably by Pete) and the Merlin open which was won by an old Earlswood member; Duncan Salmon. The current Earlswood Merliners were slightly further down the fleet. We had another highly successful training weekend and of course the Wednesday afternoon open sailing days facilitated by Bob and supported by many members. Thanks to all that helped at these events. The social highlight was the Summer Ball where the sumo wrestling dominated events. By the time we had consumed all of the food that was on offer we barely needed the suits. (Don t forget to reserve 30th January in your diaries for our annual prize giving and dinner dance at the George in Solihull). We have had a couple of working parties and I can t decide whether the highlight was finally cutting up and getting rid of 6 old boats or watching Glynn knock our transit post in half by simply leaning his ladder against it! The turn out for the last one was fantastic and we got a lot of work done. Finally, our very best wishes to Dave and Mandy who get married in a couple of weeks time. Terry Dinner Dance Saturday 30 th January 2010 Dinner Dance and Prizegiving tickets in advance from Committee on sale soon Sue Stewart ELSC Windmill 2009 Autumn www.earlswoodsc.co.uk
Race Course Setting Alan Wright gives some guidance Earlswood Marks North at top Over the past couple of months there have been some reasonably good (and unseasonal) winds for racing, particularly on Sundays. Quite often the direction has been southerly (i.e. from the south or from the bottom of the map on the left) which, with northerly, give the best directions at Earlswood (the lake lies roughly south to north) for setting a race course that is both fair and interesting. I've been encouraging the ODs to think about the courses they set and we've certainly had some interesting ones in recent weeks. At one end of the scale, just two marks (Windmill and Grebe) were used and, at the other, all six marks were used (Windmill, Coot, Grebe, Xtra, Angel, Devil) all left to port. That last one needs some thinking about it's an inner and an outer triangle and you needed to be on the ball to remember where to go next! We've also had some courses that leave something to be desired but I think people are learning what makes for a good or bad course. Sometimes, with something like a light westerly, whatever course you set you just can't win! I've been thinking about what guidance I can offer to ODs who are uncertain about what course to set, without writing a full scale manual. So, here are just two suggestions to consider: the first helps you as OD and the second should give a fair and interesting course for the racers. Firstly, whatever course you set should be one that you can cope with as OD. A downwind slalom with multiple gybes on a very windy day might provide entertainment for the Clubhouse but won't help you to successfully officiate if you spend all your time rescuing those who have capsized. Also, using six marks of the course in a complicated way won't necessarily help you to know the positions of each racer for each lap and therefore give a correct result. So... consider the type of race, the wind conditions and direction, the number of racers, and your own ability to deal with all these variables and set a course you can cope with. The second suggestion is this: try not to set a leg of the course which is a fine reach. There are different ways of expressing this but an example will show what I mean and why it's such a bad idea. Supposing the wind is south westerly and one of the course legs is from Coot to Grebe. It's likely that each boat will sail the leg close hauled (on port tack) without any need for a tack. It also means there is the probability of a procession of boats, one behind the other, with no possibility of overtaking or tactical sailing, each boat being affected and slowed by the one in front. This is just one example but, depending, on the wind and direction, there are many others. There is a simple solution to this in most cases which either means using different marks to define a leg or moving a mark to a more favourable place. Taking the Coot to Grebe example: Grebe could be moved down the lake away from the dam to make Coot Grebe southwesterly and therefore a beat. Coot could be moved down the lake to make Coot Grebe northwesterly and therefore a beam reach. Or, Devil (in its usual position) could be used instead of Grebe to make Coot Devil a southwesterly beat. Each of these will give some options to a racer so that he doesn't have to follow another boat in procession. This is already turning into a longer article than intended so I'll stop now. I'd quite like to see some feedback and discussion on what I'm suggesting, whether you agree or not, so please feel free to do so. Alan Wright Page 2
ELSC Officers 2009 Commodore Terry Bridgewater 01564 742513 terry.bridgewater@virgin.net Vice Commodore Darren Layton 01684 275512 dlayton@uk2.net Secretary Dave Pitt 0121 705 2597 dlpitt@btinternet.com Treasurer Steve Perring 0121 744 8821 sgperring@aol.com Sailing Secretary Alan Wright 01926 773 786 alanw sailaway@ntlworld.com Membership Secretary Ken Davenport 0121 443 3993 kendavenport@toucansurf.com Training Principal Alex Layton 0121 430 7521 Layton10@blueyonder.co.uk Earlswood info Page all the useful info in one place! Wanted: New Bar Committee Members, anyone interested please see Pete Middleton asap! 01564 826000 Check out the notice board in the club for the latest adverts and check out the wetsuits in the clubhouse for you winter sailing needs. Email List for Everyone! It s easier to communicate with you all via email in most cases, so don t miss out and join the Earlswood Lakes Sailing Club email D List. Very useful for OD Duty swaps, finding a crew, finding a helm the possibilities are endless.! ODs Check the Racing Programme and swap any unavailable duties early! Note to ODs: Remember to cash up after racing! ELSC Committee 2009 Bar Committee Pete Middleton 01564 826 000 Pm012h0686@blueyonder.co.uk Elected Members Sue Stewart 01564 700 023 suestewart1@btinternet.com James Patterson 0121 777 1433 james@jamespatterson.org Bernie Smith bernismith@hotmail.com Iain McDowall iainmcdowall@live.co.uk Post message: earlswoodsc@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: earlswoodsc subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: earlswoodsc unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com List owner: earlswoodsc owner@yahoogroups.com Windmill Editor James Patterson E Mail: james@jamespatterson.org ELSC Web Site: James Patterson http://www.earlswoodsc.co.uk/ Page 3
Top 3 Rules Misconceptions Over the next 3 editions of the Windmill, I will hopefully dispel some common myths concerning the rules. I have seen all 3 situations at Earlswood at some time and in all these situations, a boat didn t think they broke a rule, when they actually had. Situation 1 Two boats reaching across the lake before the start. One on Port, the other on Starboard. The Starboard boat could not see the Port boat approaching as her sails were in the way. The two boats hit, but neither of them took a penalty. If you can inform another boat that you have right of way, then normally it is a good idea to do so. However, if you cannot hail in time, or they cannot hear the hail because of loud wind, then do not worry you still have your rights. The only two times the rules require you to hail are: 1. To show your intent to Protest 2. To ask for water at a bank (or continuing obstruction) Alex Bajjon The red boat (on port) was obviously in the wrong [Rule 10 Port boat must keep clear.] When asked why she didn t take a penalty, her response was: But the other boat never shouted Starboard! A RIGHT OF WAY BOAT DOES NOT HAVE TO HAIL ANYTHING! However hails can be useful to avoid collisions! Wednesday helpers! Wednesday afternoon sailing in the school holidays Although we have had very mixed weather this year, it has been a resounding success on many fronts. At the time of writing this report there is still one Wednesday to go but on the 19th August when we had a fine afternoon we had an all time record of 43 children and gave them all a wonderful time. It has also been a record for the numbers of club members who have turned up to help in all sorts of ways. Some rigged their boats and took children out: some gave instruction in club boats; the members who manned the rescue boats were superb and we could not have managed without the members who helped organise on the bank. Happy Wednesdays On the days when it rained we got quite a surprise to find how many of the visiting children turned up. One mom told me that she suggested that they go to the pictures, as the weather was so bad, No! We want to go sailing was the response. I have included some of the photographs taken in the earlier weeks. There are still some to be processed and they will all go into an album, which I shall pass around. If anyone wants a copy of a particular shot, please let me know. My thanks to all who have supported us! Bob Lewis Page 4
Earlswood Lakes Sailing Club Upcoming Races Training Notes ~ Alex Layton Our training for 2009 Level one courses went very well with many of our young sailors achieving Level 2 Well done to all who took part. I do hope they have continued sailing to develop their skills. Several people have asked me to arrange some race training to help with the starts and a few rules the date will be SATURDAY the 24th of OCTOBER 9am start there is no fee but would like a small donation to the RNLI All club members are welcome so if you need some tips come along Please let me know if you are coming so we have plenty of toast contact me on 0121 430 7521 Alex Page 5
Results from the recent series full results on the website Summer Saturday Pursuit Number of races: in series -> 11 to count -> 6 R8 R9 R10 R11 1 Bob Lewis ( 6 ) 4 1 3 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 Robert Marshall ( 24 ) 6 2 6 5 2 7 3 3 Vicky Styles ( 29 ) 3 2 4 10 4 6 4 Mark Cuxson ( 35 ) 7 4 9 5 10 6 8 5 8 5 Jamie Cuxson ( 44 ) 12 5 16 10 9 Saturday Improvement Number of races: in series -> 11 to count -> 6 R8 R9 R10 R11 1 Mark Cuxson ( 10 ) 4 3 2 1 6 1 9 2 1 2 Paisley Hall ( 26 ) 1 6 5 5 6 7 3 3 Robert Marshall (26.5) 9 1 11 2 2 1.5 4 Neil Marshall ( 32 ) 2 8 14 12 6 1 3 5 Vicky Styles ( 33 ) 2 5 5 4 4 13 6 Jamie Cuxson (34.5) 19 6 14 14 3 5.5 8 8 4 7 Adrian Nudds ( 42 ) 14 5 9 12 4 6 6 8 Dave Pendleton ( 70 ) 10 18 7 11 9 15 Junior Series Number of races: in series -> 7 to count -> 4 1 Neil Marshall ( 5 ) 1 2 2 4 1 1 2 Jamie Cuxson ( 8 ) 5 1 4 3 2 2 3 Paisley Hall ( 9 ) 3 1 2 3 4 Nia Rogers ( 18 ) 6 3 6 3 Summer Morning Number of races: in series -> 7 to count -> 4 1 Iain McDowall ( 18 ) 8 6 3 1 2 James Patterson ( 18 ) 2 4 9 3 3 Alan Wright ( 18 ) 7 10 6 5 2 5 4 Graham Bentley ( 20 ) 8 6 4 2 5 Mike Guest ( 23 ) 9 7 4 3 6 Frank Fern ( 24 ) 10 13 13 8 4 2 7 Bryon Farmer ( 26 ) 7 9 2 8 9 8 Steve Perring ( 27 ) 8 11 7 1 Neil Marshall Sunday Burgee Number of races: in series -> 7 to count -> 4 1 Alan Wright ( 10 ) 3 3 2 4 3 2 2 Frank Fern ( 12 ) 2 3 7 4 3 3 Mike Guest ( 17 ) 4 6 5 2 4 Iain McDowall ( 21 ) 3 4 13 1 Summer Bottle Number of races: Pos Name Points R1 R2 R3 1 Jon Wood ( 2 ) 1 1 2 Mike Guest ( 3 ) 2 8 1 3 Alan Wright ( 5 ) 4 3 2 4 Frank Fern ( 5 ) 3 2 3 5 Malcolm Clark ( 9 ) 11 5 4 Novice Series Number of races: in series -> 7 to count -> 4 1 Louise Busby (6) 2 2 1 2 1 4 Malcolm Clark 1 2 2 Page 6