Wednesday 24th June saw the first race of the Rooster Summer Series which had thirty five dinghies racing in a brisk easterly wind. The crews had brilliant sunshine & gusty winds to keep them entertained whilst racing around a triangular course.
From the RPCYC start line there was a reach past West Mallard & onto Melampus. From here there was a long beat upwind to Dunstone buoy where under the lee of Jennycliffe the wind shifts tested the skills of the crews. Once round Dunstone there was a broad reach back to West Mallard.
Strong winds & a damp afternoon had many wondering if the last race of The Rooster Spring Series was to be cancelled. Gradually the winds subsided as the afternoon progressed & despite a damp welcome to the dinghy park Jon Buckler led by example and was first on the water in hs Solo just as the clouds cleared & the sun peaked out to greet the 29 dinghies that had decided to brave the weather.
With winds averaging a force 4 from the west with gusts & plenty of wind shifts the crews had to keep on their toes. Close racing was had througout the fleets with most Dinghies staying upright with the Enterprise class having the only swimmers of the night – no need to name names
For the results of race 11 & the end of series summary please click here
I would like to than all that have took part & especially to our Race Team with Keith Kendall & Nikki Buckler heading the team. Special thanks are also extended to all that have helped on the line & to all the safety boat crews from RPCYC / Horizons & Plymouth Youth Sailing without whose help we would not be able to race – THANK YOU
by Jon Buckler
RPCYC Regatta 2009 Report
Saturday 13th June saw the start of the two day regatta held by RPCYC. Seventeen dinghies raced in three handicap fleets of Asymetric dinghies & fast / slow handicap dinghies. The competitors from RPCYC / Plymouth Youth Sailing & HPSC had two great days of sailing mainly in light winds with a committee boat start the race officer Keith Kendall varied the courses to keep all the competitors on their toes.
Throughout the regatta the racing proved to be close across the fleets with positions being determined by as close as three seconds in many cases. The racing was held in a very friendly atmosphere with many of the more seasonsed competitors sharing their knowledge with the younger racers making it a very enjoyable weekend.
A big thank you has to be extended to the Race Officer & his crew along with all the safety boat drivers & crews especially Plymouth Youth Sailing & the Royal Western Yacht Club who both provided RIB’s to support the Regatta. Special thanks are also extended to Plymouth Yacht Haven who provided berthing for the committee boat.
After the end of the sixth race the competitors had a one hour pursuit race in a decent force 3 wind which saw the toppers of Ben & Kate Rollinson set of at the start of the hours with the rest of the competitors setting off at intervals dependant on their dinghies PY handicap. Ben Rollinson set a blistering pace & proved hard to catch with Chris Tooze eventually passing Ben after 48 minutes of racing. Chris Hampe’s International Canoe showed its pace in the stronger winds to claim second place with Robyn Edgecombe & Tom Brewer claiming third place in their Laser 2000 ahead of Ben’s Topper who finished in a very creditable fourth place.
Winners of the various handicap fleets sporting their winners Regatta Tee Shirts
Stylish Regatta Tee Shirts as worn by the winners of the Regatta !!
by Jon Buckler
2009-06-10
Wednesday 10th June saw a decent Westerly force three wind with a nice long course set that had a short beat from the Start line to West Mallard, then a long reach to Dunstone followed by a decent beat to the windward mark Melampus followed by a broad reach / run back to South Mallard. Thirty three boats raced in the Assymetric / Enterprise / Fast & Slow handicap fleets. Sadly some of the crews forgot to leave South Mallard to port which resulted in some being disqualified from the race.
After last nights race and the number of people that were disqualified I think it may be worth while briefly explaining the reason behind the first mark in last nights race.
The first buoy South Mallard (L) – which had to be rounded to Port was put in to avoid everyone favouring the far end of the start line (Mountbatten Pier) if the first buoy in the race had been Dunstone (K).
If this had been the case there would be a real risk that everyone would get entangled near the rocks of the pier.
The use of the South Mallard obviously worked as the majority of both fleets favoured the Corinthian end of the line with a tight reach to South Mallard.
The reason for all of those that were disqualified was that on the completion of the first lap / subsequent laps they should of past South Mallard to Port again as it was still part of the course.
Those that were disqualified went past South Mallard on the Starboard side of the buoy (i.e the most direct route to (K) Dunstone).
The purpose of this is to help explain to the less experienced sailors in the race the reasons for the course & why they were disqualified.
To the more experienced sailors – please do not take this appendum as condescending it is meant to help those who may not of understood the reasoning for their disqualification.
The Slow Handicap fleet were affected the most with no one completing the race within the 20:30 time limit. The SI’s 11.3 state that ”If within a fleet, at least one round of the course has been completed, but no boats finish within the time limit, finishing times will be calculated from their last completed lap times”
We had to check with the RYA Rules department with regards to boats that headed back / paddled home or got a tow home before 20:30 time limit – they stated any boat that did not continue racing up to the time limit was deemed to of retired – sorry folks
If anyone did stay to the bitter end but is not recorded as doing so please contact me via sail@rpcyc.com
by Jon Buckler
Pigeon Trophy Race Dinghy Report
Some days everything goes smoothly and a good result seems easy. On the other days you learn lessons. In Feva 2577 it was a learning day but a fantastic journey in lovely sunshine.
Without a cloud in the sky the dinghies started on a dead run from the club line in a F2 Easterly. The first turning point was Devils point. The Lightning of Hugh Spencer (aka The Fox) kept close to the Enterprises of Martin and Dave. In the Feva we were perfecting gybes and started to lose a bit of ground. This shot shows the leaders slipping away.
Leaders head towards Devils Point
As usual Devil’s Point provided lots of tidal merry go round. From astern you could really see the boats in front going sideways.
The Fox took the lead in the next leg to the corner of the South Yard by playing the tide lines. He’s cunning that one.
The next leg was a varied reach from South Yard passed the gauntlet of the 3 Torpoint ferries and onto Bull Point. Hugh got caught by one ferry and had to hold back to let it pass and let the Ents catch up.
With the kite up we caught up a bit in the Feva but it was very shifty and we had to drop the kite to get round the Fueling Pier upstream of the Torpoint ferry.
Movie showing the calmness and control required to sailing up river. It’s mostly bow wave but has been done to try out the YouTube idea on this site.
With the odd gust over the Dockyard and the kite up again we continued to rein in the leaders as we passed Bull Point.
Then we got to Saltash and the Bridge. Firstly we got stuck in a hole for 3 minutes (bye bye Enterprises) and then got into a tacking experiment in the Trots. To finish things off there were big 30 degree shifts under the bridge which kept Max on his toes. Must mark this on the chart as ‘The Tricky Bit’.
Once clear of the bridge the breeze was quite steady and we followed the leading yachts up to the warm reception from Chris in the RIB at the finish line.
On the return journey we had even more fun with more breeze and some big shifts to play along by the dockyard.
Roger in the RIB was a constant and reassuring companion on both the outbound and homeward sail. Thank you for being so patient especially during the lulls while we had a little rest.
