Free Sailing 

A Class National Championships 2010

As has become the arrangement for the past few years, these championships alternate between Gosport and Fleetwood for hosting.  It was Gosport’s turn in 2010, eagerly awaited as there has been a significant renaissance in Vane sailing at the club, both in the beautiful A class yachts as well as the smaller but no less fun 36 class.

The championships last all week typically tying in with Cowes week.  Saturday 31 July was the first day available to skippers for registration, check measuring of their boats and sails and time for practice.

Racing proper started on Sunday 1 August, continued through Monday 2^nd and Tuesday 3^rd.  Wednesday was the day for a special event, the Perpetual Yachting Monthly Cup, a competition taking initially round robin races followed by knockout.  Thursday reverted to the main championships and these were then completed on Friday 6 August in time for the Regatta dinner held on the Friday evening.

For those readers unfamiliar with vane sailing racing, a few pointers may help.  Those familiar might prefer to avoid the next few paragraphs in RED text and read more detail of the daily sailing and results.

Vane racing takes place as match racing between 2 boats.  They sail one leg in an upwind direction and another leg in the downwind direction.  Over the span of a competition, either as large as these national championships, or even just a club round on a Saturday or Sunday, the aim is that each competitor should have a match race against each other competitor.

There are well proven schedules which outline the order in which races should take place.  They also specify which of a pair of boats has the choice of selecting either the windward or leeward berth to start from on the respective leg.  Such legs are known as ‘boards’.  A pair of boards, sailed one in each direction constitutes a heat and when (occasionally only IF) all competitors have raced against each other then a ‘Round’ will have been completed.

Although races are sailed in pairs, the schedules also provide for the situation where there are an odd number of entrants.  In such cases, the boat which has not been paired with any other during a series of heats receives a Bye.  Bye boats are not required to sail, but equally they do not score or get awarded any points.

In a race between a pair of boats, in the upwind leg, the winning boat scores 3 points and for the corresponding downwind leg the winning boat scores 2 points.  Losing boats score Nil points.  It is possible to have a dead heat in which case the 3 or 2 points on offer is shared.  Races are usually sailed in the long direction of the lake, although some clubs facilities are not quite so convenient and arrangements have to be decided upon.  Typically at Gosport, all Vane races are sailed along the main lake east to west or west to east.

There are a few basic rules that need to be observed and rather than go through them all this report touches on a few key points.

When the boat is released in a race against another, sufficient ‘push’ can be given to ensure that the boat has steerage way.  However, stronger pushing in an attempt to gain advantage will be classed as a foul, likely resulting in the disqualification of the offending boat from that leg.  In such cases, the other boat must still sail the leg to be awarded the points.

Observers will notice that the boats are normally under the control of 2 people each, a skipper and a mate.  Given that once a boat has been released and set upon it’s racing course it is the settings that have been employed and the wind strength and direction that influences where the boat goes, then one member of each team normally takes the windward bank of the lake and the other member takes the leeward bank.  They each carry a pole, which has a maximum length of 5’ which can be used either to protect their boat from hitting or scraping the bank of the lake when, as is almost inevitable, it comes to one bank or the other, or it can be used to tack the boat again when it comes to the bank.  On upwind legs boats can be tacked by use of the pole alone but if used in this way the boat must be put through a change of tack and the jib must fill with wind for the tack to be legal.  Failure to do this correctly can again result in disqualification of the offending boat.  If it is not possible to actually put a boat through a change of tack, then the boat will usually be stopped as it comes to the bank and will be turned manually and released with or without some adjustment to its settings.  When a boat is ‘poled’ to achieve a change of tack, this must be done without the person changing the position of their feet.  It should be done in one continuous action.

For anyone who has seen radio controlled boats also being sailed, they may think that Vane boats can be similarly controlled.  No electrics are allowed.  The factors which impact upon a vane boat are essentially the angle at which the vane has been set and the degree of sheeting of the sails.  Thereafter, the wind becomes the determining factor.

When boat are sailing downwind, if they should come to the bank, they must be stopped, one or more of its settings will be changed and it will then be released again.  The pole may be used to avoid the boat hitting the bank but unlike on an upwind leg the pole in this instance can only be used to protect the boat from potential damage.  It must be stopped, re-trimmed and then released.  Failure to do this correctly can result in disqualification of the offending boat.

Sufficient care needs to be taken either when tacking or re-trimming and releasing the boat ,that it is not released into the path or likely contact with the opposing boat.  Providing that a race officer is satisfied that any such release was not problematical, if 2 boats should collide or simply touch each other, then when they return to the bank they will be taken back to the start for that race to be re-sailed.

Over the course of an event, the 3 and 2 points that winning boats are awarded are totalled to arrive at the winner with the highest score.  The time available for an event and the number of entrants become determining factors of how many races take place.  Also, if there are an odd number of entrants and a different competitor with each series of heats has to take a Bye, there can become the need for results to be stated in percentage terms.  This is to ensure that all boats are scored in relation to the possible number of points that they might have been able to win.

The 2010 Championships.

Readers will know from the headlines that the winning skipper for the main championships was Shaun Wyeth who chose Brian Smith as his mate.  The following report provides comment on each day’s racing, the cumulative scores at each stage and some of the photos taken are in the adjoining column.

As already stated, Saturday was registration, check measurement and practice day.

Racing therefore started on Sunday morning with the early pairings being started by Cllr Chris Carter, the Deputy Mayor of Gosport.

Bill Green had very kindly offered his services as Race Officer and a variety of both Gosport members and visitors assisted in capacities of Assistant Race Officer, Starter, Finishing Line Judge, Scorer and various marshalls.

Whilst the skippers themselves are experienced enough to know how such an event is organised and should progress, it is vital for the supporting officials to facilitate a smooth and efficient racing schedule as well as organising social events.

Not least for the officials who have to walk up and down the lake all day, is the need to be kept 'fed and watered'.

In the first heat series, occasionally following a requirement for a re-sail following contact between boats, there were wins for: 

sail number 

97, Peter Whiteside; 

43, Rob Vice; 

26 jointly skippered by Margaret Bell and Lisa MrKercher; 

99 Shaun Wyeth; 

39 Peter Stollery; 

172 Derek Priestley; 

12 Martin Roberts; 

60 Ray Baker and 

11 Rob Walsh. 

No. 44 jointly skipperd by Mervyn Cook and Peter Fothergill was the Bye boat.

It is not the intention of this report to outline every result in this format for it will soon become obvious that by the time that each competitor has raced against every other competitor, both upwind and down wind, even without any re-sails, there will have been in the region of 320, 322 to be precise  races.  It is therefore a massive understatement to make, that this is one of the most active spectacles from any spectator’s position. 

By the end of the week, not even taking the Wednesday Yachting Monthly cup competition races into consideration, there had in fact been 486 races completed (excluding a good number of re-sails), which is why these championships are such a spectacular opportunity to view.

In the corresponding downwind legs of the first series, 5 races saw the same winner picking up 2 points in addition to their first 3 whilst 4 new names became points scorers:  51, Graham Reeves; 33 jointly skippered by Mark and Joshua Dicks; 91 Alex Austin and 70 Peter Hopkins. 

The second series of heats commenced, by the end of which, the only skipper not to have achieved a win of one sort or another was 86 Martin Dovey.  In fairness to Martin this may seem a little harsh as he was the Bye boat in the second series and therefore had no opportunity to achieve an earlier win. He corrected this with wins upwind and downwind in the third series.

In all, 6 series of heats were raced on the Sunday, by which time the interim results were as follows:

Sunday had been a day, when by virtue of the racing schedules, skippers from mainly northern clubs had been racing against skippers from mainly southern clubs.  There had been reasonable breezes, sometimes rather variable in direction.

Monday dawned and the schedules provided that Monday and Tuesday should be days where predominantly southern club skippers raced against other southern club skippers and northern club skippers raced against other northern club skippers.  Monday in fact turned out to be the day with probably the lightest winds throughout the whole week.

4 series of heats were possible on Monday.

By the end of the day the results had produced the following order:

Tuesday was a much breezier affair although it was also to illustrate 2 aspects of vane sailing that are in fact well known by established vane sailing skippers:

1. It can be quite easy (understatement) for boats to become damaged
2. The fleet of vane skippers will do their utmost to help anyone who suffers any damage.

Unfortunately when moving her boat having just finished a race Margaret Bell’s rudder and skeg was damaged such that it was simply not possible to sail the boat atall.  However, a quick phone call to Ray Baker who had been sailing in the Monday morning session, met with his immediate agreement to take a look at the problem and fix it if he could.  Indeed he did, look at it AND fix it although because of moulding and bonding implications it was prudent not to try and sail it again late on Tuesday.

The table at the end of Tuesday afternoon illustrates how the percentage calculation impacts because Margaret and Lisa hadn’t been able to get their full allocation of races in.  To all intents and purposes, the races they had missed, although they would be completed and caught up by Thursday morning were ostensibly treated as Byes. 

The percentages are calculated on the baisis of the number of points scored in relation to the number of points possible from the number of actual races they sailed.  This impacted both upon themselves and, of course, the boats that they should have sailed against on Tuesday.

A further 5 series of heats were possible on Tuesday.

VANE 36 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009

HELD AT GOSPORT MODEL YACHT AND BOAT CLUB 10^TH AND 11^TH OCTOBER

 
The 14 entrants commenced business on the warm and sunny Saturday morning and with a westerly breeze of 12-14 knots with a slight northerly bias on and off. Whilst this ensured excellent beats with lots of pole work and varied spinnaker runs along the Gosport lake, the frequent and very variable wind shifts ensured that competitors were kept on their toes to try and maintain competitive position.

 At the end of the first day, nine full heats had been completed and the Race Officer opted to race the remaining four on the Sunday to ensure a full round with plenty of time for any re-sails and other delays.

 At that point it was clear that the Sunday was going to be nerve wracking, as the leaders were separated by only four points and the next two within a point of each other and very few points behind the leaders.

 The forecast for the Sunday morning indicated steadily rising wind strength, peaking at around 1 pm at about 18 knots.

 Come Sunday and with rain in the air the wind direction had moved slightly to westerly but with a southerly bias this time, and causing a potential hazard of the infamous ‘Gosport Knuckle’ syndrome for those not experienced enough to avoid it.

It was obvious that the remaining heats were going to provide some superb sailing when the first pair off in heat ten set the tone for the day, and the Race Officer to miss several heartbeats, when Chris Harris and Mark Dicks beat Martin Dovey and Bill Green both up and back by the slightest of margins in distance terms after some superb boat handling and sail and vane settings with boats neck and neck virtually all the time.

 Thereafter it was gratifying to see some really close finishes by all the competitors after runs both up and down the lake although the frequent wind shifts continued to provide some interesting challenges to all of them.

 The final result hinged (inevitably perhaps!) on the final downwind board of the last boats off in heat thirteen. The upwind leg between Chris Harris from Bournville and relative newcomer Jacque Cook of the Gosport club had resulted in a ‘Giant Killer’ win of three points for Jacque and a nerve wracking run back for Chris and Mark, who, had they lost that run to Jacque would have then had to face a sail off with Bill and Martin, with both boats prior to that run standing on a score of 51 points.

In the event, experience, the setting of a slightly smaller spinnaker than that of Jacque and a great downwind performance secured for Chris and Mark the first place and the trophy.

I must place on record my grateful thanks to both Janet Harris and Julie Lawley who both looked after the finishing line and scoring in weather which although dry was most unpleasant when metaphorically ‘tied to the spot’ for a length of time.

Also to Pete Lawley who started the boats for me with a firm but humorous hand at all times and to all our other Gosport members involved in running the event, especially Jacque Cook who as well as managing all the arrangements so successfully actually sailed as well.

Although she was not really in the running for a prize herself she was delighted to see her husband Mervyn (who with Jacque has been so instrumental in bringing back the vane 36’s to Gosport) manage third place.

The final result was:

1          Chris Harris / Mark Dicks                               53 points

2          Bill Green / Martin Dovey                              51

3          Mervyn Cook / Robbie Claridge                     45

4          Mike Harris / Bryan Jones                               43

5          Peter Fothergill                                               40

6          Graham Wyeth / John Gale                             37

6          Peter Hopkins                                                 37

8          Ray Baker / Arnie Peace                                 35

9          Lisa McKurcher / Neil Rothwell                     33

10        Jacque Cook / John Storey / Mike Dann         25

11        Max Buttimer  / Bruce Prole                           22

12        Lisa Reeves                                                     12

13        Graham Reeves                                               12

14        John Newey / Richard Cole                            10

Chris Durant, Gosport MYBC

Race Officer