What a day for sailing, especially at Chipstead Lake which has a reputation for difficult to read wind. And that was  a challenge for some of the eight intrepid Racers who ventured out into a 10 knot gusting 18 knot prevailing NE wind. At lunch, I heard that even the leaders of the pack had struggled at times to find the best wind as its starting direction of NE backed as far as NNW and veered to ENE.  Nevertheless you all coped and succeeded in finishing the race. The new format worked well again, with no incidents on the start line  and  every racer enjoying an exciting challenge on the water.

Some might have been surprised to hear the Tannoy  proclaim that Peter Gregory crossed the finish line last and then found out that he was also the Race Winner! How come – well that’s the magic of the new race format. Let me try to explain…..

  1. Everyone starts at the same time – therefore they enjoy the same wind conditions (which, as you know, can change frequently on Chipstead Lake)
  2. Everyone sails their class of dinghy as quickly as they can until they hear a DONG just as they cross the FINISH LINE. That is the end of the race but others may still be racing, so please sail off the Race Course.
  3. The Race Officer will select a Helm to be DONGED first within the set time for the race (so far this season 30 minutes). If there is still say 5 minutes to go, faster classes  will NOT be donged  but required to complete another full lap (taking say 9 minutes), and one of the slower class dinghies will then be DONGED first…and thereafter every dinghy crossing the Finish line will be DONGED.

In this race, Peter Gregory had such a commanding lead that his race would have been much shorter than 30 minutes if he had been DONGED first. Instead he sailed another lap and was DONGED “last”.  BUT… he was ranked “First” after applying the magical formula (to each finisher) as follows:

Total Time (say 36 minutes) divided by Number of laps (say 4) = Average Lap Time of 9 minutes.

9 minutes in Seconds = 540 Seconds which is divided by PYH 1.240* = Adjusted finishing score 435.48

*The Portsmouth Yardstick  Handicap divided by 1000 for the Dinghy Class 2.4)

Each finisher’s adjusted finishing score is calculated and the LOWEST score gives a better ranking.

TIP OF THE WEEK – For those of you helming a Liberty or a 303 with a Crew 

The target average lap time to beat a 2.4’s time of 9 mins per lap would be:

  • Liberty = 11 mins and 12 seconds per lap
  • Double handed 303 = 12 mins per lap

So there you go!!

Looking forward to seeing how much faster you can sail each week. BTW …. PLEASE do ask if you would like any help or training. Mike Coleman and Fleur Bryant are available and very keen to share their knowledge and experience with you.

Final Result of Race 3 is:

1 Peter Gregory 2.4; 2 Mike Blatchford Martin; 3 David Mason 2.4; 4 Fay Watson (with James as crew) 303DH; 5  Sam (with Tony as crew) 303DH ; 6 Brian Mac Liberty;  7 Peter Wagner 2.4 ; 8 Mark Cayzer (with Gemma as crew) 303DH.

3 comments on “WS Racing – Spring Series 3 – 4th May

  • Mike… Did anyone bribe you to sabotage my jib? (By the way, I like the practice races in the afternoons, it does make a huge difference when there is a small number of boats jostling for the start line. Is it possible to make this a weekly or bi-weekly event?)

  • Pete….honestly, I wasn’t bribed and it wasn’t intentional….!!
    I’ve had words about replacing the shackle that attaches the jib to the sheets and ‘pole out’ line, with something that cannot get hooked on the shrouds….

    If everyone else enjoys the practice sessions and if we’re not too busy, we’ll do them every week.

    • I know, just kidding with you. It has happened to me several times before… really annoying! I think what happens in stronger winds is that the shackle gets bashed on the shrouds.

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