Club sailing has mostly been on Wednesday evenings with my Sally crewing so it has been a case of teaching her to sail and doing our best with the racing. The good thing about Wednesday evenings is that it is more a social occassion, an opportunity to make freinds and enjoy the sport. The few Sundays we have raced at the club ( 2 I think) have been less enjoyable - the last one had so little wind it was not enjoyable in the least (a lucky puff lotery!) and only frustrating.
The big problem with sailing at Ripon Sailing Club is the peculiar wind, the strength and direction of which seems to vary at random across the lake. The presence of a large hill and many, many trees around it create such strange shifts and gusts that local knowledge and quick reactions, make all the difference. I am gradually getting the hang of it but still make many mistakes. The other issue is getting our team work up to scratch so that it is possible to react to sudden changes in wind strength an direction. Rolltacking is our biggest problem, that and being overweight! The situation in both are gradually improving and in time we will be much better competitors.
I have also done some circuit events with Jo, my daughter. We started with the Inland championships in April, the Masters in May (a fantastic venue at Staunton Harold) and then Filey regatta (pictures here) in June. Our results were not good by circuit standards but we have been improving in performance and results all the time. Our biggest problem was getting a good start, we were having big problems finding space on the crowded start lines and often found ourselves buried under others and sailing in their dirty air. However, we were doing much better at the last regatta, although there were less boats competing for space on the start line. In the last race we hit the line at the pin end moving fast and right on the gun; we kept on starboard to the favoured side of the beat and were 4th at the first mark and finished 6th among very good and well respected crews.
The next regatta in the North West Norfolk Sailing Association Regatta at the end of July in which Sally will be crewing as we make it our main holiday this year so we will be camping at Snettisham Beach SC for the week. We are doing our best to get fit and ready for the event but I do not anticipate any silverware this year. It will be just nice to sail on the sea again and among friends.
2 comments:
Welcome back. I was afraid you had given up sailing as well as blogging.
Loved your description of lake sailing. So typical of all small lakes in my experience. If you stay at the same lake for 20-30 years you should master it.
I love the Enterprise. It reminds me of a GP 14. And the blue sails are very cool. I second the welcome back, but I second a lot of what the Tillerman says. Your description of the Ripon Sailing Club reminds me of sailing on Lake Hopatcong in North Jersey. Surrounded by trees and hills of varying heights, the sailing there can be anything from a dreadful drifter to a puff-fest of gargantuan proportions. A real tricky place to sail. I've lost a couple of shoes in that lake due to a couple of sudden capsizes.
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