Malta Open Invitation Race 28th / 31st march 2014

This fantastic event that draws so many skippers from different country’s was overshadowed by the tragic death of a young Maltese skipper called Matthew, Shortly after  a C fleet race on the second day of sailing, Matthew collapsed and later died. Sailing was abandoned for the rest of the day as a mark of respect. Matthew was only 34 years old, and his passing was a massive shock to everybody , and the sailing community from the UK wish to extend their condolences to the family.

The sailing started on Friday at a venue that was near perfect , most competitors stayed in the hotel complex and it was only a few yards from the dock side where sailing took place, Racing got under way at 10 am with the first of three seeding races, With Mick C 46 coming second in his seeding race things were looking favourable for the Lincoln club. As for the Brits, Most skippers were not having a great day and most ending up in C fleet at some time, and then fighting back with some good scores , at the end of day Huub Gillissen from the Netherlands led from John Tushingham , with Derek Priestly lying in third place and Mick C  gbr46 a very respectable 5th have stayed in A fleet all day. Day two dawned and again it was a B suit day , and with Mick C,  gbr 46 coming second yet again to John Tushingham in the first race things were looking good for the Brits , as mentioned above racing was abandoned shortly after .

On day three the wind had shifted into the south east and with it a huge swell was coming into the bay and waves were sweeping over the jetty making it impossible to launch the rescue craft and it would have been touch and go if we had to try to retrieve our yachts from the water , so racing was postponed until 1pm and with conditions not improving racing was postponed for the rest of the day . On Monday the breeze and the swell were down and top suits were deployed , Mick C gbr 46 in his second race of the day went down into B fleet and could not find a way out for four races , which spoiled his day and of course his overall result . A lovely dinner was held and a low-key presentation , which gave 5 Brits in the top ten with Mick C  gbr 46 in eleventh place. A good time was had by all with plenty of banter around the dinner table, with meat and three veg most nights Beef , Pork , Sirloin Steak  and some lovely vegetables , green beans , Potatoes , cauliflower, Broccoli, sadly,  although there were  Turnips on the Island , none appeared to be  on the menu .

results below

  some pictures of the event are below

The right side is definitely favoured.

control area

A decent swell

V8 secrets

AHA !!!! What have we here then a secret bulb

A very nice V7
from Belgium

The boat Shed

Dennis the Pain,, nice looking V8

The guts of a V8

GBR 46 Stuff

The Guts of Huub’s new Fusion

More of the Shed

Nice Sails

Aha its that boat Again

I will not be _____________

Is that another V8 I see

there will be a lot more pictures in the gallerys over the next few days just gotta pop and get me pension

Mick Admin

11 I.O.M’s came to the line on this blustery cold March morning that started at 0930 with a twenty minute rig and tune guide led by Martin Lambert and assisted By Mick Chamberlain , The importance of having new strings and good bowsie’s was first and foremost, in that easy quick adjustment is necessary to get the best from your rigs and the ability to fine tune, Racing finally got under way a little later than normal but the 6 races were all completed just after noon. B suit’s were the order of the day and it was going to be a battle royal between martin and Mick The Brit Pop seemed to have the edge in the conditions but it was very close between the two, Chaz Jordan also had some good results with 3 third places , but consistency gave overall third place to Dave Gunson with his Italian Moster. Colin Marsden gained a third in race 5 a fantastic achievement, A little more work on the strings and things during the week could see Colin on the podium more often. Bob Geary has a new boat on order and looking at his results and his consistency he should move up a peg or two when it arrives. Seymore,Jenny and Roger must be pleased with how the day went,and Jim just needs a little more practice with his lovely wooded Triple Crown. We managed to stay dry and the sunshine when it came through gave some welcome warmth.  Results posted below .

DRAGON FORCE RACES

In the afternoon we had 10 Dragons , although the wind had increased by the time we started it was B suit , and one or two members were lacking in that area leaving 7  entries to fight it out over a shorter course, You really had to sail the dragons to get them through the chop on the beats but downwind they flew. we had 8 races and with a big black rain cloud threatening we called it a day around 230pm and all managed to get packed up before getting wet , Martin got his own back on Mick and everybody had some good races. We need the thank the young lad who did the scoring for us , The one thing we need to do is ensure we all have a B rig for the events , Probably the best way is to Contact RC Yachts ( Mike Weston and you can buy the rig kit and a set of sails for aprox £ 50.00 , there are also one or two sail makers in the club that may make you a set, so you only have to ask , I will try and help when I return in a bout ten days time , these boats are going to be very exciting when we get 14/15 boats out .

Results Below

Mick Admin

Another fantastic day at Scotland Farm , The weather and sunshine meant that coats came off and a light south-westerly breeze had all boats with their top suit on. This was the first full morning for the Dragons , and twelve competitors came to the line for the first of six races, each lasting approx 20 minutes with two laps of the windward / leeward course, the beat was true but tricky and you had to pick the right side to make gains, all buoys were port rounding and it looked liked Martin 31 was straight into winning ways with a first win, Mick .C 46 got a second, and Gordon. b 23  followed up with a third place, Gordon has made all his own sails, and very nice they looked too, so I am sure there will be some orders in the pipeline!!!!! The racing proved one thing though, it didn’t really matter on sail choice as the sails that come in the box with the Dragons are equally competitive with any others, the boat also seems to be a great leveler and providing you get your trim about right the boats are easy to sail, all you need do is point them in the right direction. The racing was very competitive and there were 4 different winners in the first 4 races ,Mick.H 14 getting a second in race 3 must be very pleased with his progress and a little tweak here and there could have Mick on the podium more often, Seymore. G who borrowed the club boat for one of the races seemed to enjoy himself, although he only did the one race , The club boat is there for anybody who wants to have a go so just see Martin at Lakeside. results are posted below and I will get the Winter series results up in the next day or two. I am sure all the members will give a warm welcome to our two new members Phil and Jim , both have I.O.M and Dragons, and we look forward to racing with them in the weeks to come, If either of you need any help or assistance you only have to ask.

Norman doing some last minute adjustments to his Dragon

Seymore and Ivan on Port

Bob leads Norman and David round number 1

Nice one Gordon

Chaz getting ready to tack

Mick H 14 leads the way

Seymore just to weather

Phil leaving it wide , whilst Mick H goes close

Bob keeping it tight

Our thanks to Mick H 14 for taking these superb pictures whilst at the same time racing his Dragon

MICK

ADMIN

We are indebted to Mick hunt and Phill Gresham for taking so many pictures during our recent hosting of the Midlands winter series , I am sure you will agree it was a fantastic day and the pictures prove it., first set up is a link to Flickr so just click the link below for Phills pictures

http://bit.ly/1fOAxOV