Lincoln Radio Sailing Club

A very gusty morning greeted 12 skippers at Scotland farm for Round two of this Summer series , Pete W had got there early with Mike W to get it all set up, and it was going to be a long beat and run course on the East bank , ( secretly 3 Venti’s were seen practising on Saturday afternoon and swapping measurements etc ) But hey it was a great breeze probably 70/ 80 % of top suit but very fluke’y in the gusts, Pete W 65 was quick out of the blocks and he had to be to hold of the challenge of Roger C 30 with another new design, this one called a combo, and although a little rough looking ( Sorry Roger ) it looked as if it had been rubbed down to within and inch of its life, and boy was it quick , so quick it even surprised Roger, But I have to say the beats were tricky and you had to be on you game from about half way up to ensure you were at the pointy end at the weather mark. Roger won the second race and Pete the third , Tim H 44 was having one or two problems with his knicker elastic , ( jib Boom elastic ) but eventually sorted it, and in fact around half way through and with an eye on the Worlds coming up in November swapped his V10 with his mums Britpop just to get a new feel on things. Mick C 46 managed to win races 4 and 5 but then followed a complete disaster, thru the fluke’y stuff and ended up 10. It was great to see Mick Cooper 39 racing hard especially after what he has been thru , and that little group Kevin , Jen Peter and Mick were separated by only 3 points, Colin H 20 struggled a little today and Richard J 12 has some work to do with his Venti and I am sure it will be a quick boat, Mike W 76 also seemed to struggle, and something may well have happened from race 7. Good also to see Pete C 110 back after a bit of an absence just pipped Cooperman by 1 point, I drove away from the lake realising how competitive the racing is , bad start and it’s hard to recover , over the line early your race is over , have to do a turn again your race is done, I think mainly our set ups are not to far out but we could do with a little chat or two on perhaps out tactics and race strategy perhaps Darin top tips for the future. At the end of the day Micky boy took the top step and was as consistent as he could be, the fleet is getting hotter each week that’s for sure. The manners on the bank today were superb,, as was Jen’s birthday cake , Thank you and happy birthday Jen, The nationals are coming up fast ,Lincoln have a few skippers in it , and there is a pre nationals race at Manor Park next Sunday, if you wanna go try your boat for speed get your entry in..

Many thanks to all for helping out getting the gear out and away again , superb

Well done to the old boy, Micky Boy with his prized Venti for the win .

Report by Martyn

Martyn arrived to fill in for Mick as OOD (hope you are feeling better Mick), to find that early bird riser Richard had set most of the required equipment up requiring only the repositioning of the buoys to suit the moderate Westerly wind. We were blessed with a bright sunny day that warmed as the day progressed, but only 6 sailors! Definitely quality versus quantity though, as a highly competitive but friendly sailing session ensued.

Martyn got off to a great start with 3 wins before Mike and Colin H found winning form. Positions were changing all the time in the races though and every sailor enjoyed some glory time whilst heading the fleet. Alan sailed very well, but a win eluded him. Colin Toll was thrilled to deservedly win a race. Richard was experimenting with his rig settings. Some worked, some didn’t of course; he took one win but gained a reputation for pinching places on the finish line!

There were a number of rapid finishes with multiple boats vying to cross the line first and quite a few position changes on the final leg due to the changes in wind direction. Gusts of wind made the downwind leg entertaining in some races and guiding the boat to prevent submarining could add vital distance between competing boats before negotiating the gate and commencing the final long beating leg.

It was a great day, and came with a free sun tan. Everybody mucked in to help with the tidy up after 14 completed races and everybody notably took a turn on the start line. Martyn was the most consistent sailor taking the day with 19 points. Mike also sailed consistently, taking second spot with 29 points. Colin H was a little more erratic in his positions, but sailed very competitively and took third with 37 points. Then, Alan on 42 points, Richard on 43 and Colin Toll on 55. All the sailors went home with a smile on their faces having enjoyed a pretty-much perfect day sailed in the best of spirits (thanks for the wording, Colin!).

Martyn Aspinall