Overy Staithe SC

Sam Mason just remarked that 'this global warming is turning out a big disappointment', and it isn't easy to disagree! Having been postponed because of all the snow at Easter, the Easter Egg races got underway in a biting Easterly 4-5, with the sort of turn-out you'd expect in that weather! Mad enough, but too keen, Alex Scoles was over the line at the start of Race 1, which gave Dave Cooper the chance to lead Sam Mason down to the first mark. It didn't last: Alex soon surged past, leaving Dave and Sam to tussle for second place. However the Albacore dropped out at the end of the first lap: a failed inhaul was making the beats too much of a struggle. Meanwhile the Andersons were putting up a sterling performance in the other Albacore: despite getting seriously aground at F buoy, (E/Norton isn't laid at the moment) and finding it next to impossible to keep their rudder down, they soldiered on round to take a well deserved third place. The easterly gave an excellent long beat from F back to D/Houseboats and an exhilarating reach from there up to C: not quite so welcome was the fact that about 5 of the marks were gybes. Certainly led to a few wobbly moments!

Race two, with a seven a.m. start and slightly less wind, was just as cold and grey. The Andersons ('thought the start time was eight!') were absent, and the remaining trio crossed the start line within a second of each other. This time Sam Mason's Albacore was tussling with Alex Scole's OK, with Alex getting ahead on the odd planing spurt. Alex finished ahead of Sam, but Dave Cooper was close enough to pick up second place on handicap.

Happily the small fleet meant the committee had overcatered magnificently on the Easter egg front: everyone who sailed got an egg, and very well deserved too!

Paul and Gemma Goakes drove the rescue boat: Jerry Clark was the Race Officer, with Jane Heath juggling the flags and Adam Mills blasting away on the horn.

Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Points	Final Position
OK2117	Alex Scoles	1	1	2	1
OK2031	Dave Cooper	2	2	4	2
Albacore 1749	Sam Mason	RET	3	7	3
Albacore 696	Rob Anderson	3	DNC	8	4

Results:

Boat	Helm	Position
OK 2117	Alex Scoles	1
L 174517	Ashley Deakin	2
L 174859	Colin Hargreaves	3
Albacore 1749	Sam Mason	4
L 142837	Nina Plumbe	5
Sharpie 71	Paul Goakes & William Scoles	6
L2K	Claire & Wathes	7
L radial 150500	Gemma Goakes	8
Lightning 291	Jane Heath	9
Sharpie 128	Alex Smith	10
Mirror 21533	Ken Gathercole	11
TT Arion	Peter Smith	12
L radial 166591	Adam Mills	13

Plenty of sailors, nice big tide, not much wind! Sam Mason made a neat start towards the seawall side and fetched the first mark with (inevitably) Alex Scoles in hot pursuit. Nina Plumbe was the first laser to show, while Ashley Deakin put in a couple of turns (windward boat!)

A good start paid off as the leaders found more breeze as they got away from the line and as a result the fleet stretched out enormously (which makes writing this account a bit tricky!). After Alex and Sam there was a big gap to Paul Goakes (Sharpie) and Dave Cooper (OK), who bantered round for 3rd place. The Lasers of Ash Deakin, Ben Goakes (nice new boat!) and Colin Hargreaves stayed pretty close, but they never managed to reel in Nina Plumbe. Instead they all lost out on handicap to Jane Heath (Lightning). Alex Smith and family were sportingly sailing three-up aboard Capella, maybe anticipating squalls, but if so they certainly didn't materialise. Instead, with an eye on the tail enders, Owen Bentley shortened course after one lap. Aboard the Twinkle Arion, one lap was enough: Peter Smith and Grandson got round with the sort of determination that indicated they were going to finish even if it took all night! It was raining and the light was starting to fade when they finally made the finish and Grandson took up the oars and pulled for the slipway.

Owen Bentley was Race Officer and hailed the OCS among us in stentorian tones: Rob Archer drove the resue boat with panache and verve and stuff.
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Results:

Boat	Helm	Recorded	PY	Elapsed	Corrected	Place
OK 2117	Alex Scoles	37.08	1110	2228	2007.207	1
AL 1749	Sam Mason	36.24	1068	2184	2044.944	2
OK 2031	Dave Cooper	38.44	1110	2324	2093.694	3
Sharpie 71	Paul Goakes	38.28	1025	2308	2251.707	4
L162837	Nina Plumbe	42.28	1078	2528	2345.083	5
Lightning 291	Jane Heath	45.29	1150	2729	2373.043	6
L 174547	Ashley Deakin	42.42	1078	2562	2376.623	7
L189186	Ben Goakes	43.07	1078	2587	2399.814	8
Sharpie 128	Alex Smith	41.4	1025	2500	2439.024	9
L 174874	Colin Hargreaves	44.04	1078	2644	2452.69	10
L rad 16651	Adam Mills	50.01	1101	3001	2725.704	11
L2k 21492	Claire Wathes	56.05	1092	3365	3081.502	12
TT Arion	Peter Smith	81.26	1288	4886	3793.478	13
L rad 150500	Gemma Goakes	DNF	1101
L rad 19277	Andrew Green	DNF	1101
FF	Bethel Jones	DNF

(These results aren't official! Owen hadn't worked them out (too wet!) so they're concocted from the raw data and may get corrected when the official version trickles in.)

Day One

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The first race of the Scoles Trophy weekend enjoyed a sparkling north-easterly breeze and an elite (if not very numerous) line-up. Claire and Chris Wathes stormed off the startline and up the beat, and as the first lap unfolded it was clear that the Wathes and the Sharpie Capella (Alex Smith and Paul Beachell) were very evenly matched, with the Wathes hanging on up the beat and getting good speed from their assymetric off wind to stay on terms. Meanwhile Nina Plumbe (Laser Radial) was struggling a bit upwind (more pies needed!) but blazing downwind, so that these three finished the first lap within 30 seconds of each other.

In Lap 2 the Wathes showed even better speed and looked to have the race sewn up when (tragically) they tipped in gybing at B mark. Nina Plumbe and the Sharpie finished within seconds of each other, giving the race to Nina on handicap. For the Wathes, a knotted spinaker halyard made the capsize a protracted affair and Peter Smith (Twinkle 'Arion') and grandson Sam who had steamed round in a steady and unflamboyant manner were easily close enough to save their time for third place and relegate the Wathes to fourth.

Day Two

The second race had a touch more north and a scad less wind: first mark was D (Houseboats), which meant a nice long beat from the start line. Alex Smith opted for a conservative course down the channel, while Nina and the Wathes went on a rotovating expedition to the right. Paul Goakes and William Scoles (Sharpie 71, who'd joined the fray) found a really high spot near the Bank Hole, and had to get out and push which left them with quite a bit of ground to make up! The race settled down into a tussle between Nina's laser radial and Alex and Paul in the Sharpie Capella, while Paul and William whittled their lead down: Capella got home by 45 seconds from Nina who was just ahead of Paul, but on handicap Nina scored an easy win to take the trophy for the weekend's racing. The Capella crew were second, Claire and Chris Wathes, who weren't going so fast today (maybe because they were still bickering about who was to blame for the previous day's débacle!) came 3rd on corrected time. Paul and William 4th and Peter Smith and Sam in the Twinkle 'Arion', who lost out a long way on the long initial beat against the tide, fifth.
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Dave Cooper was race officer: Joshua and Charlie managed the flags.
Jerry Clark manned the rescue boat and considered snipping the Wathes' jammed halyard with his penknife.

Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Points	Final Position
Laser Radial 162837	Nina Plumbe	1	1	2	1
Sharpie 128	Alex Smith & Paul Beachell	2	2	4	2
Twinkle 12 'Arion'	Peter Smith & Sam	3	5	8	4
Laser 2000 21492	Claire & Chris Wathes	4	3	7	3
Sharpie 71	Paul Goakes & William Scoles	DNC	4	9	5

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Report: Jerry Clark
An evenly matched fleet of 9 lasers competed for the Deakin Trophy on 21/22 June. Races 1 & 2 were held in a light and shifty easterly, with a long first beat from Norton Creek to Houseboats. Ben Goakes led at the end of the first lap of race one, only to drop two places by rounding the lee mark the wrong way. He hauled one place back to finish second, behind Ashley Deakin. Veteran Andrew Green slipped through to third, with visitor Jasper Barnham (Snettisham Beach SC) fourth. The fleet proved remarkably even: Jasper Barnham won the second race from Sophie Warner second, up from 8th in the first, and Lucy Deakin third.

Sunday morning saw a fleet of 7, depleted by failure to set an alarm and contemplation of a weather forecast of a 4-5 Southerly, predicted to veer to SW and increase to 5- 7, perhaps gale 8 by lunchtime. A clean start saw the fleet beating into a rapidly increasing breeze, with several capsizes even before the first mark. Even the leaders fell in at least once, with Ashley Deakin finishing first, not far ahead of Jasper Barnham, to take first and second overall, respectively. 15 year old Fergus Barnham revelled in the fresh conditions, flying down the reaches in his laser radial and surviving all six gybes to take third in the race. Lucy Deakin was fourth, and the last finisher, to take third overall on the discard. The scheduled fourth race was abandoned as the wind strengthened. Jerry Clark and John Howlett officiated. Paul Goakes and William Scoles in the safety boat had an easy time on Saturday, but were busy on Sunday.

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Another report(!): Ashley Deakin
A lack of wind on Saturday morning meant that the start was postponed by half an hour and didn't allow time to venture out to sea.

Jerry (OOD) set a start near F buoy and being a harbour course the tide played a big part in determining the places. In the first race Ben Goakes initially took the best course and showed good speed in the Force 2 conditions to gain a healthy lead but he rounded the wing mark the wrong way and allowed Ashley Deakin to sneak past him to take honours at the line.

In the second race Jasper Barnham (visitor from Snettisham Beach SC) picked the best course and he was closely by the two ladies Sophia Warner and Lucy Deakin.

Sunday morning was rather more windy and a number of radial sails and 4.7s made an appearance. Another harbour course was set and we started in a good Force 5. Ashley and Jasper managed to hold their standard rig sails down (just) and took a healthy lead. A neck and neck tussle ensued and after each capsizing once Ashley just managed to come out ahead. Fergus Barnham (son of Jasper) and Lucy were the only other boats to finish the race. The wind was by now gusting Force 6 and the race officer signalled the abandonment of the series giving overall honours to Ashley.

The weekend was a great success and special thanks must go to the race officers. It's a special location and those wanting a pleasant and different weekend away are encouraged to come along next year.

Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Points	Final Position
174547	Ashley Deakin	1	(6)	1	2	1
189084	Jasper Barnham	(4)	1	2	3	2
161854	Lucy Deakin	(5)	3	4	7	3
189186	Ben Goakes	2	5	(dnf)	7	4
192771	Andrew Green	3	4	(dnf)	7	5
88943	Sophie Warner	8	2	(dnf)	10	6
183231	Fergus Barnham	(8)	7	3	10	7
158158	Barnaby Guest	6	7	(dnc)	13	8
150500	Gemma Goakes	9	9	(dnc)	18	9

(I've re-arranged these results to comply with ISAF rule A8.1 (tied scores). Hope this doesn't upset anyone. Dave Cooper)

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Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Points	Final Position
Wagtail	M. Beck	1	(dnc)	2	1	4	1
Honey Bun (TT)	J. Carroll	(3)	2	1	2	5	2
Jinny (F14)	J. Bethel Jones	2	1	(4)	3	6	3
Seagull (F14)	S. Dawes	(7)	3	3	5	11	4
Zephyrine (TT)	R. Warner	4	4	(6)	4	12	5
Arion (TT)	P. Smith	5	(dnf)	5	6	16	6
F14	T. Coke	6	(dnc)	dnc	dnc	22	7

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Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Points	Final Position
NED 62	Richard Mulderij	(2)	1	1	1	3	1
GBR 71	Paul Goakes	1	2	2	(3)	5
GBR 75	Ben Goakes	(3)	3	3	2	8	3
GBR 76	Ben Johnson	dnf	dnc	dnc	dnc	12	4

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Saturday opened with rain showers blowing past on a brisk westerley. Andy Turner (OK) was over at the start and went back: Alex Scoles was ok, but sportingly went back anyway, so it was Ben Goakes (laser) who lead the fleet away and had established a decent lead by Houseboats, at the start of the beat, halfway up which Alex Scoles let fly his sheet and scampered forward to the mast - his halyard had dropped out of the lock and his mainsail was falling down. Meanwhile a close tussle was developing among the laser radials, with Gemma Goakes getting the better of Nina Plumbe and Andrew Green on the first beat. As the first round ended the wind eased and Gemma dropped back, while Jerry Clark and Rob Howlett (Sharpie) and Sam Mason (Albacore) eased past Ben Goakes to take up the lead. At the finish though, they didn't have enough lead to prevent Alex winning on handicap with Andy Turner second and Sam Mason third.
Dave Cooper and Jane Heath honked the horn and teased out the results: Clive Sheward presided over the rescue boat with magisterial aplomb.

Day two had a lot in common with Saturday: the breeze was still westerley, and a bit more consistent with no showers blowing through. Alex Scoles zipped away at the start from the lee end of the line, and wasn't seriously challenged. On the beat (Houseboats to F), boats that tried to lee-bow the flood by going into the harbour mouth just oversailed the windward mark, so the correct tactic was stay to port and tack as often as necessary to stay off the grass (or marsh). This time Ben Goakes (laser) got the edge on Sam Mason and Sally Smith (Albacore) and Nina Plumbe got the better of the other radials. Overall, Alex Scoles won easily and complained that his Quantum sail lacked power unless it was really windy. Any suggestion that the other ok sailors were examining his boat for a suitable place to attach a bucket is just a calumny.
Claire Wathes and Camilla Warner made unconventional (but successful) use of the start timer and got everyone away with precision: Chris Wathes and Jane Heath manned the rescue boat (and took pics which will appear here in due course).

Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Points	Final Position
OK 2117	Alex Scoles	1	1	2	1
OK 2123	Andy Turner	2	2	4	2
Albacore 1749	Sam Mason & Sally Smith	3	4	7	4
Laser 189186	Ben Goakes	4	3	7	3
Sharpie 133	Jerry Clark & Rob Howlett	5	9	14	6
Laser 192771	Andrew Green	6	RET	17	9
L rad 162837	Nina Plumbe	7	7	14	7
L2K 21492	Claire & Chris Wathes	8	8*	16	8
Sharpie 71	Paul Goakes & William Scoles	9	10	19	10
L rad 150500	Gemma Goakes	10	DNC	24	13
OK 2031	Dave Cooper	*5	5	10	5
L	Colin Hargreaves	DNC	6	20	11
L rad	Adam Mills	DNC	8	22	12

Results:

Boat	Helm	elapsed	corrected	Final Position
Lightning 291	Jane Heath	85.34	4.47	1
Laser 192771	Andrew Green	82.54	4.61	2
TT	George Parry	102.47	4.79	3
Mirror 38248	Camilla Warner	117.4	5.09	4
GP 9517	Owen Bentley	101.29	5.40	5
Firefly 109	Mark Winter	...	...	RET
TT	Robin Anderson	...	...	DNF

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Visiting from Waldringfield SC, Robert Deaves revelled in Saturday's south-westerly breeze to take both races, in the first leading from start to finish, with Alex Scoles second and Andy Turner third. In the second race, Andy led right round, only to have Robert slip past at the finish, with Simon Shaw (Deben YC) finishing third: Alex had fallen in at the leeward mark and spent some time grappling with his super-slippy hull while the rest of the fleet made their getaway.

Sunday morning brought a bit less wind and a shower of rain: Deaves clocked up another win to clinch the victory with Alex second. In the lighter breeze, Neil Goodhead (South Staffs SC) was up at the front, but got nudged out by Andy for third. In the final race, Pete Turner crossed the fleet on port at the start and arrived at the windward mark with Alex: places changed throughout the race, but Pete popped out at the finish to win from Alex and Neil Goodhead.

Ashley Deakin and Colin Hargreaves made a slick job of the race management and got some unusual notes out of the air horn: Paul Goakes and William Scoles shuttled the buoys around and pulled off the heroic rescue of Alex's woolly hat.

Results:

Position	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Points
1	2119	Robert Deaves	Waldringfield	1	1	1	(4)	3
2	2117	Alex Scoles	Overy Staithe	2	2	(7)	2	6
3	2123	Andy Turner	Overy Staithe	3	2	3	(5)	8
4	2125	Neil Goodhead	South Staffs	4	4	(5)	3	11
5	2065	Simon Shaw	Deben	(7)	3	6	6	15
6	2059	Peter Turner	Overy Staithe	(dnc)	dnc	4	1	17
7	2130	Deryck Lovegrove	Kingsmead	6	5	(9)	7	18
8	2031	Dave Cooper	Overy Staithe	5	6	7	(8)	18
9	2104	Paul Pike	Covenham	8	8	8	(9)	24
10	2048	Rodney Thorne	Upper Thames	(dns)	dnc	10	10	32
11	2005	Robert Archer	Ardleigh	(dns)	dnc	dnc	11	35

Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Points	Final Position
L rad 59784	Fergus Edwards	5	4	9	3
Topper 46170	Jack Hill	1	2	3	1
L rad 175447		9	DNC	27	14
Topper 32995	Imogen Campbell Gray	2	10	12	4
Topper 34980	Tom Newman	3	5	8	2
Topper 25503	William McGahey	4	8	12	5
L Pico	Fred Owens & Ben Wiggins	7	DNC	25	13
Topper 34265		6	DNC	24	12
L Pico	Daisy ? & Roxanne Campbell Gray	8	9	17	7
Topper 44912		11	6	17	8
Topper 32995	C. Newman	12	7	19	9
L135778		14	DNC	32	16
Topper 3566?	Bridget Pleasant	13	1	14	6
Taz		10	11	21	10=
Topper 9488	Freddy(?) Hill	RET	12	30	15
Topper Nano		RET	DNC	32	17=
L Pico		RET	DNC	32	17=
Topper 44912	Fergus Miller	DNC	DNC	36	19
L Pico	Rory ?	DNC	3	21	10=

If any one has pics or can fill in the missing names (or correct the ones that are there (I swear Jerry's handwriting gets harder to read. Or is it just that I need better specs?)) please email dave@accuramatic.co.uk .

With a brisk south-easterly, the under sixteen fleet positively shot away from the club start line (except for the Pico of Henry Owen, which had permanently entangled itself with the turning mark). The Lasers were first to show, but a sharp gust just beyond C/Worple decimated the fleet, and Imogen Campbell Gray (Topper) took up the lead to the leeward mark. On the next leg she unfortunately led the toppers off to Houseboats instead of X, handing the lead and quite possibly the race to the Topas Tres (A Briggs), who was showing increased speed and confidence as he worked his way up the beat to take the event on handicap.

Although half the fleet failed to finish, the willingness of these young crews to pick themselves up from capsizes and carry on racing in quite difficult conditions was impressive.

Results:

Boat	Helm	Final Position
L Pico (yellow)	Henry Owen	RET
Topper 32295	M. Deakin	4
L Pico (blue sail)	Barnaby & Rory	6
Laser 34980	T. Nolan	3
Topper 32995	C. Nolan	RET
Topper 9488	Freddie Halls	7
Topper 46170	Jack Halls	RET
Topper 32995	Imogen Campbell Gray	2
Topper 53352	R. Ruff	RET
Topaz Tres	A. Briggs	1
L Rad 78914	F. Edwards	4
Topper (red)	T. Forde	RET
Topper 16508		DNS
Laser 135778	G. Ruff	RET

The Galleon saw six entries, for a start delayed to 1800 due to a 'lazy' tide. The already light NE wind died to almost zero immediateley after the start, leaving the two Sharpies, Debs Turner`s Europe & Jane Heath`s Lightning to creep away from the line against the last of the tide. After half an hour the leaders were only just past Sluice buoy, and with the tide turning retirement seemed a good idea! However, just in time a catspaw appeared by Houseboats and a steady force 1 filled in across the harbour, allowing a shortened one lap race to be finished in just over the hour. Jerry Clark acted as starter as well as navigating Ghost, and John Howlett timed in the finishers.

Results:

Boat	Helm	Final Position
Sharpie 133	Jerry Clark & Rob Howlett	1
Sharpie 71	Paul Goakes & William Scoles	3
Lightning 291	Jane Heath	2
Laser 166591	Adam Mills	DNS
Mirror	Camilla & Richard Warner	RTD
Europe 240	Debs Turner	RTD

Lovely sunshine and a gentle force 1-2 greeted the 14 sailors who came to the start line for the first of 2 races for the Trafalgar Trophy.

Alex Scoles in his OK got away first from the committee boat start followed by the Sharpies of Jerry Clark and Paul Goakes. Other single handers showing were Nina Maufe in her Laser Radial, Debs Turner in her Europe and Clare Wathes in her Laser. Capella (Sharpie 128 - Alex Smith and family) made the start line some 4 minutes late but managed to pull through the fleet to respectability. Paul Goakes pulled a flanking manoeuvre at the leeward mark on Jerry Clark to finish first over the water with Jerry second and Alex Scoles. After the handicaps were worked out Alex Scoles was first, Debs Turner second and Paul Goakes third.

In race 2 after some start line carnage was sorted and Debs had done her 720^o turn the race settled into a familiar pattern with Alex Scoles first round the windward mark followed by Jerry Clark and Paul Goakes. Paul took the lead on the first reach and increased his lead round the course to finish first over the water, with Jerry second and Alec third. On handicap Alex Scoles won with Paul Goakes second and Jerry Clark third.

The parent and child race was incorporated into these two races and was won by Jamie Mulholland with William in his Family Fourteen, followed by Alex Smith and whole family in their Sharpie and Mark Beck and Fred in Wagtail.

Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Points	Final Position
OK 2117	Alex Scoles	1	1	2	1
Sharpie 71	Paul Goakes	3	2	5	2
Europe 240	Debs Turner	2	5	7	3
Sharpie 133	Jerry Clark	5	3	8	4
Laser Radial 162837	Nina Maufe	4	4	8	5
Albacore 696	Rob Anderson	10	6	16	6
Family 14	Jamie Mulholland	6	10	16	7
Mirror 38248	Camilla Warner	7	9	16	8
Laser 59828	Claire Wathes	9	8	17	9
Sharpie 128	Alex Smith & family	13	7	20	10
GP14 9517	Owen Bentley	11	11	22	11
Wagtail	Mark & Fred Beck	8	DNF	23	12
Fireball 12692	David Edwards	14	12	26	13
Enterprise 4895		12	DNC	27	14

Adult and Child Result

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Points	Final Position
Family 14	Jamie & William Mulholland	1	2	3	1
Capella	The Smith Family	3	1	4	2
Wagtail	Mark & Fred Beck	2	3	5	3

Another very light wind day but brilliantly sunny. Mecky and Andy Turner officiating from Sandyman. A few boats were towed to the starting area where a force 1 sea breeze filled in cancelling out the southerly.

Jerry Clark (Sharpie) led the field away in the first race hotly pursued by Jane Heath (Lightning), Debs Turner (Europe) and Nina Maufe (Laser Radial) with Alex (OK) playing catchup. After two rounds of a triangular course Jerry Clark took the gun (blower) followed by Alex and Nina.

Race 2 started in a building force 1 at Worple buoy using a committee boat start. Jane and Debs shot out of the pin end of the line, but Alex Scoles was leading by the windward mark and managed to stay ahead of Jerry Clark in his Sharpie the whole way round (Alex is out to win the OK Inland Nationals in a couple of weeks time). Debs Turner in her Europe finished third.

Results:

Boat	Helm	Race 1	Race 2	Points	Final Position
OK 2117	Alex Scoles	1	1	2	1
Lightning 291	Jane Heath	2	3	5	2
Europe 240	Debs Turner	4	2	6	3
Sharpie 133	Jerry Clark	3	5	8	4
Laser Radial	Nina Maufe	5	4	9	5
Sharpie 128	Alex Smith	6	6	12	6
Laser Radial	Adam Mills	7	7	14	7