GREAT START TO AUTUMN RACING
Updated: Oct 4
The first race day of our Autumn 26 season was held on 27th October, and what a good day it was.
Only three boats raced, the lack of non-residents restricting the number of crew available, but the weather was perfect, sunny and warm with winds of between 8 and 12 knots throughout the day.
A problem with the support boat engine delayed the first start from the usual 11.00 until 11.40 but all boats got away well, crossing the line within 30 seconds of the gun, with Vision first, Gemini Dos second and Lavanter third, with the wind ENE at 8.5 knots. There were no major incidents and Vision and Lavanter completed 5 laps in the hour, Gemini Dos 6.
It was another good start for the second race, again all over the line within 40 seconds. On the first lap, Gemini Dos hit the first mark and was forced to perform a 360. Vision’s crew struggled to make a mark on several occasions and the resulting extra tacks cost them time. They later said this was their tactics. The wind shifted to due east and fluctuated between 8 and 12 knots throughout the race. All boats completed 5 laps in the hour.
Thanks to the team that ran the day. Race officer Terry Chapman. Assistant Janice Penning. Whaly Helm Martin Bisofsky. Whaly crew Julian Peering.
Results on handicap, with the average lap times were
First race: Gemini Dos 381 secs, Lavanter 458 secs, Vision 460 secs.
Second race: Gemini Dos 397 secs, Lavanter 445 secs, Vision 460 secs
An interesting fact is that, the all singing and dancing spreadsheet used to calculate and confirm the results also compares the performance of each boat to each other and their handicap and calculates the handicap they actually sailed to. These are the results for today’s races
Vision, current handicap 1568 sailed to 1891 in the first race and 1711 in the second.
Lavanter, current handicap 1571 sailed to 1888 in the first race and 1660 in the second
Gemini Dos, current handicap 1583 sailed to 1583 (yes exactly the same) in the first race and 1493 in the second
The next race day is October 11th.
Thanks to all the crew at SAMM for putting the racing on. Always good to read the reports , shame I missed the racing by 4 days.