Sailing Report – Helen Martin, Vice Commodore
Well done and thank you to everyone involved in the Laser Masters Inland Championship last weekend. The open meeting team, the rostered duty teams, the police group members, members who turned up just in case we needed help, those who came for general sailing – everyone was friendly, helpful and created a welcoming atmosphere. There has been so much positive feedback about the club from the visitors and we even managed to lay on glorious weather!
The full Yachts & Yachting reports for radials here- Radial-Laser-Masters-Inlands and for standard rigs here Laser-Masters-Inlands.
Some excellent performances by Chew sailors, 32 of us (9 women- hoorah), are “mentioned in dispatches”. Special congratulations to Steve Smith, 2nd radial overall, only beaten by professional sailor Jon Emmett, and to Christi Brasher. Christi finished all 6 races in a 4.7 rig – she only completed RYA level 2 in September last year!
The following quote from the standard rig report, written by the Laser Association Masters Co-ordinator, makes me very proud to be part of our wonderful club:
“What is remarkable however is how well this event came together. Laura Smith, Andy Bones and John Smalley (RO) and the whole team at Chew Valley Lake SC did an outstanding job of organising. There was a record pre-entry for this event with 67 boats building to the final record entry for a Masters Inland Nationals of 87 which is testament to their pre-work and a great turnout from the home club. Chew, we salute you and the bar is set for 2017.”
On Wednesday evening the Evening Points Practice Race got underway with 25 boats enjoying four laps round a triangular course (9 – 4 – 3 – G) in a good breeze. Results here. Next week the series starts in earnest with Race 1 on Wednesday at 19:00, with the series culminating with Race 18 in August.
Spring Series Format
This Sunday sees the start of the spring series and three races per day. The fifth start is now a short course start, aimed at less experienced adults and juniors alike so if you would like to join in the racing but find the big courses and mass starts a bit daunting – this is for you. Do ask the fleet captains for some guidance, they’ll be happy to help.
