Sailing Report – Helen Martin, Vice Commodore
Last weekend we hosted another prestigious championship, the Flying Fifteen Inlands. Thank you to everyone involved both on the day and before to make it a successful event with great sailing and happy competitors. We were really pleased to see lots of club members enjoying general sailing at the northern end of the lake, plenty of space for everyone.
Some of the Wayfarer sailors have been to Plymouth for a long weekend, we look forward to hearing about it…maybe an article for the full newsletter? (see below).
A longer newsletter is scheduled for early June, articles welcome to Andrew Martyn-Johns at vice-president@chewvalleysailing.org.uk Deadline: Wednesday 24th May.
“The roost”. Did you know? The reason for our rule and Bristol Water’s expectation that we are off the water an hour before sunset is because the lake provides a vital undisturbed habitat for up to 55,000 roosting birds.
Flying Fifteen Inlands – Andy Bones, Flying Fifteen Fleet Captain
24 entrants turned out to take part in an ambitious 7 race series last weekend at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club. Not a huge fleet but highly competitive with close quarter racing throughout.
4 back to back races were sailed on Saturday in a strong but steady breeze. Triangles and sausages lead to some adventurous gybing at the wing mark and full speed reaching in between. A couple of “generals” and the black flag was the order of the day.
Sunday saw a substantial drop in wind strength and a more variable wind direction. Headache for the race officer who was confident enough to bin starts in the last minute. Typical Chew conditions meant big gains and losses to be made, particularly upwind.
After a period where it appeared that the wind was going to fall away completely the sea breeze kicked in and all three Sunday races were ultimately completed in very reasonable wind conditions. After treating us so well the weather changed abruptly we enjoyed a lengthy torrential downpour as everyone was packing up! As usual the cream rose to the top and consistent results saw a real battle for the top places.
Congratulations to the Chew Valley Sailing Club race team, rescue team and shore volunteers for laying on a really successful and thoroughly enjoyable championships.
