Teatime Tankard 4

Five boats hovered at a sheltered start-line with the sun shining down on them through the clouds and Sue crossed the line first closely followed by Adam who soon overtook as they headed for West White. They disappeared from sight from the race hut line astern with the Bosun of John Dabbs (who was testing out a reefed mainsail) bringing up the rear and then crossed to Inlet with the first three now in close order. Turning at Pinkie the order was Adam, Sue and Linda still close with Robin and John a growing distance behind. A 360 turn from Adam approaching Inlet moved him back to third with Sue now leading in her Laser 4.7 as they closed on Dam Green and Robin closing in fourth. At the start of lap two an early tack from Adam had shot him into the lead with Sue just in second and overlapped by Linda. With Adam pulling away the main battle was between Sue and Linda, the latter prevailing with her radial sail as they turned down the lake, both gaining on the leader. Positions held on the final lap with gaps increasing and at the finish Adam was the clear leader, though overtaken by Sue on handicap, with Linda coming in third, John fourth and Robin fifth.

1. Sue Murray (Laser 4.7)
2. Adam Hilton (Solo)
3. Linda Spiller (Laser Radial)
4. John Dabbs (Bosun)
5. Robin Spiller (Streaker)

Teatime Plate 7

A revised start list for the second race added Geoff, set Adam as crew for John (now with his Bosun’s mainsail reef removed), rested Robin and attached Bob in a non-competing coaching role. The wind was a little fresher, the sun now hiding and the OOD donning an extra layer as the five boats approached the start. Sue crossed the line before the klaxon’s echo had died away with Linda and John close behind. At the first mark Sue and Linda had stretched a lead from Geoff and John with Bob accompanying. Going towards Pinkie the Bosun dropped to the rear but coming down the lake recovered to third with Linda overtaking Sue for the lead approaching Dam Green. The leading pair stretched their lead over John and Adam on the second lap with Bob keeping company with Geoff at the rear. By the start of the final lap the boats were in procession and, with the wind lightening, the gaps increased throughout the small fleet. Linda crossed the finish with a lead of a minute and a half over Sue, reversed on handicap to a 54 second win for Sue, whilst John and Adam came in third and Geoff fourth.

1. Sue Murray (Laser 4.7)
2. Linda Spiller (Laser Radial)
3. John Dabbs & Adam Hilton (Bosun)
4. Geoff Floyd (Solo)

Grateful thanks to Jane Chadney, OOD and to Stuart Mealing for assisting.

Bosun Plus 4

Four Bosuns with very wet crews competed for the lunchtime race. At the gun, it was Roger Heasman with crew Linda Spiller who were quickest off the mark with Bob Sampson a close second. Behind them came Brian Pollard with crew Cilla Gilbert and John Dabbs with crew Vicki Duncalf following. On the first lap Bob managed to push Roger back into second place and once the boats had settled into the course there was to be no further overtaking. Despite several skirmishes for all of the positions there was not enough wind or shifts to allow the trailing boats to be more competitive. A late freshening of the wind encouraged some more action but it was too late to produce any difference to the sequence that left Brian and Cilla just doing enough to hold off John and Vicki for third place.

1. Bob Sampson (Bosun)
2. Roger Heasman & Linda Spiller (Bosun)
3. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun)
4. John Dabbs and Vicki Duncalf (Bosun)

Pursuit 5

A sudden freshening of the wind minutes before the start left several sailors wishing they’d opted for extra crew or smaller sails for the afternoon race. Vicki Duncalf (Topper) was first away and managed to stay in the lead until late in the race when pipped on the last lap by James Pollard (Blaze). John Dabbs (Bosun) and Linda Spiller (Laser) were not too far behind but both got caught out by the strengthening winds with John the first for the early bath saying that he “just stuggled to control the boat” and Linda then throwing in the towel after saying it was like “Wrestling with a boar” (Though what experience she had of this cannot be verified). Lap 2 saw Bob Sampson bowing to the strength of the wind when he said “The mast was shaking so much, I could see disaster looming” leaving just 6 out of 9 starters to continue. The others proved slightly more resilient and Roger Heasman manfully handling his Bosun alone though with some difficulty. The remaining 6 after 45 minutes were 1.Vicki Duncalf (Topper) 2. Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert (Bosun) 3. James Pollard (Blaze) 4. Nathan Pollard (Laser) 5. Roger Heasman (Bosun) and 6. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial). As with all Pursuits, the boats got ever closer to each other towards the end of the race and within the space of 15 minutes James Pollard had eased out Vicki Duncalf for first place leaving Vicki second. Nathan Pollard had passed his Dad Brian to finish third and his Dad 4^th and Jane Anderson sailed past Roger Heasman to finish fifth with him a fighting sixth and last place. Well done to James, Nathan and Jane for fighting back hard from a large time handicap and well done too to Vicki, Brian and Roger for holding out for so long. All sailors enjoyed a good cuppa and slice of John Duncalf’s birthday cake after battling the very strong gusts in the afternoon and looking forward to a well earned rest this evening.

1. James Pollard (Blaze)
2. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
3. Nathan Pollard (Laser)
4. Brian & Cilla (Bosun)
5. Jane Anderson (Laser Radial)
6. Roger Heasman (Bosun)

Retired: Linda (Laser), Bob (Bosun), John Dabbs (Bosun)

Thanks to John Duncalf as Office of the Day, Paul Anderson as the reporter and Mandy Pollard who took the photographs.

Our best wishes to James Pollard in his new exciting career.

Teatime Tankard 3

The sun was strong enough to make one want to sit in the shade, the wind was strong enough to take one up and down the Lake and the Lake itself looked beautiful. Sue Murray (Laser Radial) and Linda Spiller (Laser Full) were across the start line first, beating towards Zebra, bearing away slightly to go to Inlet, beating across to West and reaching to Pinky, before staring the long run back to Dam Green. In the course of this lap Linda established a lead over Sue that she gradually stretched for the rest of the race, finishing two and a half minutes ahead. Bob Sampson, trying out the Club Wayfarer on his own, seemed attached by a rope to the stern of Sue Murray’s Laser once he had established himself ahead of Robin Spiller (Streaker), Adam Hilton (Solo) and Graham Joyce (Laser Full). He ended the race twelve seconds behind Sue. The Streaker, Solo and Laser changed places a time or two in front of John Dabbs, sailing his Bosun solo, who headed the rest of the fleet. The handicaps tossed the order up in the air. Colin and Louise Witchell (Bosun) may have crossed the line last but are now moving up the fleet when handicaps are applied.

Teatime Plate 6

Linda Spiller and Sue Murray decided to start on starboard whereas Bob Sampson came from port. Linda called starboard on Bob who ducked under her stern, nearly compromising Graham Joyce, also on the starboard tack. Linda again led, although coming back on the run to Dam Green she and Sue were neck and neck with the Wayfarer similarly side by side with Adam Hilton’s Solo and Graham Joyce just behind. On the second lap the Adam managed to establish his lead over the Sampson Wayfarer and the fleet in general spread out. Geoff Floyd had the alarming experience of having the boom of his Solo come out of the goose neck. The handicaps again gave John Dabbs the victory, brought Adam Hilton’s Solo up to second and put Sue Murray’s Radial ahead of Linda Spiller’s Full.

Thank you, Roger Heasman, for running the races.

Sailboat 2

The day belonged to James Pollard and his Blaze, his Blaze of glory it is impossible not to write. He started first and finished first, some five minutes in front of everyone else, having lapped a large part of the fleet. Applying the handicaps took him down to third. But it was a grim day; there had been talk of heavy rain and force 6 gusts. The Lakes Trust had failed to provide safety boat cover and so Bob Sampson and Sue Murray had to give up their afternoon’s racing and sit in a chilly safety boat. In the end what rain there was, was not heavy and the winds, highly gusty and variable, came from the southeast at the Dam end and the north east at the top of the Lake! Boat and sail choice was cautious, Jane Anderson joining Vicky Duncalf in Toppers, Nathan Pollard and Linda Spiller putting the smallest sail on their Lasers and John Dabbs, Adam Hilton crewing, flying small sails on his Bosun.

Brian Pollard (with John Weller, a much welcomed return) had full size sails on his Bosun which made him and his crew work very hard! Nathan Pollard started fourth but finished every lap in second and was given first place by the handicap. Jane Anderson started second, stayed close to the faster boats, finished fourth on the water and was rewarded with second place by the handicap.

Pursuit 4

There were no pesky handicaps to demote James Pollard and his Blaze in the Pursuit race or rather they were imposed in advance; James, starting many minutes after the first boat, roared through the fleet to first. By contrast Jane Anderson in her Topper started second and finished second. Linda Spiller stayed ahead of Nathan Pollard and finished third. Brian Pollard’s Bosun finished a long way ahead of the Dabbs Bosun, which, with its small sails, was slow in the now much reduced winds.

1. James Pollard (Blaze)
2. Jane Anderson (Topper)
3. Linda Spiller (Laser 4.7)
4. Nathan Pollard (Laser 4.7)
5. Brian Pollard and John Weller (Bosun)
6. Vicki Duncalf (Topper)
7. John Dabbs and Adam Hilton (Bosun)

Grateful thanks were given to Paul Anderson, Officer of the Day, Bob Sampson & Sue Murray in the Safety Boat and to Mandy Pollard who took the photographs.

Teatime Tankard 2

It was a bright day, not particularly warm because sharp little breezes, somewhat stronger than the 9mph forecast, from the north and west kept the temperature down. Sue Murray, who was running the afternoon’s races, set a course that went up to Pinky, came back to West, across to Inlet and back to Dam Green, a good course providing all the beats, runs, reaches, and gybes that you could want, but requiring nine buoys to define it, more than a wrist could comfortably hold. The Commodore’s afternoon had not started well when he set off from land with the bungs on their little strings trailing behind the Solo, but that rectified, he got a good start, on starboard, beating out to the west before going about and making a useful tack, well to windward, up the Lake. The Solo was pointing so well that it was to the west (starboard) of Home 2, which the course required be left to port. Linda Spiller (prudently flying a 4.7 on her Laser) generously pointed this out and the Solo returned to have another go but not correctly and the OOD subsequently had to ‘retire’ it. The 4.7 got to Pinky first, then the Solo. John Dabbs, with Jane Chadney, was leading the Bosuns with Bob Sampson (Stephanie Clarke as crew) next. Roger Heasman’s Bosun spent the afternoon refusing to point as high as its sisters; he followed with Leila Farmer’s Hartley 12 at the rear and the Chatterton Enterprise sometimes following along.

On Lap2  the Commodore overtook the 4.7 only to need Linda to remind him to go the right side of Home 1. Doing so put him back among the Bosuns which were now being led by Bob Sampson until his main sheet grazed Zebra and he was delayed doing a 360, leaving John Dabbs to lead the Bosuns from then on. More helms missed Home 2. On Lap 3 the Solo was hauled by its big sail past Linda Spiller’s Laser but despite her being the first of only three legal finishers, the handicap placed her behind the Bosuns.

Teatime Plate 5

The fleet was reduced to four boats; three Bosuns and the Laser 4.7. Bob Sampson crossed the line first closely followed by Roger Heasman (now with Adam Hilton sitting on his front thwart), John Dabbs and then Linda Spiller. Home 2 was no longer a mark of the course which seemed to enable everyone to keep clear and the right side of all the buoys. Linda Spiller made up for her start by getting to the top of the course first and continued to increase her lead. Bob Sampson stayed as lead Bosun with John Dabbs half a minute behind and Roger Heasman’s Bosun still refused to point. Finishing was difficult; having rounded Dam Green and hardened up, skippers tacked towards the pontoon, went about and tended to find themselves on a beat parallel to the finish line! Another tack was required to cross it. With handicaps applied Linda’s lead was reduced from nearly two minutes to just three seconds!

Thank you, Sue Murray, for running the races.

Tamar 5

Robin Spiller (Streaker) and Adam Hilton (Solo) started neck and neck on a grey, damp day with light and highly variable airs coming from points east to south. But it was Nathan Pollard (Laser Full), always a keen competitor – lying second before this race – in the Tamar race series, who came up fast and rounded the first buoy, Zebra, in the lead, a lead he never lost. He was still being closely tracked by Robin Spiller, but his Streaker was ill-adapted to the very light winds, refusing to point as high as the other dinghies, and his frequent rival, Adam Hilton, was able to overtake before the end of the first lap. Bob Sampson (Laser Full) had a frustrating start. Arriving at the line slightly too early, he thought to do a gybe turn but Roger Heasman’s Bosun (Linda Spiller crewing) was using the water needed for the gybe and Bob had to go the long way round resulting in his starting last. But at the end of lap 1 he was up to third and he overtook Adam Hilton on lap 2 to take second at the finish. The Bosuns spent both races in close company. Roger Heasman started in front but it was John Dabbs (with a visitor as crew) who finished the race in that position. Applying the handicaps gave Adam Hilton and his Solo, which finished a couple of minutes behind the winner on the water, the victory.

Tamar 6

The winds had moved a little eastwards and the top of the Lake, blanketed by the hills, was looking alarmingly glassy. Brian Pollard, running the races for the day, cut out the northernmost buoy, Pinky, and added in Dam Green in the south in the hope of supplying competitors with some wind. Robin Spiller again started first from the Home 2 start line, with Nathan Pollard and Bob Sampson following. The wind had picked up a little but the mist and the rain had descended, leaving competitors wet and chilly. Robin Spiller kept his lead on the way to West White but the Pollard and Sampson Lasers soon swept past with the Solo also getting ahead on lap 2. An added indignity was going aground in the shallow waters of a Tamar Lake already dropping in height; the Streaker retired. Roger Heasman led the close-running Bosuns at the end of lap1 but John Dabbs got ahead on lap 2 and finished each lap ahead, all of twenty five seconds ahead at the finish!

Grateful thanks were given to Brian Pollard and Cilla Gilbert, Officers of the Day, and to Mandy Pollard who took the photographs

by Adam Hilton

Bosun Plus 3

Roger Heasman (Bosun, with Linda Spiller) was the first to cross the starting line but Sue Murray and Jane Anderson’s fast Club Bosun was the first to round Middle, the first buoy, with John Buckett, Adam Hilton as crew, following and then the first non-Bosun interloper, Nathan Pollard in his Laser (Full). This was a late afternoon race, delayed by a fishing competition. It was a beautiful day, hot, and with more wind than had been forecast and coming from the northwest, which wasn’t what had been forecast either. It was variable in strength and direction and sometimes, blanketed by the hill, disappeared altogether at Inlet. Nathan was leading by the end of the lap and Paul Anderson’s Laser (Full) toured in forth until he overtook the second Bosun, John Buckett’s on lap 3. The main conflict was between three Bosuns; John Dabbs’ (with Geoff Floyd), Brian and James Pollard’s and Roger Heasman’s. They were never more than a length or two apart with the order changing every lap. It was the Dabbs boat leading the trio at the end.

1. Sue Murray and Jane Anderson (Bosun)
2. John Buckett and Adam Hilton (Bosun)
3. John Dabbs and Geoff Floyd (Bosun)
4. Brian and James Pollard (Bosun)
5. Roger Heasman and Linda Spiller (Bosun)

Retired: Louise and Colin Witchell (Bosun)

With handicaps applied, Nathan Pollard (Laser Full) led Robin Spiller (Streaker) and Paul Anderson (Laser Full)

Grateful thanks were given to Bob Sampson, Officer of the Day, and to Mandy Pollard who took the photographs.

Midweek Mug 7

The day was grey, dismal, occasionally damp. The winds were fitful, undecided as to strength or direction. As for direction, Penny Abbott, the day’s OOD, started the first race towards the Dam and the second towards West White. And in the case of strength, the wind abandoned the leader, Linda Spiller (Laser Full) on a piece of glass in the first race so that her competitors caught up and sent down a gust vicious enough to flip her over in the second, achieving the same effect.

The theoretical double-handers consisted of John Dabbs, not double-handed at all, but alone in his Bosun and doing very well in it, Louise and Colin Witchell with Bob Sampson aboard telling them to point higher and not treat the next buoy as an unexploded mine and Ian Chatterton alone in his Enterprise and not really racing yet. The other Laser, flying a Radial, had Mel Sampson in it, increasing in confidence by the minute. Adam Hilton was there in his anaemic white Solo with the high-tec sail and Robin Spiller had his Streaker on the water; he wanted more wind but that didn’t stop him getting over the line first even if it was Linda Spiller who got round Dam Green in the lead, a lead she never relinquished. The Solo spent the race in second, with the Streaker in third and John Dabbs in fourth until Mel Sampson overtook him. The handicaps made Linda and John swap places but left everyone else where they’d finished on the water.

Not starting: Ian Chatterton

Teatime Plate 3

Linda Spiller was again first away and first all the way but the afore-mentioned capsize reduced her lead at the end to fifty seconds over Mel Sampson who had disposed of the Bosun and the Solo just after West White. That made Adam Hilton, who hadn’t realised that the course had changed until the last minute, last. However he was able to catch and gradually overtake John Dabbs Bosun on the long reach back from Pinky; no chance of catching Mel Sampson, planing across the middle of the Lake like a good’un. Corrected results show only 34 seconds between first and last!

Grateful thanks were given to Penny Abbott, Officer of the Day.