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Magic Marine RS100 Sprint Championship -Rutland SC

Day 1, 23rd April 2016

The legendary Uffa Fox used to contend that the boat that made one mistake would come first, two mistakes for second etc.

Well, judging by the performance of the RS100 sailors at the Rutland Sprints this year, it would not have been unfair if the points had started at 7 for a win rather than 1 but luckily the scoring system does not work like that.

With six 20-minute races, senility means it’s all a bit of a blur, so this write up is going to be more of a personal confessions edition…

Absent David Smart, your usual correspondent, fell off his bicycle, now has a limp wrist and claims he will not be able to sail until September. Fortunately, this does mean we will not have to put up with the wobbly blue stripe making us all sea-sick until then.

As a general observation, our starting was pathetic. In the third race, virtually the whole fleet was miles from the line when the gun went, at which there was a spontaneous and universal burst of laughing at our own ineptitude.

In points order, the low-lights for each of us go something like this:
Smug Steve Lee was the least muppet-ish of us, but still managed to spend most of the first race capsized (it really was not sufficiently windy to justify any capsizes). “What other errors Steve?” we asked. “None.” He’s lying.
Huw Powell (and Greg, but no surprises in his case) decided that that OOD had got the course wrong and decided to skip the leeward spreader mark in the first race. Huw also capsized rounding the first leeward mark in the second, giving some of us not much time do dodge running over his rig.
Being a boring Chartered Accountant, your correspondent manifested this characteristic by rescuing 4 consecutive thirds from the numerous errors, including going from first to sixth in one leg and capsizing at the leeward spreader by deciding to pull in the last foot of kite rather than keep the boat upright.
Goodness only knows how Chairman Mark Harrison is fourth overall after Saturday, probably benefiting from the sins of others. His highlights include capsizing right next to the committee boat right on the gun (he spent so long recovering, we thought he was having another of his Cadbury’s Flake breaks). He also admits to being in reverse on another start-gun.  

Pining-for-his-Daemon-Smartie, Greg Booth is next. Got lost and capsized in race 1. “I was always up there at the beginning, but not at the end.” Clearly these 20 minute races are a bit too long for the poor old boy.
Paul Luttman: “Missing the briefing did not help. Nor did having someone steal my rudder when I went to collect the boat this morning.” Clearly things improved as the day went on with a second in race 6 – fitter than Greg obvs.
Mostyn Evans was airing his new boat and going better than with the old one – even with shiny-slippery new ropes. How does he manage to get his other-half to rig his boat for him? His biggest bane was Clive applying some devious tricks to get past him on more than one occasion.
 
Simon Geyman’s day started well with a couple of rigging errors (we’ve all been there). Tomorrow’s another day.
Paul Drewary: “I fell in lots (this is allowed in a first season) but can report that the slot gaskets are OK”
Will we be any less bad tomorrow? Time will tell. The points are pretty tight, so there is still all to play for.

Day 2

On the basis we could hardly be more error-prone after a day of practice (could we?), Sunday looked inviting for day 2 of the RS100 Rutland Sprints. But warm it was not; one of those find-clothes, all clothes and put them on. Then some more. We did refrain from the bank-robber style of balaclava and sunglasses sported by some of the 400 crews though.

Sadly for Greg Booth (who likes a blow, was desperate to wind us all up and regain some points after a disappointing Saturday) by the time we launched, the small white horses, spotted as we ate breakfast, were back in their stable. More of the same then. Gusts, lulls, big oscillations, new wind from left, new wind from right. Opportunities to make gains or give it all away would abound.

Thankfully, it appears that Saturday's practice (or beer) provided a beneficial effect. For instance, we all seemed to have worked out roughly how to be in the vicinity of the line at the gun, to the extent that I suspect the OOD actually felt obliged to cast his eye down his transits occasionally. But not one individual recall in 12 races was about our line-shyness, not the race-team.

The conditions required some tricky decision making; is this shift a direction-flick to tack on now or a continuing oscillation to sail into for a while? And if so, how far into that header? Was it worth sailing thru a header in the lulls to get to greater pressure that might be gone when you got there, but sometimes provided a big gain? Was it worth taking a detrimental lift at the start of the second run to get to higher pressure in the waist of the lake? Decisions, decisions.

The bad news, from your correspondent's selfish view at least, was that everyone seemed to be sailing far better. Far fewer silly mistakes or navigational errors. I did wonder though about my life insurance on a leeward spreader leg when, having dropped the kite first, I found first Greg, then Steve Lee, coming at me at high speed from above and behind, struggling to get their own down in a gust. There are rules and there is self-preservation! Mostyn Evans meantime had found a new way of auto-releasing his kite - apparently, if you don’t notice that the head-cringle-eye is bigger than the bobble in your loop-n-bobble knot, that’s what happens, inevitably when you least expect it.

The upshot of all this was that, clearly, Huw Powell was getting his mojo back, closing with three consecutive bullets, Steve's orange-juice hangover resulted in him joining in with the rest of us some of the time (but still carving out the best results of the day), Mark Harrison and Greg Booth had cut down on the errors and I was getting, err, slightly fatigued by the last two races. Come the last, Steve was safe in the lead, Huw consolidated in second but it was close between Mark and  Clive for third. And it all came down to the last run. Mark and Greg jousting for third over-stood the final mark. Clive didn’t, but got whacked by the gust of the day on the final gybe (well thats the excuse Mark kindly gave me), fell in, let Simon Geyman (for his best result of the weekend; grr, I used to like him) and Paul Luttman past and just one of those lost points was enough to give Chairman Mark third. Yup, a weekend for errors alright.

Thanks go the RSC for putting on a great meeting; wonderful fast turnarounds, minimal hanging about and a great format. It can’t have been warm in a committee or safety boat, so thanks again to all.

For those that missed out, the Sprints are a fab format; well worth making the effort for a season opener and to get rid of that winter-rustiness. FOMO should apply, so put it in your diaries for next year please.

Clive Eplett