20/06/2012

Portavadie Weekend and pursuit race

Catherine Toy writes:

Setting off from Kip in the pouring rain with a north easterly force 5 was not the most enjoyable start to Saturday's Pursuit Race to Portavavadie. Covered from head to toe in wet weather gear, wearing plenty layers of warm clothing and unaware that the IRC race event at Largs had been postponed, the intrepid fleet of Camus Bosta, Out of the Blue and Exody started the race at timed intervals. Because the winds were so strong the theory that the faster boats would catch up with the slower boats never materialised and Camus Bosta with her 20min handicap being the first to start, stormed off and led all the way to the finish line. Winds were around force 5 /6  gusting up to 38 -40 knots so crews were well practised in reefing and shaking out mains and gennies by the time they got to Colintraive and then onwards to Portavadie.

Troikka, opting to save the entry fee, left shortly after Camus Bosta and was able to watch her pull away.  The 38kt gusts being emitted from Loch Striven caused a somewhat tense few minutes and a pit stop on a Colintraive Hotel mooring was needed to restore order and a properly reefed mainsail. Aquaholic cruised behind in a more restrained motoring fashion watching the antics unfold. 

Camus Bosta reported that they were surfing along at over 9 knots. Out of the Blue was one man down or rather one women down as the Commodore had slipped between the  boat and the pontoon in the marina and damaged her leg , so she was down below with an ice pack on her knee, having first made sure that there was ice left over for the post-race G and T's.  However the remainder of Stewart's all female crew ably sailed OOTB and with a mainsail the size of a reefed Topper, she was racing along averaging about 7 knots and only rounding up in the very strongest gusts.
Exody brought up the rear unable to catch up in such strong wind. She was  crewed by three generations of the Jennet family , including Peter's brother Martin who was home on holiday from the Carribean.

Camus Bosta was a well deserved winner. The rest of us enjoyed the challenge and were just happy that we had survived the gusty conditions without damage. The crews of Emma Louise, and Pond Skater drove up and booked in overnight to the marina's comfortable accommodation. Kelpie D came over from their base in Loch Riddon and Marie and Eilidh drove up, joined us  and stayed in the Kames Hotel.
In the evening after almost everyone had popped on to OOTB for a drink or two, 29 sat down to a well presented three course/three choice dinner upstairs in the marina restaurant.

(we don't have any photos of the weekend so here's one of the Waverley as seen on the return trip)
Sunday by contrast arrived calm with blue skies and sunshine and all memories of the previous day's chaos were quickly forgotten as we all cruised back, relaxed, happy and in company - a fitting end to a great weekend.
The next club event will be the Craobh BBQ and ceilidh and the Round Shuna race on the 21st/22nd July.  I hope that if you are cruising on the west coast you will come and join us.

10/06/2012

2012 Ladies' Race Results

The SYC supercomputer has just come up with the results of the Ladies' Race.

 

08/06/2012

Portavadie Muster


Portavadie
The next event is a gathering in Portavadie.  For those interested in an informal race we are holding a pursuit race from Kip to Colintraive, followed by a cruise onwards to Portavadie.  The first start will be off Kip at 1015hrs on the Saturday morning. Please return your entry forms to Paul Harris  by Saturday 9 June 2012. The race entry fee is £10. See the race instructions below.

Pontoon spaces are reserved for Serpent Yachts for Saturday evening.  All fees for berthing are to be paid directly to the marina. Dinner is in the upper restaurant at 7.30pm on Saturday 16 June.  The meal will cost £25/head and is payable directly to the restaurant on the evening.  To help with billing please order by boat name.    
On the Sunday enjoy a leisurely cruise home.  

 
PORTAVADIE MUSTER - Saturday 16 June 2012
KIP TO COLINTRAIVE PURSUIT RACE INSTRUCTIONS
Saturday 16 June 2012
RULES
Races will be sailed under the current SYC Racing Rules, which are available on the website.
Yachts competing in this race shall not set spinnakers, twin headsails or cruising chutes.
All yachts shall race under their CYCA handicap rating.
START
 A line between the Committee boat mooring and the red racing mark off the entrance to Kip Marina. Please note there will be no committee boat or sound signals. 
COURSE
Starting Line – Toward Bank Buoy (green conical No. 35) (S) – Ardmaleish Point Buoy (north cardinal) (P) – Finishing Line (approx - 13 M).

FINISH
When the buoy Rubha Bodach  (green conical) bears 270 degrees, the buoy to
be left to PORT.

TIME LIMIT
Racing will cease at 15.00hrs. The winning yacht shall be the first yacht in the race to pass the finish line within the time limit. If no yacht has passed the finishing line within the time limit then the following shall apply. As this is a pursuit race if a yacht has not crossed the finishing line within the time limit a yachts final position will be determined by its position on the racecourse. Yachts should note their finish time and the yacht immediately ahead and immediately behind.
 
The Serpent Yacht Club does not accept any liability for loss, damage or injury of any description whatever which may be sustained by Yachts, Owners, Crews and Guests of Yachts taking part or using or accepting assistance from launches by them or otherwise, however occasioned, whether by negligence of their servants or not. It shall be the sole responsibility of each yacht to decide whether or not to start or continue to race.
  
RACE STARTING TIMES
Yachts with CYCA handicaps ending in 0.25 or 0.75 shall start at the time appropriate to yacht with handicaps 0.25 LOWER e.g. handicap 16.25 starts with 16 minutes per hour. Other CYCA handicaps will be rounded to the nearest handicap ending in 0.00 or 0.50.
Start Time
Per Hour CYCA Handicap
10.15
22.5 and over
10.18
22
10.21
21.5
10.24
21
10.27
20.5
10.30
20
10.33
19.5
10.36
19
10.39
18.5
10.42
18
10.45
17.5
10.48
17
10.51
16.5
10.54
16
10.57
15.5
11.00
15
11.02
14.5
11.04
14
11.06
13.5
11.08
13
11.10
12.5
11.12
12
11.14
11.5
11.16
11
11.18
and continuing every 2 minutes per half minute for any lower handicaps
10.5
A watch should be kept on channel 37/M1 for any Serpent Yacht Communications. 

Please send completed Entry Forms and Money to:
Paul Harris 23 Baronald Drive, Glasgow, G12 0JA (Tel: 0141 3571093)



21/05/2012

Spring Muster and Tarbert Race

What a superb sailing weekend to start off the 2012 Serpent programme.  Peter Jennett on Exody started the fleet off Kip with the Class 3 starters off first and Class 1 thereafter with Aquaholic and Guilty right on the line with spinnaker poles set for the downwind sail to Garroch Head.  The fleet set off down the Wemyss Bay shore with the exception of Troikka where they were too disorganised to do anything but head for the other side by which time the asymmetric was ready for a gybe-free ride. Troikka held the lead from Aquaholic and Guilty who were well ahead of the white sails bunch but a spectacularly protracted gybe at Garroch Head allowed the other two to catch up and then heading over to the Kintyre shore proved a mistake as the wind failed and Aquaholic and Guilty in close contention romped away to the finish with Aquaholic the winner on handicap. Sensing that they might be timed out and with a strong sense of Commodorial duty, Out of the Blue retired and arrived to welcome the latecomers.  With such a long sail there was little time for cockpit socialising before all repaired to the Starfish Restaurant where in most pleasant surroundings we had an excellent and convivial meal.  There was general agreement that this was a venue to which we would happily return. The photo below shows the members enjoying their meal.


During the meal, the crew of Camus Bosta who were without a lady helm for the Sunday Ladies' Race attempted to lure Troikka's lady helm with the offer of camels, cooked breakfasts and what not but fortunately Jill recognised that while a boat with one wheel was bad enough, one with two wheels was taking things much too far.  
Next day dawned sunny but with a fresh chilly wind from the south east.  Seamus and Peter Lalor on Emma Louise were the race officers and Troikka and Guilty both had perfectly judged starts and proceeded to cross tacks all the way down Loch Fyne.

The venerable Guilty an impressive sight as she powers upwind.  Below is Troikka's lady helm at her first attempt at wheel steering.

It was only when the wind eased and Guilty's crew took to sunning on the deck that Troikka was able to overtake.
Unfortunately the wind failed at Ardlamont and it was a real struggle to get to Kames within the time limit. Troikka managed with about 20 seconds to spare thus giving the fleet a 30 minute extension and managed this without flying two headsails unlike some others.....

Unfortunately the results are not to hand right now so the identity of the victorious lady helm on Guilty is not known to me. Also I regret that we have no pictures or accounts from Class 3 as they were just too far behind your writer! Whatever, it was an opening muster as good as they come and we look forward to the Portavadie event on the 16th June. Thanks to Catherine the Commodore for all her efforts.

06/02/2012

A Message from the Commodore

I hope you have all had a Good Christmas and New Year. The last time we were together was for the Prize Giving Dinner in the Art Club which was a great night and a great celebration of an exciting year.

The AGM has been arranged for Monday 20th February in the Golden Jubilee Hospital at Clydebank. The crew of Tanit is speaking of their man overboard experience this summer and the lessons they learned from it. So please come along.

However please note that after many years of giving us the room and catering free, the Golden Jubilee Hospital has decided to charge us for the facility.

As we had not budgeted for this, the committee has taken the decision to reduce the catering to tea, coffee and biscuits to keep costs manageable, so the normal finger buffet will not be on offer.

I hope you will be able to attend and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

Tom Barrie
Commodore