ACCESS NATIONAL CHAPIONSHIPS, PITSFORD WATER
JULY 10th-12th 2009
First, our biggest thanks to John Hainsworth, Harvey Harrison and all the volunteers at Swarkestone Sailability for giving us the opportunity to do this.
A damp, overcast and drizzly day awaited us on Friday at Pitsford Water.
We arrived to find a good few boats already on the water, Friday being a training day, but being as we were doing things "Swarkstone fashion" we elected not to train, but just to get acquainted with the surroundings and facilities of the host club, i.e. the Bar.
After registering our entry and paying the customary fees and bribes we had our first surprise. All boats were to be weighed and measured!
We were asked to strip all removable gear from the boat, so we proceeded to bail the five gallons or so of rainwater from the rear tank of "Partnership".
Then came our second surprise, Partnership was the heaviest '303 in the Fleet!
Some eight kilos heavier than the lightest boat, plus she had one of the heavier keels as well, some five kilos over the lightest!
As dusk fell we knew we'd need all of our powers of concentration and wit to sail fast the next day, so we had a few drink.
Swarkstone Fashion, yes?
Saturday morning, first race set for 11:00 hrs.
After the race officers briefing and a hasty breakfast of coffee, paracetamol and nicotine came the now typically slow process of getting onto the water.
Anyone who has ever tried to get twenty-five wheelchairs down a five foot jetty will understand the difficulties.
The wind was light and on the way to the start line a heavy shower gave all a good soaking, also typical!
There then followed more delays as the Race Officer had the windward mark shifted to and fro, trying to set a fair start line.
At last he was satisfied and the count began. Just after the one minute signal the wind backed about twenty-five degrees so we started at the boat and tacked straight onto port.
The wind then fairly boxed the compass, coming from all points in capricious little puffs and breezes. At the back of our minds was the thought of all the extra weight we were carrying in our heavy hull and keel.
We need not have worried at all!
'Partnership' shrugged of her extra kilos and surged forward on every little breath of air and we rounded the windward mark just in first place by a boat length.
In spite of baffling winds we maintained our lead and crossed the line some minutes before our nearest rival.
One in the bag for us!
The second race was similar to the first, but perceiving a good line of ripples to the left side we ran down the line and started at the pin-end.
One by one boats tacked onto port, but we held and were rewarded with more pressure and a slight lift, so we rounded the mark well clear, held onto it to the end and that was two in the bag!
We then stopped for lunch, and so did the wind! It took some boats for ever to get back to the jettys.
All through lunch the wind was absent, the lake like glass, so it was decided to abandon racing for the day and hold the A.G.M. instead.
As soon as the meeting started the wind returned and blew a steady five knots straight down the lake!
What a charming, playful spirit the wind is!
The evening was spent in pleasant social discourse with our fellow sailors, Swarkstone fashion, again.
Sunday dawned and our charming, playful spirit had changed into a howling "hoolie" with big gusts batting down the lake and raising foot-high waves at the start line; and we had four races to sail in this!
Race Three,
We started at the boat end and bang on time but could not seem to get going as fast as those on the left side, so at the first mark we rounded in fourth place.
Now 'Partnership' came into her own, she picked up her skirts and with a white bone in her teeth sped past one boat on the reach and came up with the leaders. By taking a better line at the turn downwind we managed to get alongside and to windward of them, taking their wind. Struggling to keep a straight course in the large waves we rounded the leeward mark still in third but gaining.
Once through the start/finish gate we chose the left side again, but this time instead of gentle puffs of wind there were huge gusts, but they lifted every time, so when we tacked we crossed ahead of the lead boat!
A quick tack and we rounded in first place a short reach and a run and the race was ours!
Three in the Bag.
Race four was similar; again we made a run down the line to the pin-end and held our luff until we felt a shift at the top left-side of the course.
We tacked and crossed clear of all, rounded the mark and sailed home first by a long sea-mile.
With four races won the Bag was feeling comfortably full, we on the other hand were soaked through, tired out and very grateful of the lunch break.
Over plates of sausage and chips we tried to take stock of the situation.
This proved more difficult than was quite right, as the results seemed to be confused with corrections and queries abounding. However, we managed to determine that we needed to get a third place or better in one of the last two races to be assured of success.
The wind, ever playful, continued to build all through lunch and we were treated top some spectacular spills and speeds from the club dinghy racers and sailboarders.
The last two races were held in extreme conditions.
A long delay at the start line resulted in a few collisions and swamping, mainly for the 2.3's, though we lost our wind indicator on the mainsheet of a starboard boat!
We had decided on shore to try a reef in the mainsail, as steering upwind was getting difficult. We saw, however, that we were the only 303 to do so.
After a punishing first beat we rounded the mark in first place, but on the reach we soon realized our reefed main was slower than our rivals when going large. Hanging on to the lead at the downwind turn we could do nothing but watch as three boats surged past us easily.
Round the leeward mark we again took a wide line in and shot out of the turn so high and fast that we sailed to windward of the gate buoy and had to turn back to round it. Despite the error, such was the advantage to windward of our reefed rig that we rounded the top mark in first place again; and again saw our lead melt away on the reach and run.
Again in third place at the leeward mark, we shot up fast and high out of the exit, made no mistake and crossed the line in second place.
The Day was ours!!
Having confirmed this with the race officer, we elected to call it a day and not compete in the final race.
So, laying a course for the clubhouse bar, we left our competitors to fight over the spoils of our
VICTORY!
Chris Molesworth.& Mark Alton, Access 303 champions, 2009
A damp, overcast and drizzly day awaited us on Friday at Pitsford Water.
We arrived to find a good few boats already on the water, Friday being a training day, but being as we were doing things "Swarkstone fashion" we elected not to train, but just to get acquainted with the surroundings and facilities of the host club, i.e. the Bar.
After registering our entry and paying the customary fees and bribes we had our first surprise. All boats were to be weighed and measured!
We were asked to strip all removable gear from the boat, so we proceeded to bail the five gallons or so of rainwater from the rear tank of "Partnership".
Then came our second surprise, Partnership was the heaviest '303 in the Fleet!
Some eight kilos heavier than the lightest boat, plus she had one of the heavier keels as well, some five kilos over the lightest!
As dusk fell we knew we'd need all of our powers of concentration and wit to sail fast the next day, so we had a few drink.
Swarkstone Fashion, yes?
Saturday morning, first race set for 11:00 hrs.
After the race officers briefing and a hasty breakfast of coffee, paracetamol and nicotine came the now typically slow process of getting onto the water.
Anyone who has ever tried to get twenty-five wheelchairs down a five foot jetty will understand the difficulties.
The wind was light and on the way to the start line a heavy shower gave all a good soaking, also typical!
There then followed more delays as the Race Officer had the windward mark shifted to and fro, trying to set a fair start line.
At last he was satisfied and the count began. Just after the one minute signal the wind backed about twenty-five degrees so we started at the boat and tacked straight onto port.
The wind then fairly boxed the compass, coming from all points in capricious little puffs and breezes. At the back of our minds was the thought of all the extra weight we were carrying in our heavy hull and keel.
We need not have worried at all!
'Partnership' shrugged of her extra kilos and surged forward on every little breath of air and we rounded the windward mark just in first place by a boat length.
In spite of baffling winds we maintained our lead and crossed the line some minutes before our nearest rival.
One in the bag for us!
The second race was similar to the first, but perceiving a good line of ripples to the left side we ran down the line and started at the pin-end.
One by one boats tacked onto port, but we held and were rewarded with more pressure and a slight lift, so we rounded the mark well clear, held onto it to the end and that was two in the bag!
We then stopped for lunch, and so did the wind! It took some boats for ever to get back to the jettys.
All through lunch the wind was absent, the lake like glass, so it was decided to abandon racing for the day and hold the A.G.M. instead.
As soon as the meeting started the wind returned and blew a steady five knots straight down the lake!
What a charming, playful spirit the wind is!
The evening was spent in pleasant social discourse with our fellow sailors, Swarkstone fashion, again.
Sunday dawned and our charming, playful spirit had changed into a howling "hoolie" with big gusts batting down the lake and raising foot-high waves at the start line; and we had four races to sail in this!
Race Three,
We started at the boat end and bang on time but could not seem to get going as fast as those on the left side, so at the first mark we rounded in fourth place.
Now 'Partnership' came into her own, she picked up her skirts and with a white bone in her teeth sped past one boat on the reach and came up with the leaders. By taking a better line at the turn downwind we managed to get alongside and to windward of them, taking their wind. Struggling to keep a straight course in the large waves we rounded the leeward mark still in third but gaining.
Once through the start/finish gate we chose the left side again, but this time instead of gentle puffs of wind there were huge gusts, but they lifted every time, so when we tacked we crossed ahead of the lead boat!
A quick tack and we rounded in first place a short reach and a run and the race was ours!
Three in the Bag.
Race four was similar; again we made a run down the line to the pin-end and held our luff until we felt a shift at the top left-side of the course.
We tacked and crossed clear of all, rounded the mark and sailed home first by a long sea-mile.
With four races won the Bag was feeling comfortably full, we on the other hand were soaked through, tired out and very grateful of the lunch break.
Over plates of sausage and chips we tried to take stock of the situation.
This proved more difficult than was quite right, as the results seemed to be confused with corrections and queries abounding. However, we managed to determine that we needed to get a third place or better in one of the last two races to be assured of success.
The wind, ever playful, continued to build all through lunch and we were treated top some spectacular spills and speeds from the club dinghy racers and sailboarders.
The last two races were held in extreme conditions.
A long delay at the start line resulted in a few collisions and swamping, mainly for the 2.3's, though we lost our wind indicator on the mainsheet of a starboard boat!
We had decided on shore to try a reef in the mainsail, as steering upwind was getting difficult. We saw, however, that we were the only 303 to do so.
After a punishing first beat we rounded the mark in first place, but on the reach we soon realized our reefed main was slower than our rivals when going large. Hanging on to the lead at the downwind turn we could do nothing but watch as three boats surged past us easily.
Round the leeward mark we again took a wide line in and shot out of the turn so high and fast that we sailed to windward of the gate buoy and had to turn back to round it. Despite the error, such was the advantage to windward of our reefed rig that we rounded the top mark in first place again; and again saw our lead melt away on the reach and run.
Again in third place at the leeward mark, we shot up fast and high out of the exit, made no mistake and crossed the line in second place.
The Day was ours!!
Having confirmed this with the race officer, we elected to call it a day and not compete in the final race.
So, laying a course for the clubhouse bar, we left our competitors to fight over the spoils of our
VICTORY!
Chris Molesworth.& Mark Alton, Access 303 champions, 2009