Eastleigh and District Model Boat Club

Many tanks to Roger for providing today's racing details. Nine skippers convened under overcast skies and with a fitful wind from, largely, the south-south west. A course was laid with a start line from yellow to 2 and pink as the first mark. Then a run/broad reach back to yellow followed by a close reach to 3. Then it was back to Pink, Yellow and then a finish between Mustard and Pink. The breeze grew slowly as the morning progressed and in the second half, following the

Many thanks to Roger for supplying today's racing details. The wind was in one of its moods this morning as the seven skippers convened. After some discussion a start line was defined between Pink and Mustard with Yellow as the first mark. After that it was 2 before heading down to pink and doing the whole thing again. The gradient wind was in the west but at times everything was experienced from South to North-East. There was plenty of upwind work to allow frequent place

I am grateful to JohnB for providing the details of today's racing: Six sailors arrived expecting wind and some rain. The wind was SW and top end of A+ at times, and a lot lower at others. The course was Orange-1,brown,pink,orange,3,brown,pink,orange,brown-pink Roger had a jib tie down breakage and ended up on an 'A' rig, also having several phone calls didn't help his day either. Racing was pretty good at times, the final leg was as usual a good place to win or lose places !

7 sailors braved the heat to compete in the 4th round of the May-Jun series. The wind started very light then rose as the morning wore on ending with some strong gusts (enough to blow your hat off). The course was M/P, Y, 3, M, Y, 3, M, Y/1 with the first couple of races only having 1 lap. The wind direction changes kept everyone on their toes and made tactical decisions somewhat of a lottery. Those with more winning numbers today were: 1st - J Bennett (12) 2nd - I White (17)

My thanks to Julyan for providing the details of today's racing: 11 DF65 sailors turned up to race. Westerly breezes were accompanied by gusts from the north, gifted via gaps on the west bank. Score sheet provided courtesy of JB(#02); course legend from CW(#06):- 1/ OR – Pink-OR-3-Pink-1 – M/Pink. Five races were achieved before break time, during which the dinghy was launched a) to rescue sail #161(with servo issue) from the southern overhang of fauna and b) to bring marks f

9 sailors arrived at Lakeside to compete in the second round of the May-Jun series. The weather was initially fine with a blustery SW breeze, and the mid-morning rain shower cleared quickly and we ended in bright sunshine. The course today was Y/2, M, P, Y, 3, P, Y, M/P and 9 heats were raced. Variable gusts and lulls approaching M caused a few pile-ups and the lulls approaching the finish tended the increase the blood pressure of the helm of the boat ahead. Those who managed

8 skippers competed in the first round of the May-Jun series. It was a little chilly to start with, but there seemed to be a decent NNE 10kt breeze. Chris set a course of P/M, R, B, 7, R, B, 7, R/3 and 10 heats were raced. The breeze largely kept up with some stronger guests later in the morning, but lulls particularly around "R" caused a certain amount of angst among those either trying to round it or attempting to cross the finish line. Congratulations go to those who fared

11 sailors arrived at Lakeside and were greeted with a blustery 13kt mainly NE breeze. A course of 5/P, R, B, 6, 8, R, B, 6, 8, R/3 served for the whole morning and 10 heats were raced. Light winds and holes near R and B were followed nose-diving and broaching as we approached 6 and the gusts between 6 and 8 caused many skipper to round up and miss 8. Those who managed steer their way the best today were: 1st - J Bennett (15) 2nd - I White (20) 3rd - J Richardson (24) Well do

Sunshine and a blustery Nor'Easterly at the upper limit (and beyond) of A+ rig encouraged 11 sailors to participate in the 8th round of the Mar-Apr series. The course set was 5/P, Y, 4, 6, P, Y, 4, 6, M/P, longer than normal, but with the wind strength, 11 heats were raced. Practice was had for recovering from broaches, submarining, and sailing backwards while in irons and many places could be gained or lost in a gust. #37 and #43 sailed reefed after the first heat but with l

Many thanks to Roger for providing today's details. A capricious and at times overpowering southerly greeted a small and select gathering of six skippers. The early persistent drizzle thankfully stopped persisting before the first race. The start line was set between the “Yellow Cross” laid mark and the small Yellow buoy. This gave a good beat to the Pink buoy after which it was downwind back to Yellow Cross and then a reach to 1 before another beat to Pink. Then downwind

The hottest day of the year s far (23°C) and wall to wall sunshine. Unfortunately the wind was light and rather fickle, so having decided on a course NE beat start, it was changed to a beat with a SW start. This was X/Y, 3, M, P, Y, M/P. This was subsequently lengthened to 2 laps with 4 substituting for 3 and 8 heats were raced. Unfortunately, weed did slow some boats and the wind shifts particularly between 4 and P provided many opportunities for gains and losses. The consis

10 skippers attended Lakeside for the 5th round of the Mar-Apr series. Unfortunately 090 suffered a rudder servo problem and was unable to race, but Maurice stayed and did OOD duties - many thanks. With a mainly NW breeze, it is difficult to create a beat on the first leg, and although the first course ("A" M/P, Y, 2, M, P, Y, 2, 3, Y/1) had a beat between Y and 2, it was difficult to sight boats around 2, so after the first 2 heats, course "B" M/P, 3, M, P, 3, M, P, 3/X was

A chilly morning and a 16kt NW greeted 8 sailors and the debate initially was "A" or "A+". After some testing "A+" was abandoned and the fleet was split between "A" and "B" rigs. The course set was M/P, Y, 2, 4, M, P, Y, 2, 4, M, P, 3/North_Pier and 10 heats were raced. There was some variability in the wind strength and direction, particularly around 2 and 4, where places could be easily gained or lost. Some of the gusts were very strong making tacking difficult and causing

11 sailors attended Lakeside for the 3rd round of the Mar-Apr series and were treated to a warm sunny morning with a 10kt SE breeze. We also welcomed Chris Wilson back from surgery, Nick Tattersall who came without boat, but offered to be OOD and other members who came to enjoy the the sunshine and watch the racing. Ian set a course of P/M, X, 1, 4, X, 1, 4, Y/X which had its finish changed to X/B after the first 2 heats. This was used for 2 more heats, but for the final 5 th

9 sailors competed in the first round of the Mar-Apr series. The course setting and buoy throwing committee Nick, Roger and Ian, debated (with appropriate input from others) the best course and with very little wind to start with a short one lap one was set P/M, Y, 1, 3, M, 3/X. This was amended a few times and P/M, Y, 4, 5, X, Y, 4, 5, X/North Pier was settled on as the NE wind picked up. Roger and John traded first places for most of the races with Mike and Ian getting one

The early morning mist had given way to sunshine, but little wind by the time 10 sailors had assembled at Lakeside for the final round of the Jan-Feb series. The course was set as 3/O, M, P, Y, M, P, Y, 3/O and 10 heats were raced The mainly S breeze picked up and increased throughout the morning although there were lulls which meant tactics and/or luck on the beat up to M was where most places could be gained or lost. Ian (12) was on top form and was joined on the podium by

7 sailors met at Lakeside to compete in the 5th round of the Jan-Feb series. It was a cold morning, light drizzle and a fresh ESE breeze. The course for the first heat was P/M, 3, 2(S), Y(S), 3(S), 4(S), Y/1. This was amended to 3/O, Y, 4, O, Y, 4, 3, Y/1 for the next 2 and then for the remaining 9 to 3/O, Y, 5, M, Y, 5, M, 3/O. Julyan and Nick opted for A rigs whilst the rest of the fleet was on A+. The A+ sailors had to content with nosedives and broaches in the gusts, but

Andy Smith was warmly welcomed by 10 skippers for his first sail at Lakeside and was able to experience some wind which was variable both in strength and direction. The course was set as R/2, M, P, Y, M, P, Y, M/P and lulls round both M and Y coupled with some fast beating to M and running to Y, made for some interesting sailing. Those who managed to read the wind changes the best today were: 1st - I White (13) 2nd - R Brydges (14) 3rd - C Wilson (17) Well done to them and to

Many thanks to Roger for the details of this morning's racing. Nine skippers lined up in sunny weather and a generally easterly wind to content a magnificent 10 races. The start line of Red and 3 was biased towards the inshore end, but that was generally where there was less predictable breeze so a compromise was needed in the pre-start manoeuvres. Good-looking starts would often evaporate by the time the first mark (Brown) was reached. Then it was a reach to Yellow before a