Dear All,

Whilst it was very disappointing to receive only one entry from outside the Guildford club, we were delighted that Peter Popham came from the Three Rivers club to enjoy a warm sunny day with the wind blowing most of the time straight down the lake from the North, although somewhat spasmodically. Peter was excited, as he brought his brand-new boat which he and Max Lemke had been building over the last few months using the UPROAR moulds and copious instructions that now go with it. This is remarkable in itself, but is part of a scheme originally to build three new boats and update the Three Rivers club fleet. The plan has now been extended to 4 new boats, so this is very encouraging for the Marblehead class and in the future we hope to see more of these boats coming to GMYC open races.

GMYC GAMES 4 & Interclub 3 – for the Members Trophy – Roger Stollery

Although part of a learning curve, with a difficulty with using a coloured gelcoat, Peter’s new boat UPROAR 71 looked magnificent, as it wasn’t just black but sprayed bright orange and with some fancy lettering. This and a few photographs of the racing itself is shown on the PDF pic page. I helped set up his rig and he enjoyed some good racing despite controlling the boat from his chair in just one location and he enjoyed winning three of the 12 races, as you can see from Alan’s results spreadsheet.

GMYC GAMES 4 & Interclub 3 – for the Members Trophy – Roger Stollery

As this was also an event for the GMYC Members trophy on a handicap basis, we assumed that the merit winner of the event would also win the trophy on handicap and we did present Alan with the trophy on this assumption as Alan had done really well. However we hadn’t worked out the handicap in detail and such is the brilliance of our handicap system, it was Peter Dunne who did best against his handicap. He will be delighted by this result as his performance with his STARKERS, which is also new this year has been steadily getting better each event and allowed him to win the trophy.

GMYC GAMES 4 & Interclub 3 – for the Members Trophy – Roger Stollery

Not to be disappointed, Alan Viney’s win on merit is satisfaction enough, but it does allow him to rocket up the GAMES leaderboard into fourth place as the 100 points at this event boosts his average score that he gets from being part of the race committee for the Mermaid Trophy.

GMYC GAMES 4 & Interclub 3 – for the Members Trophy – Roger Stollery

Whilst it would be nice to have more local club sailors and particularly the ex-GMYC members who sail at Datchet, everyone enjoyed the event and those who didn’t come, missed out on some good sailing. There were other attractions this weekend and the IOM ranking event at Southport took away a couple of likely sailors, and holidays took away several of our members, but this is no excuse for the other 60 local sailors who were invited to take part in this event. I don’t believe that the football World Cup or the Formula One Grand Prix really made that much difference.

GMYC GAMES 4 & Interclub 3 – for the Members Trophy – Roger Stollery

However the question has to be asked how these Marblehead sailors can be persuaded to travel, for some very short distances, to increase the level of attendance and enjoyment at these Interclub events?

Cheers, Roger

Frensham Pond SC Model Yacht Group ran another successful Footy Open Videlo Globe Trophy on Wednesday 11th April and attracted entries from three MYA districts. Despite the foggy conditions with a steady, but cold 8 mph wind, all the competitors enjoyed the day’s sailing with 18 races completed.

Footys are fun

Racing these little boats is always fun and the wind direction allowed the Race Officer, Roger Stollery to set an unusual course with the leeward mark in a narrowing space between two dinghy jetties, which just added to the fun. On the beat the jetty obstructions allowed port tack boats to hail the starboard boats to tack, adding another interest to the strategy at the start and beating back from the leeward mark. Being so close to the racing is a big advantage and caused Charles Smith to comment after the event “quite apart from the jetty work it was so nice to race on a course we could all see easily”.

The racing

As soon as racing started it was clear that the two Peters from Abington Park were going to dominate the event. Peter Jackson sailing his IBEX design won Races 1 and 3 with Peter Shepherd sailing his FAT BOY SLIM coming second and then going on to win Race 2 and another 10 races! The remaining races, except Race 9, which was won by Keith Parrott sailing an ICE, were won by Peter Jackson. Some of the finishes were very close indeed and in Race 16 it almost needed a photo finish between Keith and Peter Jackson; Keith took second place from Peter.

The boats

Footys are popular with model maker sailors, because there are a huge number of free plans on the Footy website including simple competitive chine boats made from balsa that are easy and quick to make. Peter Shepherd designed his own very beautiful little circular section FAT BOY SLIM and built it in balsa five years ago. Weighing less than a jar of marmalade at 410 grams, including 275g of ballast, its lightweight construction and bluff bow has helped to win many events including this one. It is interesting to note that the recent IOM European Champion KANTUN 2 also has this bluff bow feature at the waterline.

FAT BOY SLIM is narrow and fits in the Footy measuring box diagonally whereas the wider and more powerful axially measured boats are usually heavier because of their bigger hulls. The jury is still out on which type is best because both provide really good close racing.

The 2018 National championship

On Sunday September 16, Footys from all over the country will be gathering at Frensham Pond again for the Nationals. In order to encourage young people to race there will be a Junior Championship in the morning run in conjunction with the main event, with the results and trophies awarded at lunchtime. The under 18’s may then continue to sail in the main Championship, which is coming to Frensham Pond, because it is popular and one of the best places for racing these boats. Details can be found on the Footy website, www.sailfootyuk.com.

Top 6 Results:

1^stPeter Shepherd Hollowell SC FAT BOY SLIM 19

2^ndPeter Jackson Abington Park IBEX  26

3^rdKeith Parrott Frensham Pond ICE  41

4^thCharles Smith Frensham Pond ICE  56

5^thColin Robinson Cheddar Steam ICE  70

6^thJohn Haine Frensham Pond ICE  77

Photo by Oliver Bangham

A mirror calm greeted 11 competitors from five clubs for some frustrating racing when the variable light breeze eventually filled in from the south, blowing diagonally over the trees and the competitors’ left shoulders. The 3 Rivers’ extensive race team did a grand job in running 10 races around a windward leeward course.

In the very first race virtually the whole fleet were approaching the gate together and race officer, John Shepherd  mustered all the observers at the potential incident, but as Marbleheads are considered to be sailed by gentlemen, they talked to each other and there were no collisions.

David Adam, sailing a PRIME NUMBER won this race from John Carter, sailing a STARKERS and Martin Crysell also sailing a PRIME NUMBER. The lead changed several times during the race and this was to set the scene for the day’s racing with isolated puffs letting some of the backmarkers get to the front.

The next two races belonged to Roger Stollery and his new UP design followed in Races 3 & 4 by Rob Vice, sailing an UPROAR taking the top podium finish.

After lunch, new recruit to Marblehead racing, Norwegian Odd Nordanger, sailing a STARKERS won Race 6, but then let Roger and David win again in Races 7 & 8. Unlike all the other competitors, Odd travels with his boat by train from the other side of London.

Photo by Oliver Bangham

In Race 9 there was a very close finish between Roger and Alf Reynolds, who had been struggling with radio problems at the beginning of the event. He was sailing one of the earliest PARADOXs with a much modified bow and distinctive camouflage paintwork. He was absolutely delighted! It shows that designs from the early 1990s are still competitive against the very latest machines. The final race was won by Rob with Roger second and Peter Popham sailing a CREAM CRACKER in third place.

Photo by Martin Crysell

It was encouraging to see Max Lembke’s new Marblehead, which he designed and made himself from readily available carbon sheet to form a multi-chine hull. There were some teething problems which didn’t allow the MAXLEM design to show its full potential.

The prize winners thanked the 3 Rivers race team for running a good event despite the frustrating conditions. The latest GAMES results can be found on the www.guildfordmyc.co.uk website, with further information about Marblehead events on www.marbleheadsailing.wordpress.com.

Results:

1st Roger Stollery Guildford UP 14

2nd Rob Vice Guildford UPROAR 27

3rd David Adam 3 Rivers PRIME NUMBER 28

4th Martin Crysell Guildford PRIME NUMBER 33

5th John Shorrock Datchet QUARK 35.5

6th John Carter 3 Rivers STARKERS 36

7th Alf Reynolds Chelmsford PARADOX 47

8th Dick Grainge 3 Rivers STARKERS 52

9th Odd Nordanger 3 Rivers STARKERS 57.5

10th Peter Popham 3 Rivers CREAM CRACKER 58

11th Max Lembke 3 Rivers MAXLEM 74

The Marblehead radio sailing members visited Chipstead SC for the first GAMES event on the 20^th January 2018. There were twenty entries, but due to flu, sixteen came to the start line.  Marblehead skippers from ten clubs were made very welcome indeed to the first M&S interclub event of the season. Peter Crisp even greeted everyone individually as they arrived at the entrance to the car park.

Although it was a cold damp drizzly day, Chipstead Lake provided a long course with light consistent north easterly winds.   This gave some excellent conditions for racing throughout the day, with enough variation in direction to make the beats interesting.

Image by John Caruana

Race officer, Dave Allinson and his team handled the racing very well and was able to run 11 races consisting of two laps of a 150 metre windward beat course that was close to the control area along its whole length. The wide start line helped to prevent incidents and there was only one general recall.

Throughout the day the racing was very close with five different race winners, culminating in only 3 points between the first three overall and only 15 points difference covering the middle of the fleet.  A win in the first race by Roger Stollery using his new UP design was followed by wins for Peter Stollery sailing an UPROAR, Tony Edwards, Colin Goodman sailing GRUNGEs  and Hugh McAdoo sailing a PRIME NUMBER. The lunch break was welcomed, giving an opportunity to get warm and enjoy sausages, chip and beans and a hot drink, laid on especially by the Chipstead SC Radio Sailing members.

Image by John Caruana

Assistant race officer, Garven McKie, kept the racing going with back to back races.   The afternoon period produced similar results, but no one skipper managed to dominate.

Overall it was an enjoyable and good natured day’s racing for all those who attended. Special thanks were given by the prize-winners to Dave Allinson , who managed the racing well and organised a team from Chipstead SC Radio Sailing for scoring, observing, catering etc. as well as making a good photographic record of the event.

There is no doubt that this radio sailing club has fantastic facilities, very well suited to running big events with a large lake with good access on the banks and the clubhouse and excellent launching facilities right in the centre of the activity.

After the prize giving for this event, Roger Stollery presented the Midgley Mug for the overall winner of the 2017 GAMES series to Peter Stollery.

Image by John Caruana

Report by Peter Crisp

Results for the Chipstead SC Marblehead GAMES 1 Event 2018:

1st  Peter Stollery Guildford UPROAR 19,

2nd Tony Edwards Yeovil GRUNGE 21,

3rd Colin Goodman Coal House Fort GRUNGE 22,

4th Hugh MCAdoo  Datchet Water PRIME NUMBER 38,

5th Roger Stollery Guildford UP 52,

6th Martin Crysell Guildford PRIME NUMBER 58

7th Trevor Binks Eastbourne PRIME NUMBER 64

8th Phil Holliday Datchet Water NIOUTRAM 70

9th John Shorrock Datchet Water QUARK 73

10th Nick Ennion Harwich & Dovercourt QUARK 84

11th Peter Crisp Chipstead STARKERS CUBED 84

12th John Cleave Ryde SKALPEL 86

13th Alan Viney Guildford PRIME NUMBER 89

14th Peter Popham Three Rivers CREAM CRACKER 109

15th Terry Rensch Datchet Water QUARK 111

16th Alf Reynolds Chelmsford PARADOX 148

Chipstead S/C Radio Sailing invite entries to their Marblehead Open meeting and Games 1 on Saturday 20th January 2018. First Race at 10.00am. Full details in the NOR Marblehead Open – Games 1 2018.