Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

Well, a very pleasant day for the round the Island, warm, but not too hot and some breeze about. Rather better than the heavy rain and thunder that as I write is descending on the cycle event which caused the cancellation of our Sunday sailing [grin].

Gareth had organised a light ploughmans style lunch and there were some different faces about so it was all rather pleasant.

Over the years our circuit of marks seems to have got somewhat rectangular, with 4 marks nearly in a row up the north side of the reservoir and another 4 nearly in a row down the south side. The breeze started off a little south of westerly, and it looked at rigging time as if the track might be a semi beat up the north side of the reservoir and a semi run down the south side. However the wind was backing, and even on the first few laps most sailors were able to make2, 1, F,9 without tacking. By about 2:15 the north side was a fast white sail reach and the south side a broad reach, so for gybing downwind boats gybing was only really necessary between marks 4 and 3, and tacking between 9 and 8 (and occasionally 7).

Early fast laps came from Ian and Douglas in their 400, and then of course my Canoe, on paper the obvious favourite for line honours. A 29er would have been a good bet, but none were out. The real stars though, to my mind, were Andy and Tessa Groves, who after some time spent on boat maintenance came out and did four very consistent laps, all between 11 minutes and 11 minutes 32 seconds and which were the four fastest laps on standard corrected time.

Although the start line closed at 15:30 Dave Baldwin kept circulating round, and in a strengthening breeze finally managed a lap without major mishaps and scored the best time of the day, a second under 10 minutes.

And Gareth? Well, rather than take out his Solo he did 3 laps in my Canoe in respectable times (apart from the lap he capsized), but judging by the GPS trace needs to work a bit on pointing! Even Homer nods.

Gareth replies

• Release jib sheet,
• Come in from the plank,
• Sling the plank over at least to half way,
• STAND UP,
• STEER,
• lift (8 foot long) tiller extension so it goes behind the main (while still steering)
• WALK round behind the main (while still steering)
• ... and not either getting the tiller ext caught on the sail or the mainsheet wrapped round the end of the boom
• Sit back down,
• Sheet in,
• Flip the battens over
• Grab new jib sheet and sheet that in,
• Slide plank fully out
• ... and power up.

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