Going cycling in Slovenia for three weeks of September isn’t very conducive towards writing a newsletter about the sailing escapades of Parkstone’s Flyng Fifteen fleet for that month. Who knew? However, I make you this promise. There will be no resorting to AI (aka super intelligence! I’m tempted to say that in Trump’s case isn’t all intelligence superior?) from this scribe. I will though be leaning quite heavily on our fantastic reporters, who, once again, have done a great job of recounting events, if they are occasionally, Graham D, “a more traditional melange of half remembered impressions and a smattering of facts.”
The final races of our summer series were sailed in conditions that were reminiscent of Septembers a little while ago with temperatures which meant that cold weather sailing gear could safely be left in the locker. We even had some south westerlies- remember those? However, some things don’t change, and I see from reports that the competitive spirit of the fleet remains intact and despite the efforts of 3934 to shield offenders from the eyes of the race officer, numerous reporters began their accounts with tales of boats having to have a second go at starting correctly. In the race of the 12th one boat, 4020, decided to risk the OCS penalty and carried on which destroyed Ian Zimmerman’s complacency at the finish where his comfortable 4th place was promoted to 3rd because of 4020’s misdemeanour. They do say Ian, that practice makes perfect; perfection can’t be far away with all the practice you’ve had!
4016 has had a bit of a turbulent time this month. Two different helms and a different crew have caused some excitement on the boat. Mind you, reading John’s report of the 16th even the regular team had their moments. Getting tea-bagged in an Ilca is a reasonably common experience, but in a Flying Fifteen it must have been a whole lot more energising! Throwing in an unanticipated gybe in the same race is, I think, going over the top. Having experienced a couple of those on Fflorence (3974), I am even more impressed that you managed to finish in 3rd place. Tim and Edith’s report (23rd) mentions that John was joined by his daughter Emma for that race. I think their experience can best be described as a voyage of discovery. Sadly, the discoveries were mostly of things that had broken or had become so entangled as to be inoperative. The good news is that they are still on very good terms!
Without doubt, the windiest race of the month was on the 19th, which probably explains why only three boats made it onto the water! In fact, there were more Darts out sailing than Flying Fifteens! Thanks to the wizardry of David McLeman, Mervyn was able to report that Mike & Peter in 3922 recorded a downwind speed of 13KTS, which must have felt stimulating! Speaking of stimulants, I wonder what keeps Ron so fit. What’s an 83-year-old doing out in 30+ kts of breeze!? Respect!
The last race of September was contested for the ‘Bob Hoare’ trophy. 19 boats turned out, but there can only be one winner, and it was Jo & Pete who pretty much led from start to finish. The FFFF syndicate had an exciting time, almost coming together at Rebbecks. Mervyn & Ron had an equally emotional moment with a post off Baiter. Sadly, it wasn’t a brief encounter, and the resultant damage to the sail meant that they didn’t make it to the start. In a subsequent race, they took part with a sail displaying the prestigious numerals, 4114. Did it improve their speed? That’s a story for another month!
The weather Gods have allowed us 7 chances to wrest the winners’ step on the podium from 4114 or 3793, aka Richard W & Jack (mostly) and, of course, Pete & Jo. 4 pairs of our fellow sailors managed that feat. In no particular order, they were 4101 (Crispin & Steve), 4115 (Ian and Michael, sorry Kim!) 4088 (Geof & Martin) and last but not least 3922, (on this occasion sailed by Martin C & Andrew – serious investigative journalism required to find this out!
Once again, our turnout figures have remained strong, averaging 18 boats on Wednesdays and 11 boats on Saturdays. The weekends seemed to have been reserved for some of our biggest wind strength variations with either too much or too little of said propellant affecting turn-out numbers, plus the fact that Geof’s crews either inconveniently fall ill or decide to play in smaller boats on the continent! Luckily, as reported above, he managed to snaffle the services of Martin Cowell for his victory sail.
The end of September sees the conclusion of our two Summer Series. Both Wednesdays and Saturdays were well attended. The former remains the more popular of the two with an average turn-out of 18 boats. Saturdays were slightly less impressive with an average turn-out of 14 boats. The mid-week series was won by Roberta & John (4016) with a massively impressive total of just 19 points from 8 counting races; the result of seven of these was a podium finish. Their nearest competitor, 3936 scored 32 points. To fathom out which pair of the syndicate takes the honours for this is beyond the skill of this reporter; someone will have to interrogate Andrew’s spreadsheet! The final step on the podium is occupied by the ‘Wednesday Wizards’, Crispin & Steve in 4101. Saturdays was a closer run affair. Team Linder took the honours in this series, with five finishes in the top three out of the seven races they had to count. Crispin & Steve (mostly) were just 6 points behind with a total of 23. They just nudged into third place the other Flying Fifteen Fireball Syndicate boat (3922). Please see my comments above for whom I should name!
Our informal awards need to be dealt with next. It has to be said that the Rasputin Committee have been starved of information this month. Our informants have failed us. I think though, that John Lyons and his daughter Emma can consider themselves very lucky. Ann and Edith’s efforts were worthy of the award except that they were in October (so still not off the hook), and at Spinnaker, not at Parkstone. Also, they weren’t in a Flying Fifteen. Should it still count? The committee (Captain & Vice-Captain) will have to deliberate, one member perhaps more carefully than the other! More positively, we have the sailors of the month to consider. The Saturday sailors of the month are Ian Zimmerman and Mike Barton in 3922 beating a total of 21 boats in the process of 3 races. On Wednesdays, David McLeman and Anne-Laure’s haul was 42 boats in the four races that they sailed.
Well, that’s my cocktail of remembrances with an umbrella of statistics. One thing I’ve learnt this month is that Slovenia is hilly! Something to look forward to next month is competing for the Barry Rolfe Trophy scheduled for the fifth Saturday race in the Autumn series. Weather permitting this will be on the 31st of October.
JK
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