THE IDES OF MARCH have come and gone: much to the relief of Roman Emperors no doubt, but what about our sailing deities, how have they fared?
IN THE PERISHER, things are hotting up. With 4 scheduled races left, it couldn’t be tighter. 12 races sailed have produced 6 different winners, two of whom share the same surname – can you guess the name? The top three have accumulated three wins each, and, as you can see from the table below, they are separated by just one point. Andrew has the lowest total score of the entire fleet (37), which gives him an average finishing position of 3.08, but 4 more 3rd places might not be good enough to place him at the head of the pack. My goodness it’s tough at the top – I’m almost glad I’m never there! 28 sailors have done at least one race so far.
|
Rank
|
Helm
|
R1
|
R2
|
R3
|
R4
|
R5
|
R6
|
R7
|
R8
|
R9
|
R10
|
R11
|
R12
|
N
|
|
1
|
Roger
|
|
|
5
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
10
|
|
2
|
Mike
|
6
|
1
|
2
|
9
|
5
|
3
|
1
|
3
|
7
|
9
|
5
|
1
|
11
|
|
3
|
Andrew
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
11
|
|
4
|
Jon
|
1
|
3
|
16
|
9
|
2
|
2
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
3
|
13
|
|
5
|
Colston
|
2
|
4
|
12
|
9
|
8
|
5
|
6
|
4
|
9
|
10
|
14
|
2
|
23
|
THE LASER FLEET’S annual celebration of our successful colleagues almost passed off without incident- but not quite. If you were there, you will know what I mean. If you weren’t, you’ll have to dig for the dirt: I’m not going to reveal it. Brian Drake and his partner Aly were our guests for the evening, the latter presenting the prizes. There were some familiar names on the prize winners’ list, with Mike bagging his usual haul of trophies. It was difficult to award the Snafu trophy this year since, despite the odd attempt by yours truly and Colston to win the thing, there were no prolonged disasters on the water. Therefore, we took the unprecedented step of awarding the trophy to someone who regularly ‘enjoyed’ ‘on-the-land’ snafus, culminating in a magnificent debacle at the Poole Week evening prize draw – so thanks Gary for helping us out!
DON’T FORGET TO ENTER Poole Week before April 8th. This will save you a considerable amount of cash. I realise, of course, that some of us won’t be able to decide until much nearer the date, but if you’re in a position to commit now – go ahead and save yourself enough money to make your après sailing expenses just a little lighter.
THE EASTER SERIES is imminent, (not quite in the weather forecast sense). Hopefully, you will have received an e-mail with some details about the event. The essential thing, from the club’s point of view, is that boats will have to be taken home after the event – unless, of course, you have a Perisher sticker on your boat.
THE SATURDAY SERIES starts on the 16th of April, so you can bring your boat back for that. The Wednesday series starts on the 20th April.
THE MONDAY SERIES starts on the 18th of April. This first evening of the series will be pushed for light so make sure (if work permits?) that you give yourself time to get on the water. We will be starting on time – 7.00 pm with two fairly swift races to follow.
The club has instructed us to allocate two duties to each Laser sailor who has entered a series and/or has a boat in the yard, by using Duty Man. You were given the opportunity to provide us with dates that were no good for you. This hasn’t passed entirely smoothly, but hopefully, the emerging snags have been sorted out. Subsequent alterations will have to be made via Dutyman under your own steam. We can tell you how to do this if you need to know. These allocated duties are in addition to any Monday Night duties that you are asked to do by Ann and John. (Only those sailors taking part in the Monday Series will be required for duties but let us know if you’d like to volunteer).
I’ll finish off this newsletter by passing on some valuable advice I have been given by a friend concerning how those of the male persuasion facing, like me, advancing years, can improve their lot. The advice is simple and in three parts:
1) Never pass a toilet without going
2) Never trust a fart
3) Never waste an erection
Oh, the joys of old age!
IT WOULDN’T BE the proper newsletter without a reminder to use the fleet’s web site to help you to keep up to date with Parkstone Laser Fleet matters. For example, you can find there information about our next social event on April 23rd.
The address is: www.parkstonelasers.org.uk
Sail fast and fair,
Ann & John
Commanding Officer and Dog Robber