Lincoln had the pleasure of hosting round five of the RC Laser TT series last weekend. The task of Race Officer fell to me, supported extremely well by my club mates and their respective family members.
The event went really well I think; comments on the day from those involved were generally positive.
Results and a brief write up can be found on the LMYC site:
http://www.lmyc.no-ip.co.uk/cgi-bin/LMYC/eventNew.cgi?event=02-Aug-2008
I’ve produced a short RO report that can be downloaded here:
http://www.lmyc.no-ip.co.uk/data/RC Laser_TT_Series_Round5_RO_Report.pdf
And there are a few photos in the gallery here:
http://www.stevenson-central.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=LaserTT_08
Back in March I had the pleasure of attending the MMBA International Open Event held at the Ta ‘Xbiex Aquatic Sports Centre. Two other International entrants joined an exceptionally friendly fleet of Maltese skippers for a most enjoyable long weekend of sailing.
Val and Vinnie Zammit proved to be exceptional hosts. The social events were absolutely fantastic and despite appearing to forget how to sail an IOM I had the most marvellous time.
The event was run exceptionally well, the team did a fantastic job keeping the races flowing well and getting plenty of sailing in.
Nic Mifsud took some quite fantastic shots during the event, a selection of which can be found on his flickr page here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmifsud/sets/72157604314765067/show/
He was also kind enough to let me have a disc full of shots that I have finally managed to upload to the gallery here:
http://www.stevenson-central.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=MMBA_Open2008
I wouldn’t have been able to attend the event without the generosity and hospitality Val and Vinnie; two exceptional people. Thank you.
I was made to feel very welcome at Market Bosworth for the third round of the Midlands District Winter Series. A fleet of 13 skippers started in B rig, most soon decided on C rig in an attempt to retain some control downwind. Notable exceptions were Tony Edwards, Mike Weeks and Don Charlesworth. The fact that they were the top three for the event goes to show the payback for being able to hang on to the taller rig for as long as possible.
Gordon and Joyce looked after us very well, running a tight ship and keeping the races flowing smoothly. Incidents were infrequent considering the heavy blow and no protests came off the water.
My day was hampered by a recurring rudder problem; the tiller periodically lost grip on the stock, the rudder invariably going hard over & making a very effective brake[1]! That managed to lose me a good few places in two races and two DNF’s that make my final result of 7th feel like quite an achievement!
Despite technical difficulties I enjoyed my day’s sailing immensely, thanks in no small part to the friendly, welcoming sailors at Market Bosworth.
I managed to snap a few photos during the lunch break, you can see them in the gallery:
Pictures
Results are posted on the Midland District Website:
Midland District Results Page
[1]With the boat on the bench and the tiller apart, it turns out that the locking screw had stripped a thread, preventing it being tightened up sufficiently.
Allerthorpe 03 December 2007
Another cold, wet day for the 2nd round of the Winter Series. Changeable winds made course setting difficult, the resulting conversation made the start a little late.
Racing progressed reasonably quickly except for a slight hiccup with a miss-heard start line call that had half the fleet heading back for a restart and the other half happily continuing on!
The wind died to almost nothing after lunch, the first two races following the break must have taken almost an hour. It did pick up well a little later, from a different direction, requiring a course.
I had a fairly poor day, unforced errors & a good deal of misjudging had me finishing the day 10th out of 18.
I managed a few snaps during the lunch break: Gallery
Bridlington 18 November 2007
The day started wet & blustery, it was gusting a little passed the top of A rig, but not enough to warrant B rig which made for some interesting moments!
18 Skippers competed in at least one race, it was tough at the top, the unpredictable wind made life difficult for everyone. John Tushingham, Dave Potter & Roy Stevens could all have taken the win. In fact only 13 points separated the top 6 in the end.
Race Officer John Foster kept us all focused and progressed quickly through the races, it was a lack of wind that prevented us from completing the target 16 races.
I had a mixed day, but finishing eighth with a win and a second place to my name wasn’t bad.
Full results can be found on the Northern Website
The few pictures I managed to take are in the Gallery
Following Gordon’s request for deck stations I’ve created .pdf files for each station and zipped them together for easy download. They can be had from here:
Download
Bear in mind that the scale might be a little off when printing, the distance between the two drilling points should be 8.25 inches, you might need to adjust the scale on your printer or with a photo copier.
The deck that came off these stations is a little wider than it needs to be, I’ve deliberately left excess for trimming to fit the hull.
In light of the nominations for Executive positions so far, Lester Gilbert has offered to run for VC Technical in parallel with his candidature for VC Events. I believe this to be the best course of action and have submitted my nomination for Lester as VC Technical running against Roy Langbord who has announced that he will run for re-election.
This isn’t a move I had wanted to make. While Lester will undoubtedly make a fine VC Technical, I had hoped that he would be able to focus his energies on events & would expect that his input to the Events Sub Committee will be welcomed.
This change of plan has been prompted by a disappointing lack of competition for the Executive Officer positions and a desire to have the right people in the right positions.
After almost two years in the Secretary’s position, I feel it’s time to step up my involvement in the class and have therefore announced my candidacy for the Chairmanship.
The World Council members nominating me are:
- Anders Wallin, VCInfoComms
- Lana Butler, NCA for CAN
- Vinnie Zammit, NCA for MLT
- Richard Rowan, NCA for GBR
I’ve taken this step because I feel strongly that the current inactivity of the IOMICA Executive committee will ultimately prove fatal. We need to move forward, become more proactive and address the issues that are in front of us. Those issues are the key to the prosperity of the class, as I see it IOMICA needs to address the following:
Outstanding Issues
Sailmaker self-certification, water free measurement and Class Rule anomalies that remain unresolved. Other technical and measurement issues that while not necessarily requiring Interpretations or Class Rule changes, would certainly benefit from definitive advise from IOMICA.
Developing the Class
Responding to the needs of IOM owners, providing a clear direction for the class based on the opinions of those owners and developing the Class Rules accordingly.
The Class Rules can be a subject of heated debate; I’ve heard quite a few voices telling me that the Class Rules are too complicated, difficult to understand and should be simplified. I’ve yet to hear one proposal outlining exactly what that simplification will entail, or even an overview of how it might work.
Personally, I’m of the opinion that while the class is, in essence, quite a simple formula, the Class Rules are necessarily complicated in order to maintain the principals of cost effectiveness and competitive longevity. I’m all for simplification, but not at the expense of rendering existing boats uncompetitive or significantly increasing costs.
Developing and Expanding International Events
IOMICA needs to find a formula for encouraging clubs to host International Events and work towards expanding the range of International Events, as well as encouraging national sailors to compete with aspirations of qualifying for International Events.
This is my weakest link. I haven’t sailed internationally and I’m unlikely to in the near future, so I have no experience of International Events. With this in mind, I’ve asked Lester Gilbert, former IOMICA Chairman and experienced national and international competitor, to run for the position of IOMICA VCEvents. Lester is without doubt the right person for this job and brings a wealth of experience with him.
Developing IOMICA and the Executive Committee
None of the above can be achieved without a strong, experienced Executive Committee. I’ve long pushed the various IOMICA Vice Chairmen to recruit experience and expertise to their sub committees, and they’ve long pushed back. To this day I remain baffled as to why. The fact remains that each IOMICA sub committee, with the exception of InfoComms, continues to operate without membership. I consider this a terrible situation and a potentially disastrous lack of expertise on the Executive Committee. In my opinion, RSD not ratifying a number of resolutions of the 2006 IOMICA AGM was a direct result of a lack of technical expertise within the Executive Committee.
I feel the current Executive Committee on the whole has failed to perform adequately, the individual Vice Chairmen obviously bear a proportion of the blame for this. However a lack of direction from the Chairman has been a large factor. For example, since Mike Eldred was co-opted to the position of VCMeasurement, I have seen not one request from Greg within the IOMICA forum for Mike to carry out any task.
I hope that my running for the Chairmanship will bring these issues to the attention of IOM owners and encourage others to take an active role in the running of the IOM class. Volunteers are always needed in organisations such as ours. It is my opinion that there is no position on the Executive Committee that wouldn’t benefit from the competition of a willing opponent.
If anyone has a desire to serve, please contact a member of the Exec, World Council or your NCA representative.
I hope the work I’ve done in my role as Secretary speaks for my commitment to the class and gives an indication of my ability to lead IOMICA forward. I would welcome comment, either here, on the IOMICA forum or privately. I’m definitely in favour of open and frank discussion, so please let me know what you think.
Official Site
Results
Me
Me Sailing (Handsome chap in the desert combats on the right of the photo)
My Gallery (Pictures taken by Rachel)
I had some concerns that I might have been biting off more than I could chew by entering the Nationals, I had only 2 goals: Finish the event and not come last! I’m pleased to say I managed both.
My Races
Sat 05 May
Race 1: Seeding Race, 13th
Race 2: D heat, 13th
Race 3: D heat 16th
Race 4: D heat 18th
Race 5: D heat 18th
Race 6: D heat 11th
The first day of racing saw me struggling to tune excessive weather helm out of the A rig. It was difficult enough to keep the boat sailing, never mind racing! Some much appreciated assistance with rig tune from Tony Edwards saw an improvement in the final race of the day, but not enough to bump me out of D heat where I’d been all day.
56th overall after 6 races
Sun 06 May
Race 7: D heat 3rd, C heat 6th, B heat 7th
Race 8: B heat 15th
Race 9: C heat 17th
Race 10: D heat 14th
Race 11: D heat 7th
Race 12: D heat 8th
Race 7, the first of day, was fantastic for me. The wind was just passed the middle of B rig, right where my boat likes it, she was sailing almost neutral helm, just a touch to weather, I could have a look at the fleet and be confident she’d be where I expected when I looked back.
A solid 3rd in D heat left me in no doubt that promotion was mine, but I still had to check the fleet board on the way passed! 6th in C heat is all the more remarkable as a pre-start contact dislodged the topping lift, the wind was sufficiently strong to do the job on its own. 7th in B heat was an unbelievable result; I’ve no idea how that happened!
Race 8 was a tactical disaster that had me doing 3 penalty turns, 9 was ruined by a broken main luff line and 10 was hampered by my not retuning the rig too well after repairing it. 11 and 12 were an improvement but I couldn’t quite get the sweet spot back.
Mechanical failures were compounded with stupidity when I snapped the transmitter aerial while collapsing it a little too hurriedly. The spare TX was pressed into service with only a little rudder adjustment needed.
49th overall after 12 races
Mon 07 May
Race 13: D heat 8th
Race 14: D heat 2nd, C heat 17th
Race 15: D heat 10th
Race 16: D heat 16th
Race 17: D heat 13th
The final day was a nightmare of last minute rig decisions and quick rig changes that really never worked for me. Race 14 found me on the right rig for D heat that quickly turned into the wrong rig for the following heat!
The last three races followed suit and I couldn’t find yesterdays form. A broken shroud in race 16 had me wondering what on earth was happening on starboard tack! A hasty repair with a rigging screw borrowed from the C rig proved unnecessary as a change to A rig soon became apparent for the last race.
50th overall after 17 races
Comments on the event
This being my first nationals I have nothing to compare it to, but a couple of things struck me as worthy of mention:
The race team appeared calm, collected and in control throughout. Martin Roberts commented at the prize giving that a PRO you hardly notice is likely doing a good job. This was certainly true of Ali Law, most impressive.
The umpiring seemed to work well. The incentive, as always, was on skippers to take penalties when they knew they should, most seemed to. Penalties called by umpires were taken promptly, umpires responded quickly and fairly to protest calls and only one protest was taken to a hearing.
For the first 2 days competitors were pressed into observing duties with the umpires, I found this particularly useful in getting an idea of how the umpiring worked.
Everyone I met was friendly, helpful and patient, true ambassadors of the sport. Tom Cairney’s assistance and guidance was invaluable and Tony Edwards in particular was an absolute star, taking the time to enquire, help & teach. I’ve learnt a lot about balance and how to tune a rig. But the thing that stuck in my mind was that with a balanced boat your racing, if your boat isn’t balanced, you’re only sailing.
The RMG winch is now in and performing well. I’ve arranged the installation so as to be able to swap the hitec back in if the RMG fails on me, it’s a bit fiddly but at least I’ll be able to carry on.
The new stand got its first outing this weekend & works quite well. I’ve got a few ideas for MkII already, but I happy with it.
I had to alter my sail number for the event; I’ve been sailing with a permanent “1” prefix and needed to remove it. I re-inked the numbers while I was at it. I was concerned that removing the prefix would leave a noticeable shadow, having been on for a while, but it’s hardly noticeable. A few repairs to frayed rigging and the rigs are as good as they’re going to get.
I’ve gathered together spares of the things that are likely to cause trouble: Servo, receiver, transmitter etc. Doubtless whatever I don’t take a spare of will break!
I’m still working on a battery charger. We’re going to be camping, without mains power. So I’m working on a split charged 12v leisure battery with circuitry for charging TX & RX batteries on both fast & trickle. I’m cutting it a bit fine, but should be ok.
The lead is in the process of getting a coat of epoxy and fairing, I may even give it a coat of paint! The lead gets treated quite roughly at my local pond; having to launch from the waters edge we invariable fail to catch the boat before the lead runs aground on the gravel bottom.
