Grafham Wednesday Night Thrash [bob]
Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:11 am
bob wrote:
What a great thrash around the buoys it was last night - and so unexpected. Most of us went to the club on the off chance that it would be possible to do a race - the forecast was grim - just 1mph winds and thunderstorms. It seemed so unlikely that we would get a good sail that we had not pushed or persuaded people to attend. Half an hour before the race the wind turned 180 degrees and looked like dieing off completely. A number of brave soles went out to give it a try. Race officer, Alistair James, see a smallish trapezoidal course for light winds and then the wind began to pick up from the East.By the time of the start we had a force 3 and during the race this increased to force 4-5. The course was a great catamaran course with great tight reaches and the monohulls with their large spinakkers were flailing (and swimming)!
Frank Sandells (sporting a new convict style close crop haircut) was on pole position at the start but I think his brain had been affected by the shock of the haircut because he got carried away and went for mark K as the windward mark, while most of us were content to sail the posted course to the, much closer, mark F. Ashleigh Reeves was put off briefly and followed Frank until he realized that no one else was going that way. Frank, however, was not looking back and soldiered on. Steve Petts had taken last weeks dipping seriously and enlisted support - he and Mark Stokes took their new syndicate Dart 18 for a spin but got stuck when they hit the front as they did not know where to go "we have never been at the front before" was the cry on the first lap! Andy Williams took out the Club Sprint 15 (#404) which is now getting a regular airing and put in a competent display after a slow start. William Tusting was really in the dog house. His wife, Sue, had decided to come sailing after work for the first time for more than a year "to cool off". Before the race in the light winds they were debating which boat to take - the ISO or the Sprint 15. Well they decided on the ISO (wrong decision Bill). Once racing started and the wind switched on and they promptly capsized - hardly to be seen vertical again for the rest of the evening. In the bar afterwards Bill was looking very meek and being threatened to doing some serious shopping with Sue for repayment for over achieving on the cooling off front! It was a really a great night sailing for those in the Catamaran Fleet.
Franks triumph was not over, yet, however. Now Frank prides himself on his rapport with the Grafham Kitchen staff - getting inside news on the menu, putting in special requests for custard, getting coffee in his own mug, getting special favours, etc, etc. Well there we were in the upstars bar - where Frank had assured us Maggie said the evening meal would be served. We were in the middle of tales from Frank about how, after his going to the wrong mark, he was the Michael Schumacher of the fleet making a dramatic comeback from the back. Talk of simalarity of his Sprint 15 and red Ferraris abounded when we had this lonely (and hungry) feeling. It turns out that everyone else had gone down to the wet bar and were eating! I blame it on the haircut.
Poor Frank!
What a great thrash around the buoys it was last night - and so unexpected. Most of us went to the club on the off chance that it would be possible to do a race - the forecast was grim - just 1mph winds and thunderstorms. It seemed so unlikely that we would get a good sail that we had not pushed or persuaded people to attend. Half an hour before the race the wind turned 180 degrees and looked like dieing off completely. A number of brave soles went out to give it a try. Race officer, Alistair James, see a smallish trapezoidal course for light winds and then the wind began to pick up from the East.By the time of the start we had a force 3 and during the race this increased to force 4-5. The course was a great catamaran course with great tight reaches and the monohulls with their large spinakkers were flailing (and swimming)!
Frank Sandells (sporting a new convict style close crop haircut) was on pole position at the start but I think his brain had been affected by the shock of the haircut because he got carried away and went for mark K as the windward mark, while most of us were content to sail the posted course to the, much closer, mark F. Ashleigh Reeves was put off briefly and followed Frank until he realized that no one else was going that way. Frank, however, was not looking back and soldiered on. Steve Petts had taken last weeks dipping seriously and enlisted support - he and Mark Stokes took their new syndicate Dart 18 for a spin but got stuck when they hit the front as they did not know where to go "we have never been at the front before" was the cry on the first lap! Andy Williams took out the Club Sprint 15 (#404) which is now getting a regular airing and put in a competent display after a slow start. William Tusting was really in the dog house. His wife, Sue, had decided to come sailing after work for the first time for more than a year "to cool off". Before the race in the light winds they were debating which boat to take - the ISO or the Sprint 15. Well they decided on the ISO (wrong decision Bill). Once racing started and the wind switched on and they promptly capsized - hardly to be seen vertical again for the rest of the evening. In the bar afterwards Bill was looking very meek and being threatened to doing some serious shopping with Sue for repayment for over achieving on the cooling off front! It was a really a great night sailing for those in the Catamaran Fleet.
Franks triumph was not over, yet, however. Now Frank prides himself on his rapport with the Grafham Kitchen staff - getting inside news on the menu, putting in special requests for custard, getting coffee in his own mug, getting special favours, etc, etc. Well there we were in the upstars bar - where Frank had assured us Maggie said the evening meal would be served. We were in the middle of tales from Frank about how, after his going to the wrong mark, he was the Michael Schumacher of the fleet making a dramatic comeback from the back. Talk of simalarity of his Sprint 15 and red Ferraris abounded when we had this lonely (and hungry) feeling. It turns out that everyone else had gone down to the wet bar and were eating! I blame it on the haircut.
Poor Frank!