WCA
Quite a difficult race in the wind conditions. The longish course meant we only did one lap but the fleet seemed to spread out and converge as we went around. Two retirements, six boats finishing. No problems with the starts today so well done all. One lesson from the day was that boats need to have working VHF for this format of racing. Hopefully everyone had fun even in the frustrating wind conditions - as Juju kindly said - "Nice to be on the water in the sun." Hear hear!
The sailing committee decided to make this a trophy race, and (temporarily?) commandeered the WCA Yorkshire Building Society Trophy as the Bunny Cup for the occasion. Conditions were not dissimilar from the first race and we started near mark 14. Although Greyhound had a near perfect start some of the others crossed ahead of the rabbit and had to come back to dip the start line. Two boats didn't manage this and were told to continue the course (with a 5 min time penalty which seemed fair).
So, congratulations to William and crew on Greyhound as deserving winners of the 2020 Bunny Cup. The on-the-water race was close between Roxy, Pipistrelle and Deo confidimus. (Roxy, a guest from WMV, is a Viko 21, and Juju is a J24.)
Standby for details of the next race .....
Nine boats have completed the online entry form so far. Four took part in the first race, with Cor Baby taking the honours and pipping Magic Touch by 2 minutes and 31 seconds on corrected time after a nominal 90 minute race.
The start turned out to be harder to execute than anticipated thanks to the shifting wind but a sporting spirit saw everyone get away without any issues.
There was a moment of excitement on Sunday morning when it looked like Deo confidimus had managed to be less than 5 minutes behind Cor Baby on corrected time - it turned out not to be the case - the Sailing Sec had missed the first digit of Cor Baby's handicap giving her a punishing 0.917! The dastardly scheme didn't go unnoticed though and has been rectified above.
We plan to take advantage of the decent forecast for Saturday and begin August with Race #2. Magic Touch has offered to play the role of rabbit. We hope you can join us - the RNLI collection bucket is no longer empty so our messing about on boats is for a good cause too.
The RYA has published a simplified gate start procedure to allow for handicap races without the need for a committee boat and race management team. By its nature this is informal, fun racing but the RRS will still apply provided a NoR and SIs have been published.
The WCA will use this model as the basis for an ad-hoc race series we're calling the "Run-Rabbit" series in honour of the name the RYA gave to what is usually called the pathfinder boat in normal gate starts.
The WCA committee has decided to make this series free of charge to encourage sailing and racing following the unprecedented events of this year.
The Notice of Race is available on the 2020 Summer Series Page, where the Schedule of Races, Sailing Instructions and other information will also be maintained.
Entry is open to cruiser/racing yachts in good standing with the WCA, RWYC, LDBC, WMV, Low Wood Bay Marina, & Maiden Marine Marina. Other entries may be accepted at the discretion of the WCA Sailing Secretary.
Eligible boats can apply for entry by completing the online Race Entry Form.
The basic idea is that at the start signal the “Rabbit” starts near a fixed mark and sails close hauled on port tack ‘opening the gate’.
Other boats can then start by sailing on starboard tack between the Rabbit and the fixed mark – they can’t call ‘starboard’ on the Rabbit!
There will be no visual signals. The Rabbit will make the sound signals.
Please note: -
If you would like to make a voluntary contribution to the RNLI, whose normal fundraising has also been disrupted this year, please just hail on VHF CH08 and a collection box will make its way to your yacht! These will be presented, on behalf of the competitors, to Mr Peter Gooch, RNLI Lake District Branch Chairman, at the conclusion of the series.
| Equipment |
In addition to the usual equipment yachts are required to carry: -
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| Emergency |
Man (or woman) overboard protocol : Obviously safety is the primary concern and if necessary the normal urgency protocols will apply, but in less urgent cases skippers should expect to retrieve their own crews whenever possible.
To this end we require a boarding ladder to be available as part of the required equipment for racing. |
| Crew |
These must comply with the government's guidance concerning social groupings and social distance.
Skippers should consider assigning fixes roles, and they are responsible for deciding whether their crews must wear masks or other PPE as appropriate.
Skipper's should make sure that any crew changes comply with government guidance on social distancing, and be able to provide social tracing information if required. |
We have decided to run a shake down pursuit race on Saturday, and attempt the social sail afterwards. Everyone is welcome - please come along if you can. We will have to rely on VHF to coordinate. Plan is to congregate before 1330 off Brockhole pier in the N Lake. We will give starting times and course then.
Members should have received an SMS message with details. Please RSVP to the follow-up SMS.
Hope to see as many as possible - best wishes WCA Committee.
The WCA Committee has been meeting over Zoom to prepare for a sensible and respectful return to summer activity.
We are planning to return to summer sailing with modified pursuit races first. These will not have a committee boat and the start line will be the projection across the lake of either the Bark Barn Jetty or Brockhole pier in the North Lake, or Storrs Hall Pier in the South Lake.
Rather than rafting up after the first of these we're considering having a club sail-by : essentially boats under engine only sail in a loop so crews can see each other and say hello etc. All from a safe distance, but a nice way to see each other after lockdown.
The pursuit race itself is intended to be a bit of fun and a chance to shake off the cobwebs. For the first we may give start times depending on length rather than handicap. If you're over the line early just loop back round.
We're liaising with the RYA and Lake Wardens to make this activity as low-impact and respectful of others' committments as we can. The biggest impacts will be in five areas: -
i) crew arrangements : these should comply with the government's guidance concerning social groupings and social distance. So ideally keep 1m apart and restrict to two households (plus anyone social-bubbling with either of those households). It probably makse sense to stick to assigned roles. Skippers are responsible for whether their crews must wear masks or other PPE as appropriate. Skipper's should make sure that any crew changes comply with government guidance on social distancing, and be able to provide social tracing information if required.
ii) man (or woman) overboard protocol : Obviously safety is the primary concern and if necessary the normal ugrency protocols will apply, but in less urgent cases skippers should expect to retrieve their own crews whenever possible. To this end we will require a boarding ladder to be available as part of the required equipment for racing.
iii) We will also require a functioning VHF radio to be carried.
iv) Post-racing social : We understand that the BoatHouse is reopening but will require table bookings and table service. A table can be booked per boat and we are liaising with the BoatHouse about how those who would like to do so may book for after a race. We also understand that the Boathouse may be offering takeaways which can be taken back to the boat/car, so we may be able to organise something along those lines as well for those interested.
v) Ferry Nab : there are restrictions on the use of Ferry Nab jetties at the moment. Skippers should make sure they read the Lake Wardens' notices (on their facebook page).
We will send an update text and add more detail here as things firm up over the week. Feel free to email any of the ususal suspects if you want to come along : Times like these make us all appreciate the real value of friends and friendships - old members, and friends are welcome to participate in the pursuit race or the socially distanced social sailing loop afterwards!
With warnest wishes :-)
p.s. We'll plan to start the social looping around 1540 with the pursuit race ending 1530. Starts will be roughly the same as usual.
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Vx One
2019 Spinlock IRC GBR Inland Champions
Sonata
2019 Spinlock IRC GBR Inland Championships Runner Up
Beneteau Platu 25
2019 Spinlock IRC GBR Inland Championships 2nd Runner Up
The WCA is pleased to confirm that IRC have approved the 2020-2021 Winter Series as the 4th Spinlock IRC GBR Inland Championships.
Summer Sailing Status: Run-Rabbit Series Race#4 Racing On
Sat 15th August
1st Warning Signal 1325 |
Summer Sailing Status: Pursuit Race Racing On
Sun 23rd August
1st Warning Signal 1325 |
One-Design Championships
Sat 7th & Sun 8th Nov
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