1. Sophie Redman-Baber 1.12.88

2. Bobby Martin 1.14.93

3. Andy Martin 1.26.69

1. Lewis Redman-Baber 1.15.12

2. Amy Beswick 2.17.69

3. Dexter Bond 2.18.50

Full report and pictures here

• Arrival any time from 4pm on Friday the 24th of August
• Two night's accommodation in the centre's main building in shared bunk rooms
• Cooked breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday mornings
• Evening meal on Saturday night
• Packed lunch Saturday and Sunday (available in the mornings to take with us on the water if necessary)
• Two days of sailing with full rescue cover. We will be able to set our own programme of cruising and racing during the two days
• Access to the centre's mountain bikes, high ropes and other activities, subject to supervision availability
• Access to the centre's own dinghies (e.g. Wayfarers) for £50 per boat per day if you prefer not to take your own boat
• Ability to keep your boat safely overnight in the main centre compound
• A very well equipped boatyard and workshop should you be unfortunate enough to break something whilst on the water

With the weather improving now is your chance to make sure you get a place on one of our sailing courses.  All the dates and details for the 2012 season are here.  Sailing School Course Details.

Our Easter Holidays course is being booked fast so please dont miss out.

28^th April 2012 PLSC Heat

It is that time of year again when a member of Paxton Lake sailing club can try and win a boat for the club.

For those of you that do not know about this it is a powerboat challenge for 8 – 16yr olds.  It is NOT a power boat course, and there will be NO qualification achieved.  It is a test of skill, slalom, man over board simulation and a 360 reverse manoeuvre, penalties for mistakes, skill NOT necessarily speed.

Paxton Lake sailing club is once again hosting a local heat for eligibility into the Eastern Region heat to be held at Island Yacht Club 23^rd June.

The National Final will be held in the Southampton Boat show 16^th September.

The Local Heat is to be held at Paxton 28^th April and will be preceded by 3 training sessions for club members hosted by Dave Rothwell .

These are to be:-

17^th March

31^st March

14^th April

To attend these sessions please contact Dave for confirmation.

djrothwell@btinternet.com

The cost has been agreed as £10 per child as a contribution to the fuel cost.

Despite the poor wind forecast there was still a good turnout for the Hoo Freezer. Amongst the fleet for the practice race on Saturday were two Hornets. 2132 sailed by Strangler crewed for this event by John Shelton and newcomers to the fleet for 2012 Toby Barsley-Dale and Gareth Russell sailing 2176.

Having passed Toby and Gareth early on, Strangler and John went on to establish a sizeable lead. Despite their best efforts to close the gap, Toby and Gareth closed the gap never really managed to get back on terms to challenge in the light conditions.

Perhaps, given the even lighter forecast for Sunday, finding an all you can eat Chinese restaurant for the Saturday evening may have been a mistake. But a good night was had in company with some of the Osprey fleet.

Sunday as feared was almost windless, with just the occasional puffs filtering through. Despite this and the threat of the tide starting to run halfway through the race, the Race Officer bravely set a course and sent the fleet afloat. The Hornet ranks were reinforced by Steve Cooke and Alistair McHardy in 2080. This welcome addition also meant the class could field an entry in the class team trophy.

With just enough breeze to make over the tide the fleets were dispatched with the fast fleet, including the Hornets, starting second. Toby and Gareth were caught and pushed over the line by a very late and cheeky port tack entry from another boat which took them both over and, with the round the ends rule in force and having to return against the tide, the leaders of the fleet (including Strangler and John) were a long way ahead by the time Toby and Gareth managed to restart.

With only a few boats round the windward mark, the breeze died (for the first of many occasions during the day) and a large raft formed allowing both Steve/Alistair and Toby/Gareth to sneak through on the mark, passing many of the fast fleet in the process and set off (slowly) in pursuit of the leaders.

Over the following laps, a complex game of snakes and ladders unfolded always slightly favouring the boats behind as you could see people in front find the holes and then take avoiding action. Slowly but surely Toby and Gareth caught Strangler and John, eventually finding a passing lane on the last beat. Steve and Alistair were also quietly coming through the fleet and passing many faster boats on the water.

With the final results calculated we were delighted to find all three boats were in the top 10. Steve and Alistair finishing 9th, Strangler and John 8th and Toby and Gareth 6th. This was enough to edge out the B14's for the class team trophy... maybe they were two focused on the chips and tea!

Report by Andy Anderson with spelling by Pat Overs ;-)

As Paxton Lakes Sailors took to the water on a sunny Sunday morning  for the first races of the 2012 series, two of the regulars were missing!

It was also the first races of the Solo Eastern Region Series being held as a joint event with the Thames Valley Region. So as top club sailors from both regions took to the water,  the Paxton Lakes ‘Solo Duo’ Andy and Pat were there to make their mark!

The race officer was keen to get going on time as the light winds were forecast to drop off during the day and we had 3 races to fit in.

Race 1. With a pin end bias that popped up in the last minute of the start sequence, boats at that end of the line got away and tacked well ahead of the remaining fleet. Andy was about the middle of the line and Pat closer to the committee boat end where there looked to be more wind. About half way up the first beat, the wind died for a period then reappeared at 90 degrees to the original direction. Andy was among the first boats to get this wind and took advantage by pulling up some places before the first mark, rounding about a third of the way down of the fleet. Pat was a few places behind. There were a few places exchanged over the remaining lap but it was typical light wind sailing, where not a lot happened but concentration levels were high to sense any  changes in the wind.

On lap2 the wind dropped off  for what felt like a week! It then filled in from behind,  pushing most of the boats into a big bunch. A photo that Jen took at this point showed Pat and Andy in a group of 5 boats level pegging! Then the wind gods shone on Andy as he picked up a light draught and pulled clear and rounded the next mark as the others were drifting.

The course was shortened soon after this and Andy finished 8^th with Pat 22^nd among a large group of boats. This was a race where luck played a big part and the Paxton boats were not that far apart.

Race 2. The wind was very light by this point and a very short course was set. All boats get away cleanly with Andy in close tow of the lead boats and Pat not far behind. This proved to be a very frustrating race with the wind much reduced  and the boats just ‘ghosting’ along. It was also very variable as I could see boats going in the same direction but the sails set for a different point of sailing.

Have to say it was a blessing when it finished as it was like double slow motion on the water. Andy got 8^th again and Pat clearly wasn’t ‘the wind gods’ friend at 15^th. It was however a very experienced fleet and both our sailors had respectable results.

Race3 was cancelled as the wind had dropped off completely.

The final results put Andy  punching well above his weight in 7^th place and Pat in 14^th. The sun shone, the surroundings were butiful, but more wind next time please!

So join in and enter the Sport Relief Mile or Sponsor our team here http://my.sportrelief.com/sponsor/paxtonlakessc. 

There are three different lengths of run you can enter and if you dont feel like running come along and support us.  The run starts at the Village Hall in Little Paxton and you will be able to spot us as we will all be wearing at least one item of sailing kit with starts between 10:30 and 11:00.  So that you dont miss out on Sunday sailing the racing programme will be compressed so that all 3 races will be run in the afternoon following an early lunch.  The First race will start at 12:30. 

PLSC Membership Form Click Here

Saturday and Sunday 25/26 Feb saw the finale of the Sailjuice Global Warmup series at Draycote water. Known as the Draycote Dash, it’s two days of racing with regular handicap races on Saturday (5 of them back to back as it happened) and a longer handicap race and a double points non-discardable pursuit on Sunday.

The weather forecast throughout the week had been hinting at light to moderate breezes and both days started off very light. On Saturday it picked up into a lovely 10 knots making the racing really fun. Sunday on the other hand just filled in enough to actually sail but as it turns out that is perfect for Solos.

Saturday’s schedule was for four 35 to 40 minute handicap races but at the briefing the race officer told us it would be “at least” 4 and when we’d completed race 4 the flag went up for a 5^th. I had good starts in three of the races, though the 4^th race is best forgotten. The biggest problem though was traffic coupled with a relatively short trapezoid course giving me all sorts of problems especially with the Challengers of which there were two that always seemed to be where I wanted to go. Hitting a mark in one race also didn’t help so I finished the day with one good’ish result at 34^th and the rest in the 50s, discarding a 57 and lying 53^rd overall. Still a not too bad mid-fleet position but I definitely wanted better.

So on to Sunday and very light winds greeted me as I got to the club and most people were sitting around tucking into breakfast in the knowledge that the postponement flag was likely to be up for a while. So I had breakfast too and very nice it was. The start was scheduled for 10:30 and it was well past 11 when some sailors decided that the wind had picked up enough and started to take to the water. At 11:30 a few of us were out there and the committee boat got going and eventually a race got underway. Three starting fleets, just like the previous day, and Solos being one of the slowest classes were in the 3^rd start. After some dubious starts the day before I was determined not to get trapped again and luckily most of the fleet were tacking straight onto port and once a gap opened I did the same and got clean away. The right side of the beat was definitely favoured and I started overtaking a number of boats that I really shouldn’t have been close to, including a Moth and a Laser 3000 that seemed quite put out by it. Saturday’s races were characterised by the fastest of the first fleet lapping the slowest of the third fleet. This time it was our turn as the Solos in particular started pulling up to the first two fleets and getting into the mix. I reached the windward mark well up on the other boats and continued at a good pace despite the light winds. After rounding three marks we were surprised to hear the shortened course signal and I knew this was going to be a good result. I finished with only one other Solo in front of me. Result: 5^th.

After lunch we set off for the pursuit, a complicated knitting pattern of a course over a decent distance. This had to run the full length of course so we knew we would be racing for an hour and 40 minutes. The wind had increased a little and I got away cleanly at the allotted time with only three other Solos, all from the home club. Jon Clarke from Edge sails had been very high up all weekend (and had won the morning race) and he got ahead but I managed to keep the other two behind me all the way up the first beat and increased the lead on the next two legs. By this time though we were catching the Challengers (oh no not them again!) but I managed to get past leaving the other Solos with that problem. I kept them behind me for the next few legs but they were a persistent problem until I got a really good lift up the beat on the second lap and got well clear. Other boats were starting to come into sight behind me now and I was checking my watch. With the pace I had I knew I could keep ahead of most of them but there were two Enterprises and a Lark that did eventually get past and a Phantom that seemed to have broken away from the other Phantoms (who were nowhere to be seen) and came past at quite a good speed. On the final leg and in the last few minutes it was quite tense with two Solos and a Blaze right behind me but keeping my focus I stayed ahead with a great 6^th place finish. Jon Clarke as it happened got 2^nd with only the Lark getting in front of him. A really good end to the weekend - overall 26^th out of 80.

Pat Overs

So to the final event of the Russell Winter Handicap Trophy 2012, The Tiger Trophy.  Gareth and Toby arrived at Rutland first with Paul and Tori shortly after.  After much boat bimbeling the sailors headed out for the first of three back to back races with 160 boats.  The fleet was split into a fast and slow fleet with the Hornet and Fireball being some of the slower boats in the fast fleet.  Just before the start of the first race Gareth spotted a loose fitting in the bottom of the boat and set about sorting that, just in time for the first start. Which turned about to be a general recall.  Then the Hornet Jib Halyard stretched a little and they lost all rig tension .  That was solved just in time for the re-start.  The first race proceeded without incident for both Paxton boats in a shifty gusty breeze.  (We won’t mention Paul sailing the wrong course so only being counted for 1 lap).  Toby and Gareth were only sailing the boat for the second time and lots of thing had been changed since the first sail so it was very much a case of making it up as they went along  At the start of the second race it was starting to get colder again although (thankfully) the race officer went straight to Black Flag which allowed us to get away first time.  This time Paul sailed the correct course and improved his result.  The third race was the best for both Paxton boats.  Slightly helped by a reduction in numbers due to the cold.  Boats were packed away just before the snow started.  After a couple of drinks in the bar we headed back to home for overnight with Gareth being told repetitively to drive carefully in the settling snow. Andy Anderson joined The Hornet and Flying Dutchman Sailors at the Anchor in Little Paxton to share lots of sailing talk, oh and a couple of jars of Full Potential Juice.  It was still snowing when we left the Anchor and we were left wondering how much snow there would be in the morning for the 40 mile drive back upto Rutland Water.

Sunday dawned with snow on the ground and fog.  After a careful drive up the A1 the Paxton sailors arrived to sweep snow off there boat, fix the few bits that needed fixing and then hide from the cold in the club house nursing warm cups of coffee waiting for the briefing of the 2 hour pursuit race.  As the middle of the lake appeared and disappeared with fog, stories of sailors and race officials stranded or held up in the snow came through and the wind was coming and going, there was some uncertainty if the race would or could go ahead.  With no information to suggest the race wouldn’t go ahead we wrapped up in our warmest sailing kit and set out onto the water.  With not a lot of wind on the lake and dense fog the pursuit race course had been set a lot shorter than usual. The Hornet set off from the start just a minute behind the competitive Merlin Rockets with Fireballs another minute later.  This was to be a day of total concentration with hopefully a little bit of luck.  By the end of the first lap Toby and Gareth in the Hornet had overtaken enough boats to get upto 14^th place with no one having overtaken them, or those that had managing to stay in front of them.  Over the next lap they sneaked past a few more boats and managed to keep anyone faster behind them to finish the race in 8^th Place.  Paul and Tori also got their best race result of the weekend coming 82^nd.  The pursuit race had pushed Toby and Gareth dramatically up the results sheet from their overnight place of 59^th overall to 30^th.  With Paul and Tori just outside the top 100 at 106^th.

Full report, results and pictures

The Tiger Trophy was the final of 4 events for the Russell Winter Handicap Trophy.  With results all counted and verified the final placings for the Russell Winter Handicap Trophy are:

1^st Toby Barsley-Dale and Gareth Russell – Hornet

2^nd Pat Overs – Solo

3^rd Andy Anderson – Solo

4^th Paul Carrington and Tori Carrington - Fireball

Final Results for the Russell Winter Handicap Trophy 2012

Pat Overs took his Solo and arrived early at the club.  Gareth arrived a few minutes later with Toby and Gareth's new Hornet.  Pat got his boat near to the launch area to prevent a repeat of last year's queuing behind Merlins and B14s at the slip way.  Gareth and Toby's Hornet is part way through a major re-fit and as such they set about screwing in the last few fittings before their first sail in the boat and trying to work out which spinnaker had the fewest holes in it.

The Bloody Mary is a 155 minute pursuit race with Toppers as the first start.  Pat started 15 minutes later with Toby and Gareth having practised a few tacks and a spinnaker hoist starting 36 minutes after the Toppers.  At the start of the race the wind was blowing force 4-5, but with a balmy 10 degrees.  Due to the wind direction, there were a number of very gusty and shifty parts of the lake.  The course had two short beats, some runs, broad reaches and a number of non spinnaker reaches.

The biggest issue to contend with at the Bloody Mary is traffic in the form of 302 boats this year.  Added to this some large fleets which create a large wall of boats to get past.  Being a pursuit race there are always slower boats to overtake and faster boats trying to overtake you.  The key thing is trying to keep your air clear and not get tangled with boats.  This isn't always easy when foiling Moths travelling at 20 knots trying to get in front of you on a downwind leg and then stopping as they sail into your wind shadow.  At the Bloody Mary there are normally a number of in-experienced racers who panic when presented with 30 boats trying to gybe at the same mark.  Then added to this, mainly due to the gusts you have unexpected capsizes in front of you causing you to have to think and react quickly.

Having said this, all three Paxton sailors came off the water with big smiles, but feeling worn out having sailed hard for the entire race to make it to the finish and having dealt with all the challenges presented.  This becomes more impressive when you see that 52 out of the 302 entries didn't finish the race.  Neither boat was very sure where they had finished.  When the results were published Pat Overs was placed 184th with Toby and Gareth 89th.

More pictures of the Bloody Mary here

Official Yachts and Yachting Report here

This has put Pat into the lead for the Russell Trophy.  The next event is the Steve Nicholson Memorial Race at Northampton Sailing Club on Saturday 28th January.

Provisional Russell Trophy Results here

Provisional Results here

Next event is the Bloody Mary at Queen Mary Sailing Club this Saturday 7th January.  This is a great event with over 200 boats competing in a single pursuit race.  The forecast is looking breezy but nothing like we have had over the last few days and no rain during the race.  For the Bloody Mary I would advise arriving early and if you are in a slower boat get changed before the briefing.  Also as launching can be difficult get your boat as near to the water as the stewards will allow as soon as you arrive.  Pat will be there in his Solo along with Toby and Gareth in their first outing in their new Hornet.

To keep the club running we have a number of working parties in the winter months.  Jobs for this years working parties include:

• "Dealing" with a number of areas around the lake with cutting back bushes and some trees to make sure the wind still blows
• Sorting out the club boat garage
• Re-painting of racing marks
• Spruce up the changing rooms
• Re-paint the club signage
• Improve the mooring rope
• Sort out the flag pole
• Review condition of club boats and instigate repairs
• Tidy up the dinghy park

Other jobs are being added all the time and as always there is a lot to do, however the more of us that make some time available to help during the working parties the more we will achieve.

So the dates for your diary are 15th January, 29th January and 19th February.  We will be starting at 10:00.  Please bring any tools you may feel will be useful and some lunch and a flask of your favourite brew is normally essential.  There will be someone in the clubhouse to direct us so don't worry if you cant make 10:00 any time you can spare will be put to good use for the club.

Also on 15th January there will be the AGM at 2:00 pm in the clubhouse.

More pictures after the link, and all the picture are on our Paxton Lakes Sailing Club Facebook Page

This years Russell Winter Handicap Trophy will include the following events

Grafham Grand Prix at Grafham Sailing Club
Monday 2nd January 2012
2 handicap races with 4 separate fleets 1st race start 10:55
http://www.grafham.org/?p=3268

Bloody Mary at Queen Mary Sailing Club
7th January 2012
1 long Pursuit race (expect 250+ boats)
Race start time for slowest boat is 12:00pm (make sure you aim to launch early as it can take a while to launch boats) http://www.queenmary.org.uk/bloody-mary.aspx

Steve Nicholson Memorial Race at Northampton Sailing Club
Saturday 28th January 2012
2 handicap races with 4 separate fleets
http://www.northamptonsailingclub.org

Tiger Trophy at Rutland Sailing Club
4th & 5th February 2012
3 back to back handicap races with a slow and fast start for Saturday lasting approx 45 mins each. Then Sunday has 1 long non dis-cardable pursuit race
www.rutlandsc.co.uk

As there are different formats for each of the races, from a 300+ single pursuit to 40-50 boat fleets based on handicap splits, to give an overall result your final position at each event will be taken and factored up based on the largest fleet across all events. This will then give a point score for each event which is comparable across event and fleets. You will also get 2 discards so your best 2 scores will count to your overall score.

Just in case I miss you when I am looking through the results of each event please email sailing.secretary@paxtonlakes.org.uk to let me know which you are going to.

Lots of pictures on the Facebook Page.

---------

Sunday 25th September is the all new Double Handed Trophy.  Racing will be for the Kestrel Cup and is now open to all double handed boats with a minimum of 2 crew.  The day wont be taken that seriously (by most of us) so a great chance to join in with the racing in a friendly environment.  Club boast are available but a first come first served and the first race will start at 11:00 followed by 2 races after lunch.

The next day (Saturday) we enjoyed a full English breakfast then sailed from Bradwell to Brightlingsea (about 10 miles). Pat and Andy in their Solos, Paul and Tori and Nigel and his friend Andy in Fireballs, Simon in his laser and Pat Lovell in his Gull. The rest of us were taken in 22 foot Ketch. The wind was a gentle breeze (force 2 I’m told). The sailors were in their element while we had agentle cruse bringing up the rear. After a pleasant packed lunch in the harbour at Brightlingsea we set off back to Bradwell. In the ketch we used the “metal sail” to propel us back by the most direct route. For the sailors it was beat all the way back into a strengthing head wind.......

• Andy Anderson - (Normally seen in his Solo)
• Matt Bowden - (Normally seen in his yellow Laser Radial)
• Paul Carrington - (Normally in a Fireball or Streaker)
• Tori Carrington - (Normally seen in Toppers, Laser Radials or Fireballs)
• Pat Overs – (Normally seen in a Solo or SigneT)
• Gareth Russell – (Normally seen in his Lark, Flying Dutchman or Moth)
• John Stanness - (Normally seen in his Solo)

With the club adorned in bunting, balloons and flags, Paxton took part in the nationwide campaign for ‘Sail for Gold’, with a series of “special” races, on the 19th June 2011. With a moderate to strong wind blowing 8 competitors, including both juniors and seniors, participated. With the prospects of medals being awarded at the end of the day, everyone threw themselves into the day enthusiastically.

To begin with, an ordinary pursuit race was sailed, the “special” part of this race being that all competitors had to start on the bank with dry feet. After some comical starts, Andy Anderson in his Solo predictably finished in first place but with everyone else close behind.

After a lunch break, a series of 3, high energy fifteen minute races, on a small course right in front of the club house provided great entertainment for the spectators. Yet again, Andy Anderson came out on top. However, there had been a shake-up of results further down the score sheet, with Bobby Martin and Matthew Bowden in lasers switching places.

The final race was another pursuit race but with another twist – personal handicaps were enforced. This gave the slowest boat (Andy Martin in a RS Terra Sport) a 9 minute lead on all other boats and left Andy Anderson starting some 25 minutes after start gun. The personal handicaps were very well calculated and produced an exciting conclusion to the race. The boats were all closing up for a photo finish but the wind dropped in the dying minutes of the race. Andy Martin sailed well taking full advantage of his head start so that he finished first with Tori close behind. This shot Andy Martin up the leader board when the double points were awarded but left Andy Anderson with a handful of points. The final results were as follows:

Position Comeptitor

1st Tori Carirngton - Topper

2nd Paul Carrington - Streaker

4th Simon Leonard - Laser

5th Andy Martin - RS Tera

6th Joe Sharp - Bosun

7th Bobby Martin - Laser

8th Matt Bowden - Laser

Well done to all who took part and a special thank you to Gareth for organising a very enjoyable day!

Tori Carrington

For me, Middle Nene was a nice club but one where I had a tendency to break things. The first year it was the kicker and last year my tiller. It is also one where a capsize quickly leaves you stuck in mud and needing assistance from the rescue teams. As it turned out this year wasn’t all that much different!]]> pat@ember.com (Pat Overs) frontpage Mon, 02 May 2011 15:11:28 +0000 http://www.paxtonlakes.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=223:paxton-lakes-sc-summer-weekend-away&catid=6:club-news&Itemid=3 http://www.paxtonlakes.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=223:paxton-lakes-sc-summer-weekend-away&catid=6:club-news&Itemid=3 Dear club member,