Alton Water 2016 Fox's Marine and Country Frostbite Series

Alton Water 2016 Fox's Marine and Country Frostbite Series - Day 7

by Martin Pavey 18 Feb 2016 20:14 GMT 14 February 2016

Best to stay in the boat if possible : Alton Water Frostbite Series day 7 © Emer Berry

There are two more Sundays' racing left in the Frostbite Series and this week's racing coinciding with the half-term holiday (skiing anyone?), an unfavourable forecast (especially after last week with memories still fresh in the mind) and it being February 14th, not unsurprisingly the number of starters was down.

The day entry arrangements appear to be working, so for those who haven't taken part yet and want the Alton Water (Frostbite) Experience 2016, please sign up via the website prior to racing.

One of our intrepid race scorers on the committee boat did her best to remind the fleet of this auspicious day with a heart sewn onto the 'in position' orange committee boat flag and topically-decorated balloons flown from the rear mast – no excuse for those away from their loved ones to forget Valentine's Day.

A Valentine's Day committee boat at Alton Water's Frostbite Series day 7 - photo © Stewart Berry

Rather more down to earth, the race officer assured everyone that they would be ashore well in time to catch the England rugby game later that afternoon (or at least he would be).

It was a bright morning and with the rain stopping just as the racing marks were put out, we had a wind from the north east for the first time this series. This meant a change from the usual beat towards Essex, with the wind coming from our neighbouring county of Norfolk - never a good sign.

The geography of the reservoir and the usual format course meant a shorter first beat than usual and with a reluctance to put the windward mark under the trees, there was little time for the fleets to sort themselves out on the initial legs of the course. One benefit of the wind being in this direction was the short distance from the launching ramps to the start area, which was in a depth of water such that the pin and committee boats could be affixed to the bottom with ease.

Various forecasts were predicting substantial gusts and true to these projections they appeared or rather waited until the first preparatory was flown and were then joined by some sleet under the dark clouds. In the first start the fleet split evenly – left and right – but there was a big advantage for those who went left, perhaps getting into a more sailable constant breeze as the gusts were strong enough to be a disadvantage. Other starts either did not notice or just chose to do their own thing with the prime objective of remaining upright. There was some spectacular downwind sailing on the first broad reach and later the square run, but no coloured sails were spotted (or not for long) on the bottom beam reach.

It was a tough cold day and with many crews taking to the water, the second (back to back) race of the day was started with minimal delay for a reduced number of starters and once positions had been set, this race was shortened – with not a complaint heard. In fact there was praise from some quarters for giving the sailors what they wanted; short sharp racing with the endurance stuff held over to a warmer day in the summer.

Fast

The Finn returned to the fray this week but noticeable in their absence was the growing 'fleet within a fleet' of up to 8 RS300s, leaving the Phantoms and the Merlin Rockets to improve on their fleet scores ready for the end of series prize giving. Dan Willett and Peter Nicholson managed to stay upright and took podium position in both races. Our sympathy from the committee boat goes to Bob in his Phantom who was adjudged to be an early starter and in returning had an early cold bath.

Asymmetrics

Yet again this was an RS200 benefit with the larger rigged RS400s generally being over-powered. With a new arrival in the fleet (and in a new boat) and with capsizes both upwind and downwind playing their part, there was a good mix in the results, which were closer than in previous weeks. Ben Clegg and Abi Ember-Kay just saw off David Conlon and Sarah Bines on countback on the day.

Laser

Oh how I remember Lasers on a day like this – some benefit comes with age - drinking coffee on the committee boat is definitely preferable. Sheet in, sheet out, headed, lifted – who knew what to do when. With results dependent on staying upright, the best over the two races was Pete Kyne who admittedly had a (noisy) rinse in full sight of your reporter in the first race as he lapped.

Strong gusts caught people out in Alton Water's Frostbite Series day 7 - photo © Tim Bees

Medium

Noticeable over the years is a reduction in the number of trapeze boats that we have out racing, with winter interest at Alton Water for trapezing focussing on the 420s. This was a day for Emily and Rebecca Mitchell in their 420 (although not winning - that was left to the ever present at the front Alan Krailing and Charlotte Stewart), who made it look fun and were high fiving at the end – nice one girls.

Slow

There were no Cadets this week and this gave largely Topper class racing where they thoroughly enjoyed the conditions and close racing, so much so that they were given a full duration race for their second race of the day and Benjamin Reason took advantage with two wins on the day. With four races still to sail and with six discards there are still place changes to be had and prizes to be won in this fleet.