Laser: a full weekend

 

The weather has been all over the place of late, but for the last week or so the wind has at last moved back around into the west. It still feels a bit chilly out of the sun, but the temperature does at least climb into the teens now. On most days.

That said, on Saturday we were hit by a downpour of sleet and hail and then, once back off the water and I was trying to get changed back into my dry cloths in our alfresco changing rooms (ie. the car-park), an absolute deluge of icy rain.

All of this is interspersed with patches of bright sunshine that just seem to tease of the summer still to come. It would be very nice and I'd consider it a personal favour if it could arrive in time for a week Friday.

But I can't complain. The only reason that I think I'm noticing it is because I'm lucky enough to find myself out in it a fair bit. I stood my turn helming the safety boat last Sunday and again Wednesday evening, but got to race both Saturday and Sunday of the weekend just gone.

Saturday was an unplanned, impromptu opportunity taken; an afternoon race I hadn't intended to join but the chance was just too good to not take. I discovered Nikki had to work in the afternoon, so as soon as she'd headed out for her shift, I snuck off down to the lake in time to make the 1415 start of the pursuit race.

The Laser is a good boat for a pursuit at South Cerney. As I think I've mentioned before, every class of dinghy is given a handicap number that reflects how fast or slow it is in relation to every other type of boat it might race against. The lower the number, the faster the boat. With a pursuit race, the race is of a set length (in this case at South Cerney, an hour and a half) and each competitor then has a start time based on their boat's handicap; the slower the class of boat, the earlier you start.

Your position on the water when the time runs out and the race ends determines your finishing position. Basically, the faster boats get to chase the slower boats, who are given a head start proportionate to how much slower they are.

The Laser's handicap at South Cerney is 1100, which gives me plenty of boats to chase, and a few but not too many chasing me. Theoretically, the slower boats should have the advantage of clean air, and unless there's a huge disparity between the performance of the boats concerned, it's easier to hold a position in the front than it is to gain a position from behind.

But in any game of fox and hounds, I think I always prefer to run with the hounds. If you're sailing a slower handicapped boat in a pursuit, from the moment you start you're simply sailing to not lose. If you're sailing a faster handicap though, and therefore doing the chasing, you have to sail to win.

That said, I didn't win. But I had fun. And whilst it's not true that this is all that matters, it is a good consolation prize.

Sunday would normally be an opportunity to race the Albacore with Amanda, but we've damaged the rudder and it was still in the workshop, so I persuaded Amanda to take out one of the Club's Lasers, and I took out my own again.

Conditions were similar to the day before, a bit brighter perhaps, but still with the threat of shows and, although the wind was a little lighter, it was still gusty at times.

The first race went very well until the final lap when I finally got caught and overtaken by my friends Mark and Sue in their Albacore. That wasn't a problem in itself, an Albacore is a much faster class of boat so I still had them beat on handicap, but I then fixated on trying to win my place back from them, and inadvertently followed them to the wrong mark when Mark subsequently got himself confused over the course.

It's kind of amusing; although it was primarily Mark's mistake, I only had myself to blame. If I'd paid attention to my own race rather than trying to beat them at theirs, then I'd have sailed the right course, won my place on the water back from them anyway, and wouldn't have lost a couple of minutes taken on the detour. It wasn't enough time for the boats behind us to catch up, but those couple of minutes lost me two or three places against the faster boats out in front.

The second race went much more to plan, undistracted by Mark, I sailed the correct course this time and managed to take a second place. Better still, unlike the day before, when we came off the water the sun continued to shine, giving me the chance to mow the overgrown grass in the Laser's berth, and then get changed and then Mark, Sue and Amanda on the patio outside the clubhouse for a cold beer.