Flying Scots Fleet Race in July

Uh oh, the RC boat waits for breeze (click to enlarge)


Kim and I were not racing today, owing to my recent Lasik surgery and Dr's orders to lay low. That created a good excuse to try out my new camera from the nicely shaded upper deck of the DIYC clubhouse. The deck is also conveniently located near the the bar and some cold draft beer.

Our fearless fleet captain Andy says;

Our July fleet practice races are in the books, we lost some of our regular "owner operators" to other aquatic pursuits, the infidels shall remain nameless... We still had 7 boats out which for the middle of Summer, not too shabby!
Andy and Drew charge out of the basin, Breeze On!

Big welcome to Robbie Brown and Richard to their first fleet event, they had the newly refurbished FS2052 going well!

There was a big kid's theme going, there was youngsters on three of the seven boats, (and I'm not counting Cameron!!)Stewart, Drew and Lilly Taylor and Drew Hayward all racing hard!


Dawn and Matt heading out

We had to wait for wind, but a nice Westerly filled in around 315 and was in the 12k range to start, fading slightly as the races clicked off. Big thanks to Dave and Dean Bell, Lisa Hayward and Paul for running some nice races!!
The stacks showing the westerly and a little storm cell but it stayed "over there"

Results:

Boat R1 R2 R3 R4 Tot

Robbie Brown and Richard # 2052 1 3 2 1 7
Al Thompson and Cameron Salmon # 504 3 2 3 2 10
Nate Velardebo and Crew # 2007 4 4 1 4 13
Andy and Drew Hayward # 38 2 5 4 3 14
Tom, Drew and Lilly Taylor # 4321 6 6 5 5 22
Dawn Naramore and Matt Dalton # 2262 5 7 6 6 24
Mark and Stewart Taylor #4925 8 dns 1 8 dnf 8 dns 25


Here we have the stragglers bringing up the rear. Again! Jeez.

Our next event was supposed to be the much heralded Lake Hollingsworth Invitational, July 25th but it will be re-scheduled for this fall.

Now for the fun stuff on the drive home;

Biker Down! I hate it when that happens!


The next victim?


Another one not really getting the "side of the road concept"


Re-arranging "the Goods"... always a priority


A little thrill for wheel chair guy! and Kim,

NOT!

Stay tuned as we begin the road trip next week. First stop is the Sandy Douglas regatta at Deep Creek then to WI for the NAC. Missy will be joining in the fun.

Flying Scot Fleet Racing in Tampa

We had a fleet race this past weekend and the weather was close to ideal but certainly hot. Eleven boats hit the water for a 2pm start in a nice westerly breeze of 8 to 10 knots. Sweet!



Mark and Tom Taylor and I handled RC duty and we had it pretty easy. We ran 5 races without ever having to re-set the course, a near impossibility for Davis Island racing. We did adjust our anchor line a couple times to keep a slight pin end favor and that was it.

Amy and Jeff Linton were untouchable scoring 5 bullets followed by Dave Clement who was sailing Mark Taylor's boat. Here are the results:

1- Jeff Linton 5
2- Dave Clement 11
3- Andy Hayward 26
4- Al Thompson 30
5- Matt Dalton 31
6- Mike Douglas 32
7- Ray Laguna 34t
8- Dean Bell 34t
9- David Bell 34t
10- Cal Reid 45
11- Bill Adikes 48

For a slight change of pace and better photo opportunities we set a windward /leeward course with 4 legs and a leeward gate. Many photos were taken along with some video, we will try to get the photos up soon.

Here we have a short video of a leeward gate rounding, shot from the RC boat. The first boat to round is Jeff and Amy Linton who make a habit of good mark roundings.



Points to note are;
1- The approach angle is good
2- The board is down and pole dropped early
3- The drop is not delayed too long
4- Amy gathers the chute swiftly
5- Amy gets the jib sheet in time for trimming
6- Jeff has a good view and is smoothly trimming the mainsheet.

From my vantage point on the RC boat I paid attention to how well the Lintons handle their boat. With each mark rounding, tack or jibe they make a small gain on the fleet. There is rarely any wasted motion or effort, they always look smooth. This is something we all could work at and improve. In the future, I will try to get more (and better) video to help illustrate some of these points.