Four RC Laser sailors raced in Week #5 of the seven-week Fall Series. Jackets, long pants (except for Jack Bennett) and socks were in order as a few of us thought that we were racing in the Frostbite series already!
Winds were strong and steady and blowing out of the North at 10-12 mph with some gusts above 15 mph and of course there were the normal 20 degree shifts to each side during the races. Everyone agreed to use the standard “B” sail since the other sails are still on backorder from the builder. There were a couple of moments when the “C” would have been nice, but almost everyone kept the bow on top of the water on all legs.
Steady winds allowed for five races to be run in a little over an hour.
The courses were a mix of two-lap windward – leewards with a reach leg thrown in every so often. The final race was a windy-lew with huge triangle out to the special mooring field warning buoy tacked on to the end. Even then, with great winds, it was still a quick race.
Everyone had at least one race where they did not finish (DNF). A couple of sailors were stopped dead in their tracks after finding a floating patch of really long strands of grass wrapped around their keels and rudders causing them to have to go rescue their boats with the dinghy. At collision at a mark rounding took out at least one competitor.
The “big boat” RC Volunteer party was being held at the club so we ended after 5 races and headed up to the clubhouse.
The race results have been posted showing Low Point standings for the Fall Series. The file showing the CHIPS3 High Point scoring has also been updated.
For the running 2010 Best RC Laser Sailor competition, the “Batting Averages” have been computed and there are no changes in ranking since last week.
0.867 Bill Blevins
0.662 Jonathan Gorbold
0.607 Gary Schmidt
0.465 Jack Bennett
0.456 Nelson Habecker
0.424 George Walter
Racing continues on next Sunday on the waterfront at CYC at 4 p.m. for week 6 of 7 in the Fall Series and then we will be moving to a 2 p.m. start time for the first race.
Remember, if you would like to come out and race with us for the FrostBite series starting on October 24 you need to get your boat ordered now! Just give the distributor Steve Lang a call at 615-773-2920 or visit his site to place your order for an RC Laser. Everything you need comes right in the bag, ready to sail with the addition of a few AA batteries and 5 minutes to put your sails on the boat.
See you on the water!
