More Comment on the New FF Rig...

I respond to Trevor's suggestion and the interest in the new 15 rig. I believe it would be true to say that we all have an interest, not least the sail makers, who will be stocking up with anticipation, with the short life of mylar.

There is a very interesting article in the F15 section of the Hayling website at http://www.hisc.co.uk/locker/fifteen The content of the article is the research by Martin Stainsby (who in the past has had the enriching experience of crewing for me in a GP14) regarding the new sails. I make the assumption from the content and layout, that as well as being a competent 15 sailor, Martin may be into "project management"...!

My conclusions are that we still have some way to go with this initiative. It appears to have no definitive dimensions yet for the new sails, including the number of battens required. Also we seem to be blindly moving forward with the concept of a new mainsail shape, to the extent that this new mainsail shape is being evaluated in some parts of the world with the existing genoa.  Have we tried the new genoa/jib in conjunction with the existing mainsail?

It is my guess that a move to a new rig next July is in the balance and if Mylar is mandatory for the new main design, this will fracture the class and render all the hard work on classic and silver fleets to the bin. In the event that the new sail plan is approved and there is freedom of choice between dacron and mylar sails, then it would probably be a couple of seasons before the sail makers settle on their preferred cuts and designs.

Back to Trevor's suggestion, I should think a sailmaker will be pleased to strike a keen deal for 4-6 suits of Mylar sails. On a personal note I would only buy dacron because I like to obtain a minimum of 3 years use out of a suit of sails - our current suit are actually 5 years old - added to which I enjoy having an input into the design of sails I use.

Best Regards
Hume - non Dom -
FF3559

Sunday 28th - Weather Outlook and AGM

As I type, the Met Office daytime forecast (ha!) for Datchet is 0 degrees and 3mph northerly...

In the event that the forecast is correct (more "ha!") and we don't race..... because of lack of breeze....., we'll run the Fleet AGM right away as soon as we are quorate. If it all goes wild and we're in deep snow, I have a conference call number that we could use from our armchairs and will circulate the details for that by the end of Saturday, if it looks likely.

See you there!

FC

Autumn Series Update

We normally have around 12 boats entering each series, and so it is this Autumn. (Just looked outside - we should maybe rename this the "Autumn/Winter Series"...) The thing that is hitting many of us is getting enough races in to keep our scores up. Certainly Howard and Richard have taken a month off for various family commitments and a few others have had the same kind of pressures. Nonetheless, in the Autumn it is still the fast guys out front....

Leading the Series by a strong margin are Dominic and David Hume. When you see that yellow spinnaker whooshing past to the right - yes, it's them! In second at the moment we have our Superstars, Mark and Tony - a good few points behind it must be said, Chaps!! However, now Brett has glued the boat back together I expect they'll be pushing Team Hume very hard from now on. And then in third place, continuing the Firth Family domination of our fleet, comes Mike Firth - just a few points behind Mark. You will recall that Mike's normal partner, Vice Commodore Tinsley, has had a few challenges of his own on the domestic front. Mike has been sailing with a variety of crews, so his position just a few points behind his lad is all the more creditable.  (Click on the 4th photo to the right for the full results table) 

"Lad" ??! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ....... !!!!

The Number of BIFFA Members is ????

Just reading the minutes of the last National Fleet Captain's Meeting and I noticed the answer to a question that I've been seeking for quite a while.... How many boat owning members of BIFFA do we have??
The answer is... 360. To be honest, I cant decide if that's good or bad ! I think the last figure I recall for the number of Fleets is 52. That gives an average Fleet Membership of BIFFA of about seven.
I wonder how many of our Datchet boat owners belong? So what do you think? If you don't belong, is it out of apathy or do you not hold a strong opinion on it?

The New FF Rig

Trevor Sparrow is thinking ahead to the new FF Rig being approved.... He wonders if the bulk of us at Datchet would consider changing to the new rig at the same time, giving us maybe the opportunity to get large scale discounts on the sails - if we all buy at the same time. Also eliminating any issues that the new rig is either faster or slower than the current sails. Interesting... Got any views?? Emails to Trevor or the FC please.

Appointment of New Fleet Measurer

Just to let you all know that Phil Tinsley, VC, has passed the rigorous BIFFA examinations and multiple vivas to become a qualified Flying Fifteen Measurer. So no more excuses for unmeasured sails, and the installation of illegal camping stoves under the foredeck!
Phil's fees are reasonable he says and are calibrated in the following units:-
Small Tasks - Mugs
Medium Tasks - Glasses
Big jobs - Bottles
This is the first time i can recall in 15 years that we have our very own Measurer. Call Phil direct, if you need him.

Grafham Fleet Comparison with Datchet

Howard took Julien up to Grafham for the Laser Inlands two weekends ago. While there, he was able to check the health of the Flying Fifteen Fleet. They have 32 boats, (I think we may have 29 now) and on that Sunday had 7 boats start in the morning, and 6 in the afternoon.
So, all in all, we are about at the same level as Grafham now ! Well done, Everybody !!

2009-2010 Fleet Rankings !!!

One of the by-products of the Personal Handicap Series is that we can get a good idea of how we all sailed over the course of a year via the calculated personal handicap numbers - lets say over 40-80 races for most of us. It makes pretty interesting reading. The handicap numbers, not unlike a golfing handicap, are directly proportional. So a team with a personal handicap of 1010 is 1% slower than a team with a handicap of 1000. Mark and Tony are our "scratch" team and everyone is measured relative to them. Unfortunately for these purposes, the normal discard rules apply. So if you turn out for less than half the races, you start to get pushed down the league table.

Based on the entire 2009-2010 data, here's the Fleet Rankings :-

1 - 1028 - Mark and Tony
2 - 1038 - Mike and Phil
3 - 1039 - Richard and Howard
4 - 1043 - Dominic and David
5 - 1055 - Andy and Nadia
6 - 1060 - Andy and Bob
7 - 1065 - Adam and Emma
8 - 1068 - John and Helen
9 - 1134 - Roger and Janet

Looks like a Firth Family Clean Up !!!

2010 Personal Handicap Trophy - Results

Our Personal Handicap Series Resources Executive has just handed me the results for the 2009-2010 Series.

The Winners are:-

1st - Andy Clarke and Nadia Melinkova (71pts)
2nd - Mark Firth and Tony Mumford (78pts)
3rd - Richard Jones and Howard Shawyer (97 pts)

Congratulations to Andy and Nadia !!!

Race and Series Results now in Datchet Man

A couple of you raised with me yesterday the idea of being able to get to the race and series results tables in one click from Datchet Man. Good idea....

I have fixed that up and it should work - just click on the photos to the lower right. Let me know what you think !

Race Reports - Sunday 21st November

Seven boats racing today. Noticeable absentees though - John and Helen, Adam, Andy and Nadia, the Admiral and XFC. Pretty cool but not cold - and around a 10knot northerly - which was all over the place from time to time. "Up the middle" seemed to pay. The course was a bit short, notably the reaches - using only half the reservoir again.

Race One : we were generally a bit tardy for the very prompt race officer. Mark and Tony shot off the line and kindly waved to Howard and Richard headed in the opposite direction trying to get a start in. Howard v cross, as they began in 6th.... and heaven knows how many seconds behind. Richard blamed the tacktick.... A nice race - Mark and Tony never challenged, and Team Millar sailed a stonker to come a great second. Howard and Richard did a bit of that overtaking thing to come third. Doing a Button as they say....

Race Two : pressure on as we were all at the line and ready to go. Mervyn in his new 3536 had a great start at the committee boat end as did Mark and Tony. Richard and Howard gambled for the pin end, and the fleet in general got out of the trap very well. The pin end gamble didn't work too well, and at mark one it was Mark/Tony, Mervyn, then Richard and Howard. Then unaccountably Tony decided to read poetry to Mark instead of focussing on his spinnaker work - letting 3536 come storming through to take the lead. And then before mark two, Richard and Howard took them both. Terrific stuff! Howard is so good in those marginal reaching and planing conditions.... This was great racing. Team Hume came through strongly, Mervyn continued to sail well, and Mark and Tony (poetry readings complete) really piled the pressure on. But at the end, Richard and Howard took it by four seconds from Mark and Tony, and they were 5 seconds ahead of Team Hume.

Star performances of the day? Team Millar in race one - really sailed it very cleverly. Then our newcomer, Mervyn Wright in 3536 sailed extremely well too. His crew had never sailed a spinnaker until the day before. Blimey. A team to keep an eye on. The midnight monster might need to put lead in their tanks if they keep on like that!!

A great day's class racing !