Return to RACING page

NZ Postal Results from the UK

Elstead Cutter 20th April 2008

With Footy racing

After several years with just a small entry, this year's event was a great success with 14 boats taking part. Newcomers, Gary Sanderson, Lockie Gabriel and Hannah Vice were welcomed along with Tricia and Charlotte Broszek. Hugh McAdoo was also welcomed back after a short absense.

It started as a cold but sunny day with a five or six mph east north-east wind with lots of holes and the occasional sharp gusts of 12-15 mph. Both Marbleheads and BOTTLE boats raced together over a triangle and sausage course with the BOTTLE boat windward mark half way up the Marblehead beat. This handicap worked well with most wins by BOTTLE boats (four/three in proportion).

The finishes were close and very exciting as the Marbleheads attempted to close the gap on the leading BOTTLE boats. The results were declared at lunch with tight scores at the top. Jim Vice got the lowest score sailing his BOTTLE boat 84 with Roger sailing his 'Roar Edge' a point behind and Paul sailing his 'Crazy Tube' another point behind.

However the Elstead Cutter is a handicap trophy won by improving on your handicap percentage established from previous event results. Mark Mortimore performed the best in this respect and with a score of plus 28 handicap points he took home the magnificent silver trophy.

Merit results:

Ist Jim Vice Bb84 12 points, 2nd Roger Stollery Roar Edge 13, 3rd Paul Midgley ‘Crazy Tube Too’ 14, 4th Martin Crysell ‘Rok’ 16, 5th Mark Mortimore ‘Roar Edge’ 26, 6th = Gary Sanderson ‘Crazy Tube Too’ & Hugh McAdoo ‘Paradox’ 39, 8th Victoria/Phil Broszek Bb57 47, 9th CJ Vice Bb67 50, 10th Hayley Vice Bb71 56, 11th Lockie/Hannah Vice Bb4 59.

Elstead Cutter Trophy – Mark Mortimore.

Footy Racing

After lunch we tried something new, which all four remaining skippers found fascinating, educational and gripping! Gary Sanderson's Footy Internet course was verified at 50 ft long and set on the water by clipping to one of our existing marks. The underwater cord was weighted down below three floating corks. The five-lap course was timed, and 23 times were recorded. The wind speed was frustratingly variable, but the course reflected the overall direction well and didn't vary too much with the wildly eddying gusts. Occasionally a bend in the cork line at the leeward ‘sail’ end showed the start of a large persistent shift. In such varying conditions and doing it against the clock, the first lesson on the beat was to stay close to the rhumb line, so beautifully marked by the corks! This course is also good for tuning and it was easy to see faults and correct the trim to good effect.


The "Ant"
The course
The "Duck"
"Thin Thing"

Gary, Hugh, Phil and myself were sailing Roger's 'ANT' and Gary's 'DUCK' in their big rigs. Gary was trying his new and very narrow, lightweight Footy design, with a beam of only about 60 mm. It to looked absolutely amazing to windward with the hull more less vertical and the rig well heeled. However downwind it was often overpowered with the bow under and was occasionally lapped by the other two boats. This was very disappointing for Gary. The variability of the wind can be judged from the varying recorded times. The 'no wind’ holes and slamming gusts were not the ideal conditions for good times. However the following a times were recorded:

Footy internet course times - 20 April 2008 at Guildford MYC's water, Abbey Meads, Chertsey
Best skipper times shown in italic bold
Sail no /design Skipper Time Min.sec Comment
97 ANT Hugh McAdoo 9 .16 ENE wind 4-6mph average, 8-12 gusts
113 Duck Roger Stollery 6. 26  
97Ant Hugh 6.34  
13 Thin Thing Gary Sanderson 7.18  
97 Roger 6.17 Wind backed more northerly
113 Hugh 7.08  
13 Gary 8.48  
97 Roger 6.41 Very variable with knockdowns on run
113 Hugh 7.21  
13 Gary 7.28  
97 Roger 6.48 15mph gust on run did not help!
13 Gary 7.22  
97 Roger 6.34  
97Ant Roger 6.11 Wind eased
113 Gary 6.43  
97 Phil Broszek 8.11 Wind dying, holes etc
113 Gary 8.12  
97 Roger 6.42  
113 Gary 7.01  
113Duck Gary 6.18  
97Ant Phil 6.42  
97 Phil 7.07 Wind dying away