RC BOATING YACHTING Sailing at Puddleduck Sailing @ Puddleduck 2023 Puddleduck Vineyard Racing 17/01/2023

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    • #13034

      It was a day full of excitement, from Gadgets’ fascination with the fountain to Jammy’s battery free sailing, the fun never stopped.

      As forecast, the breeze largely came from the NE at 5 – 8knots and slowly built throughout the morning. It was very pleasant, at least until the last race where it became more about survival and just keeping your rudder in the water required an act of god.

      Poonie #81 finished five out of the nine races sailed today having struggled with the extra boats on the water and changing conditions.

      Not so the Unflappable one #99 in the penultimate race pulled out a blinder from fourth position to take the win in fabulous style.

      After a quickie fountin’ mountin’ before racing even began, our Gadget’s clever tactic of wearing a loud distracting Hawaiian shirt unfortunately failed to blind the front runners into submission. At least until race six where he steadfastly fought his way into second place.

      It is predictable when breezes are light an RG’s high aspect sail is less powerful than the DF’s larger low aspect one. This was true of Cookie RG#52 today. As the breezes picked up his progress up the leader board was linear until popping a first place in race five. Shortly after he suffered electrical problems and retired.

      Bit of a kangaroo day for the Jamster #39 today yo-yo -ing between the pointy end and the rear. Two race wins and later a second in race five put him 40 seconds behind at the line. That is a hell of a lot of time to be giving the fleet with a freshening breeze. Insult to injury was making the walk of shame by launching his boat with the battery switched off.

      Absent in the top paddock was our Sheep #37 today. Not like the Woolley one to be lagging behind but with nothing North of an eighth I’d call that a good sailor having one of ‘those’ days.

      Lisa #35 was back at da Duck showing some good tactical sailing and sound race craft. With only a couple of exceptions she managed to stay consistently near the sharp end, producing her strongest results for the last three races. Lisa was second in the DF65 class results today

      Sporting a flash set of new poly sails, the Smiling Assassin #32 finally broke cover to show us his black heart with a second place in race two. His hellbent purpose was spotted early however and the forces of good rose to blunt his evil intent.

      The Admiral’s #23 Royal barge was on hand to direct traffic and provide a ready target for other wayward craft who had lost their way. Although frequently near the sharp end he only finished with a third and two seconds for the day.

      Good to see Fab #17 back in the fray. After lurking near the back end he finally made his move, pulling a clear victory in race seven.

      Bodge #06 came out of the blocks early, scoring a second in the first race and looking the business. An early handicap can often lead to numerous opportunities to get tangled up with the bulk of the fleet before being able to reach clean air again and this unfortunately was our Bodge’s fate today.

      Trout’s #11 results across the page looks like a barbed wire fence. Only in the last race where he and half the fleet got wiped out did his string of brilliantly consistent results finally get interrupted. Four thirds and two seconds is hard to beat out of nine races and the results don’t lie. Trout beat Lisa out by four points to be our DF65 class winner for today. Although at times the lighter breezes didn’t suit his swing rigged greyhound, Scrooge RG#08 was a strong performer again. His tally in winning three first places plus a third, more than made up for any earlier performance drop. Stuart is our combined fleet and RG class winner today, congratulations.

      Big thanks again to our scorer and time keeper Sue, score calculation and gadgets from Gadget, words and publishing by the Admiral.

       

       

       

    • #13035
      Fab

        Great write up Colin, certainly got exciting at the end. Hopefully I will get up the results board sometime, just have to sail better. Well done all.

        • #13037

          Thanks Fab it was great to have you back with us.

      • #13036

        Another great summary of today’s sailing, nice work Admiral 👍

        Well sailed today Scrooge & Trout 👍

        • #13038

          Thanks Bodge, a great day to be out with the ‘duckers!

      • #13039

        Another masterpiece of prose Admiral. I think I got off pretty light 😉

        Through all my mishaps, I enjoyed the day very much.

        Someone left their yacht stand behind at Puddleduck. It was found in the vacinity of the carparks between the Puddleduck building and the pump shed.

        I can bring it along next week/fortnight.

         

        • #13040

          Thanks Gadget. Yes you still have some credit left after all the good work you do for us.  The Hawaiian shirt might be pushing it though. 😉

      • #13066

        Thanks Gadget, that is my RG65 stand.

        Just as well Kermit wasn’t there, being green it would have disappeared.

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