Catapult TT at YDSC May 28th-29th |
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Home Page Results and Reports Sailing Programme Cruising Tactics and Rules The Boat |
The Catapult fleet made its annual return to Yorkshire Dales Sailing
Club over the weekend of 28-29 May 2022. This year the club had kindly
offered to host a joint open meeting with the Vortex fleet.
DAY 1
The Race Officer, Dave Baxter, was faced with a difficult task to set a
trapezoid course for the Catapults in a shifty and light north to north
easterly wind blowing across Grimwith Reservoir, but he managed it
admirably.
Race 1
The fleet of seven boats started on starboard tack, but most tacked off
to the right while John Terry persevered up the left side. That proved
to be the winning move as he rounded the windward mark with a good lead
over the chasing pack. However a misunderstanding the course led him to
miss out the leeward mark, and retracing his steps left him struggling
in fifth. Meanwhile Gareth Ede took over the lead followed by Stuart Ede
and Syd Gage. Gareth drew away while Stuart and Syd duelled all the way
round. On the penultimate broad reach Syd caught a gust that enabled him
to overtake Stuart and he was a boat length ahead as they rounded the
last leeward mark. Stuart tacked for the line a fraction later than Syd
so he could sail freer and faster for the line. They were neck and neck
as they crossed the line with the race team giving Stuart second place
by a whisker.
Race 2
Most of the fleet went up the left side of the beat, and John reached
the windward mark first, but Chris Crawley, who had gone up the right
side of the beat, came in fast on starboard to snatch second place from
Mike just ahead of Gareth. John maintained his lead while battle was
joined between Mike, Chris and Gareth. First Gareth overtook Chris
downwind, and on the next leg he got past Mike. Chris was on Mike's tail
for the rest of the race but could not get past.
Race 3
Again John was first to the windward mark. But on the next downwind leg
he found himself wallowing in the lee of the north shore, enabling
Gareth and Mike to catch and overtake him. Gareth managed to draw away
while Mike was under constant challenge from John, but he held onto
second place by a few seconds at the finish.
Race 4
Gareth and John pulled away from the chasing pack as they duelled for
first place. And initially Mike looked to be comfortable in third place.
However, as the race progressed Stuart and Chris would close the gap
only for Mike to pull away again. On the penultimate lap these two
closed right up on Mike, and Stuart pulled alongside him on the downwind
leg trying to take his wind, but Mike held him off and on the last lap
and got away upwind to finish a minute ahead. Meanwhile Gareth won the
race by a similar margin over John.
DAY 2
After a splendid evening meal laid on by the Galley team on the Saturday
night, which many compared very favourably to most pubs, the helms
gathered early the next morning to find gusts of over 30mph and average
speeds well in excess of 20, which were totally unexpected. A decision
was taken to postpone the first start by an hour. When the time came
Race Officer Terry Pressdee set a triangular course, and a depleted
fleet headed for the start line in a still very brisk breeze.
Race 5
Stuart went for a successful port tack flyer and went right up beat.
However, going left proved to be the better option and Gareth rounded
the windward mark just ahead of Mike. Stuart was next followed by Chris.
As the wind eased, Gareth increased his lead, and the fleet stretched
out behind him, so much so that the tail enders were finished a lap
early. Trailing in Gareth's wake were Mike, over three minutes behind,
and Stuart, who by now was bitterly regretting having rigged his small
sail, another two and a half minutes back.
Race 6
Chris went right up the beat and came in fast on starboard very nearly
beating Gareth to the windward mark with Mike close behind. Gareth drew
ahead of the chasing pack on the downwind legs. Meanwhile in a similar
pattern to Race 4 Mike would typically pull away from Stuart and Chris
only to be caught again on the next lap. On the final lap Chris overtook
Stuart on the approach to the windward mark and was on Mike's tail. But
Mike held him off to take second.
Race 7
Despite the late start, efficient race management by Terry Pressdee
enabled the full complement of seven races to be fitted in. With only
two or three minutes to go to the start of the last race a squall came
over. Gareth and Mike spotted the shift to a strong port bias and sailed
to the pin end for a port tack start. Stuart was a little late realising
the magnitude of the shift and could not get to the pin end in time, so
he decided to reach slowly down the line hoping to hamper Gareth's and
Mike's start. However, he was hoist on his own petard when he ran out of
line seconds before the starting gun and ended up hitting the pin. It
wasn't until he came to write the race report that it dawned on him that
in the confusion of the moment he had only completed 270 degrees of his
penalty turn. His retrospective retirement lifted Chris, who had lost
ground due to a stalled tack in the strong winds, into third place. Over
the next two laps Gareth increased his lead over Mike. Any hopes Chris
had of catching Mike evaporated as the wind died on the last lap and the
Race Officer wisely decided to shorten the course.
The Catapult Class Association operates two series from the same set of
races: the level rating TT Series and the Personal Handicap Series. With
6 wins out of 7 races Gareth Ede was the clear winner on level rating
ahead of Mike Gough in second place and Stuart Ede in third. This result
cemented Gareth's position at the top of the TT Series.
Surprisingly Gareth, who has a really tough personal rating to overcome,
won on handicap as well, though it was extremely close. Chris Crawley,
Mike Gough and he ended up on 10 points each, and Chris Crawley only
lost out on the second tie break using the result of the last race.
RESULTS Catapult 2022 TT seriesScratch Results
Handicap Results
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