Waples Wines Northern Travellers Tip of the Month – Number One!

©McKee

Travellers tip #1 Boat/equipment stress: “Many people seem to be constantly worried their boat or equipment is not right or their boat is not properly setup. This takes up a good deal of nervous energy and affects enjoyment of sailing.  Don’t worry too much about your equipment and boat set up. I recommend you check your boat over at the beginning of the season, replace worn or damaged fittings or rope and then check the boat set up. This is a fairly easy process, there are tuning guides available from the class sail makers and there are always people willing to help if you are not sure you can manage it yourself.

My message is that on smaller water, similar to many of the Waples Wine Series events the legs are fairly short, so differences in equipment and set up have a relatively small impact. The biggest gains can be made by concentrating on sail setting, trim and getting the strategy right rather than radical changes to the equipment.    Set the boat up, make sure everything does what it needs to do and then put this out of your mind and concentrate on the things that make the biggest difference”. Helm, David Mckee, ƒƒ4005

The 2018 Dates for the Waples Wines Northern Travellers Series…..(so organised!)

click here to read the entry on the UKFFA website

The 2017 series proved very successful you may have read the series report and seen the overall results, if not you can find these on the class website at www.flying15.org.uk, or on the newly setup series Facebook site,the linkis https://www.facebook.com/groups/794276470729519/. If that doesn’t work you just need to search for ‘Flying Fifteen Northern Traveler Series’ and it should come up. 

The Facebook page has been setup by Rebecca Ogden who is assisting with next years program. The purpose of this is to share event photos, reports, results etc as the series progresses. For those of you on Facebook we hope you will follow  the site. For those not on Facebook we will keep in touch via email and fleet captains as before.

The program for 2018 has now been completed , so you can start to plan your 2018 campaign. The events will be as follows;

June  2/3      Rutland SC

July    14/15   Bassenthwaite SC

Sept   15/16   Burton SC

Sept   29/30   Dovestone SC

Oct     27/28   Notts county SC ( Including final series prize-giving

For further information on the series contact    David McKee on davidjmckee@icloud.com   or Rebecca Ogden on rebecca.ogden35@gmail.com    

Best wishes from the Series team, we look forward to seeing you on the water next year”

David mckee

07836 602084

Waples Wines Northern Travellers at Notts County….!!

click here to read the race report

Justin Waples screaming past at Notts County

 

Last of the Summer (Waples) Wine – The Dovestone Open ….!!

Flying Fifteens at Dovestone Sailing Club

With light and variable winds, sunshine and mild temperatures, Dovestone Sailing Club hosted an enjoyable final event of the 2016 Waples Wines Northern Travellers series over the weekend of 1-2 October.

A good turnout from the home fleet, together with a smattering of visitors from Windermere, Bassenthwaite, RCYC and Burton sailing clubs, saw 16 boats on the water for the first race. In a competitive start to a course which covered the length and breadth of the reservoir, Steve Goacher with crew Tim Harper of Royal Windermere, were judged OCS by Officer of the Day Mark Rhan. Tight racing among the rest of the fleet saw Dovestone SC’s Andy McKee and Chris Massey (3805) in first place, with David and Sally Mckee (4005) a close second and Mike Moore with crew Kayla Sheard (3996) from Bassenthwaite in third at the end of the first encounter of the meeting.

Post-lunch Race 2 in similar winds was super close with a boat length finish between Andy McKee (1st), David McKee (2nd) and Steve Goacher (3^rd). Great racing too from DSC’s Rod Rowlands in FF Classic 496. Setting the scene for final Race 3 of the day, with Andy McKee never seriously challenged for first place from the windward mark, an improving performance from series sponsor Justin Waples with young DSC crew Andrew Robinson in second, and Steve Goacher in third.

Dovestone SC produced its usual enjoyable evening entertainment in the clubhouse, with wine tasting courtesy of Waples Wine, followed by supper and games – including the Pennine favourite of competitive nail-knocking with the thin end of a hammer.

Day two of the open meeting dawned sunny with a light breeze. The full fleet assembled early to catch the best of the wind with two back-back races in the morning.   Steve Goacher led from the start of Race 4, but confusion about the finish line meant he was pushed into third place by Justin Waples and David Mckee who nipped passed to take first and second places respectively. Race 4 followed on quickly, with David Mckee taking an early lead only to become becalmed on the run back to the clubhouse in weakening winds. A close battle for the finish with McKees senior and junior chasing Steve Goacher who won out at the last.

To see the report with prize giving photos click here

To see the full sailwave results table click here

Overall results are as follows:

 

1^st                3805   Andy McKee and Chris Massey           Dovestone SC

2^nd               4005   David and Sally McKee                         Dovestone SC

3^rd               4021   Steve Goacher and Tim Harper           RWYC

 

1^st Silver     3391   Colin Pierce and Mandy Thackray       Dovestone SC

 

1^st Classic sail no 0-2000

496     Rod Rowlands and Isaac Marsh         Dovestone SC

 

1^st Classic sail no 2001-2700

2620   Dave Naylor and Norman Christie     Dovestone SC

 

 

Andy McKee and Chris Massey receive their trophy from DSC Commodore Andy Hurley

 

The full results available here;

Waples Wines Northern Travellers (Final Event!!) Goes to Dovestone…!!

Waples wines open at Dovestone.

The final event on the Waples Wines Traveller Series takes Place at Dovestone SC this weekend ( 1st and 2nd October). Early indications are that this will be a well-attended event and the weather forecast at present is encouraging. The series reaches its conclusion and it looks as though the winners of each section will be decided at the final event.
The first race on Saturday is scheduled for 13.00, there are 5 races altogether and with 3 on the Saturday travellers should be able to get away reasonably early on Sunday.
Justin Waples the series sponsor will provide a wine tasting for competitors on Saturday night and a meal and some entertainment will take place after this.

For further information contact David McKee davidjmckee@icloud.com or 07836 602084

Waples Wines Northern Travellers Dates 2016 ….!!

Click here to print off a poster for your noticeboard

Waples Wines Northern Travellers Dates for 2016 …!!

The dates are finally settled for the WW Series for this year. We have added Rutland to the series. They are an emerging fleet and Rutland provides great sailing, camping for those interested and a great social. As before the best 2 events will count, so competitors only need to attend 2 events to qualify. You can of course do more and this year prizes will be offered to those attending the more events.

For those planning their season the series events are as follows;

April 9/10 Royal Windermere YC Keith Jamieson secretary@flying15.org.uk
June 11/12 Ogston SC John Ward jon@j-ward.co.uk
June 18/19 Rutland SC Chris Wright chris.cgw90@googlemail.com
July 9/10 Bassenthwaite SC Jon Denwood jon_denwood@sky.com
Sept 3 / 4 Burton SC Gary butler garybutler.gbv@gmail.com
Oct 1 / 2 Dovestone SC David McKee david.mckee@scanlans.com

Waples Wines Northern Travellers – Round Up after 3 Events…!!

Waples Wines Northern Travellers Series Roundup.

The third event in this series for Flying Fifteens was sailed this weekend at Ogston Sailing Club near chesterfield. The change in dates had caused some confusion however in the end the competitors experienced two days of close racing and camaraderie . Saturday produced light and testing winds with constant rain. After two races the competitors voted with their feet and packed up, so the 3rd race was postponed to Sunday morning. An enjoyable evening was enhanced by the excellent meal provided by Jon and Julia ward of the host club. On Sunday the weather was considerably brighter however the winds were still light and fluky. Clear winners were Jon and Julia of the host club, with a consistent performance at the front. Mike Moore and Michaela Sheard from Bassenthwaite put in a very consistent series for second place and Colin Pierce and Mandy Thackray from Dovestone in their silver fully deserved their 3rd.

In the series so far 29 boats have competed, of these 3 are classics, 5 silvers and 21 Open boats. The competitors have represented 12 clubs which is a good cross-section of the northern fleets.

We now have 5 boats that have completed the 2 event qualification, the present series leaders are Colin Pierce and Mandy Thackray from Dovestone in 3391. There are still two events to come and all is to play for. The next event is at Bassenthwaite on the 18th/19th July. This always proves a good social and sailing event.

Click here to download a PDF file of the results

Waples Wines Northern Travellers Update….!!

The second event of the series was run by Royal Windermere Yacht Club last weekend alongside the Northern championships. The event provided two days of interesting sailing in good weather conditions. On Saturday competitors sailed in the Southern section of the lake and experienced lightish shifting conditions and on Sunday in the northern section of the lake in windier conditions. With good courses and a super-efficient race team allied to the usual welcome at the club this was an enjoyable event for competitors and support teams.

After 2 events it is too early to judge who the leaders will be however setting out their stall early we already have one qualified team, previous winner Andy Goddard and son Tom from Dovestone. Currently Colin Pierce and Mandy Thackray lie first Silver and Rod Rowlands and David Hill lead the Classics. All is however still to play for. A total of 24 eligible entrants from 8 clubs have taken part in the series so far. The next event is at Ogston near Chesterfield on the 13th and 14th June. This is a good event where competitors will be made very welcome and camping is available at the club for those so inclined.

Click here to download a pdf to print

WWNT Final Round up…!!

64 boats competed with 12 boats qualifying for the series.

Click here to see the final results table

Whilst only two visitors made it to the final event, one team did arrive from Perth, Australia (John Hassen and Dave Sutcliffe)
which surely must qualify them for the greatest distance ever travelled to a Northern Traveller event.
Three races were run on the Saturday in fair winds which produced some extremely close racing, but unfortunately the
competitors spent Sunday morning willing the flaccid club burgee to flutter, which it failed to do. The OD took the sound decision
at lunchtime to abandon racing for the day and so Saturdays results stood.
The winners of the DSC open were David Naylor and Rod Rowlands (DSC) in a Classic, followed by Justin Waples /
Mandy Thackray (RCYC) in a Silver and Graham Massey / Lucy Clough (DSC) in an Open.

The overall winners of the Waples Series were Graham Massey and Lucy Clough from Dovestone, with
Andy Goddard / Mal Hartland + Tom Goddard from Dovestone and Jon and Julia Ward from Ogston second and third respectively.

Malcolm Hall maintained his position of first “non open” boat.

Regards
Graham Massey
(On behalf of David McKee)

Three Events Completed at Waples Wines Northern Travellers….!!

The WWNT Series has completed three events now, and It’s great to see 47 competitors.  Some teams are just staying at their home club, of course, but there is still a good showing of travellers.

Neil Curry, crewed by Rory Yardley are setting the pace in 3520, “Chips for Free”

Click here to download the current results table

 

Flying Fifteen WWNT Series Sponsor Hits The City…..!!!

While maybe not strictly sailing related, the invitation does come from a Flying Fifteen member and a sponsor of the Class.

For anyone who is near enough to attend Justin would be delighted to see you at the below !!

The London Tasting

at

the offices of

127 Cheapside
London EC2V 6BT

on

Wednesday 11th June 2014
5.30pm to 8pm

An interesting selection of summer whites, reds and rosés, covering different styles and prices, will be open to taste. Colleagues and friends are welcome too.

Please RSVP
01799 586 279 or 077699 04844
justin@wapleswines.co.uk

Royal Windermere – Waples Wines Northern Traveller Series….!!

WAPLES WINES FLYING 15 TRAVELLER SERIES

 Written by Dave McKee

The first event of the series was held at The Royal Windermere Yacht Club over the weekend 26/27th April and proved to be an enjoyable and testing regatta. The full report for the event will be published elsewhere. The Traveller Series is calculated based on boat age handicaps in accordance with class recommendations. There were 3 races on the Saturday in a blustery although fickle south easterly breeze. For the 19 boats qualifying for the series when the handicaps were calculated Bobby Salmon and Patrick Condy sailing the Classic ff627 Vamoose had achieved a particularly good day counting a 2^nd and a 3^rd.   Also enjoying excellent days were Nigel and Gavin Tullett from the host club counting two 1^st and Neil Currie and Rory Yardley from Bassenthwaite a 1^st and a 2^nd.

Sunday produced a lighter, although perhaps more fickle, easterly wind with some testing approaches to the windward mark located in a bay on the eastern shore. The cream, as they say, still rose to the top with another outstanding performance from the crew of Vamoose who scored highest on the day.

The overall positions at the end of event, allowing one discard from the 5 races, confirmed a win for the Tulletts’ from Royal Windermere, with the Bobby Salmon and Patrick Condy in 2^nd place and in 3^rd place Neil Currie and Rory Yardley from Bassenthwaite.

A special mention should go to Dan and Kirsten Challus of Royal Weston Yacht Club who scored a classy win in race 4 that helped them to finish 6^th overall.

The next event in the Traveller Series is Ogston Sailing Club on the 14^th and 15^th June. Full details can be obtained from the Class website or Fleet Captain John Ward on john@jon-ward.co.uk or telephone 07748 118444

The Travellers’ results from this weekend can be read by clicking here.

 

Three in a Boat…..

(Photo – Justin Waples in his brand new Evans finished Ovington, the boat from the 2014 Dinghy Show, sailing three up at Burnham.)

A year or two ago, a rumour swept through the fleet that we might permit gnavs to replace  vangs and thus create space to race three up.  For the benefit of exploiting the “family boat” characteristic of the class, you have to admit a spot of flexibility in this area could be a useful feature for promoting weekend Club Racing, and getting young ‘uns involved early.

If this resonates with your club fleet, the issue is why not do it anyway?  At our Club, we abandoned the requirement to carry anchor and warp a decade or more ago.  Our man made reservoir is 80 feet deep with very steep concrete sides – there’s no point in the anchor and warp rule for us.  One year ago, our Fleet AGM decided for Club racing that one penalty turn would become the norm as two turns was tending to push people to ignore their obligations.

For myself, I can’t imagine that an extension of the rules to include a ‘third man’ would be at all relevant to the Championship or Open Meeting Circuit.  I can see though that in some Clubs, popularity will be boosted by allowing a third pair of hands aboard.  If you agree, then maybe the Nike slogan applies…. “Just Do It”