Thanks to all concerned,it was a great meeting and thanks to Lawrence for the cabaret…
Words and some pics at http://karencollyer.net/on_the_road.htm
Mark
Is it just me - but neither link opens? I just a blank “untitled” page.
Hmmm…It opens on mine, but there again the original article is lurking in the depths of my hard drive… I will upload again…
Mark
Both opened fine for me. Firefox 2.0.0.16, Mac OS X 10.4.11
Cheers,
Earl
OK - got them now. Sorry if a false alarm.
Some people from further afield may not appreciate how great Trevor Thomas’ achievement in winning this event is. Not much more than a year ago he was a simple :lol: railway modeller who had built a Razor for a chage. At its first event at Bournville just 15 months ago, he had some difficulty making it sail at all.
Move on a year. His beautiful home-designed Mistralette came in a very creditable third to Gary Sanderson and Bill Hagerup at Birkenhead and now he has won his first open event.
Congratulations my friend: your learning curce is truly impressive (and your workmanship is beautiful).
Sounds like a good day - sorry I missed it.
Thanks for the swift pics and summary, Mark
Lawrence - don’t worry about the leg-pulling; it is traditional for Gary to leap into his Rescueman suit and recover Footys. I seeeeeem to remember something similar when someone had problems last year at the St. Modwen trophy:D
Congratulations, Trevor, too - enough wind to make Mistralette shift then. How were the downwinds?
andrew
Stop it Angus, your embarrassing me 
Thanks Mark for tidying up the scorecard and writing the race report. Mark wasn’t asked if he would do this until he arrived at the lake so it probably put him off his sailing a bit 
I thought we might have to have abandonned race 11 or 12 when a flight of 2 B2 Stealth Bombers flew over - presumably from Fairford. The noise was tremendous and we all spent far more time looking skywards than is advisable when sailing Footys in shifty conditions - but we survived. I can only assume this was arranged by the Cotswold club to celebrate their first Footy event - very thoughtfull guys :rolleyes:
Mistralette is running downwind a lot better since I altered the weight balance to bring the bows up and the stern down a bit, and also repositioned the rudder. Its not exactly transom mounted, but the effect must be similar.
The Cotswold venue was great. The launching platform was no more than 10 yards from their club caravan, with our cars parked right next door. The scenery was good too with full size Lasers and their like racing in the background - these full size sails really crack when the boats tack. Not only did they run the races for us, but David Wilkinson and his crew were really helpful to the newcomers amoungst us too. Rule E4.2 is all very well when everyone is to a similar standard, but when you are new to the game you need all the help you can get - thanks guys.
I sometimes get the impression that us Footyists come as a bit if a culture shock to those who would normally sail IOMs or Marbleheads etc. - mainly in respect of the range of boat designs and speeds - but by the end of the day I think the Cotswold crew enjoyed themselves. We certainly did.
Cheers,
firstfooty
Cotswold open footy comp,What a great time was had by all.
No arguements,no cross words or quite mutters to ones self. Even laughter could be heard at the waterside and smiles abounded…
Yes folks, i am talking about “competitive model yacht racing”…FOOTY STYLE.
Could i also take this opertunity to thank the members of the Cotswold model club who gave up there Sunday, to make this day a great sucess. I for one look forward to returning next year.Thanks again guy’s…
Did not get much sailing done myself but it certainly was a good day
Thanks go to John Birnie for providing my guest Colin Gardiner with a boat to sail. - I get the idea that he will be looking to get a boat soon.
Following the 1st casualty for Lawrence I lent him my boat so he would have something to sail, that flooded so i let him have the sail servo to get his 507 going again and then he sank that too.
Not to worry it was very good to share the day with everyone
Does Gary have to worry about losing his grip on the Davy Jones cup for most frequent sinkings at one regatta?
Remind me; is it just actual sinkings or are there “style” points as well like ski-jumping?
andrew
Not too sure but Lawrence scored very highly in the “look of panic” catergory
Mark
. . . also, I think Gary had an ulterior motive in volunteering to pilot the rescue boat. His Duck had become unco-operative and had taken to hiding in the reeds on the far left of the sailing area :rolleyes:
With regard to prizes - I don’t know which was the faster sinking, Lawrence at Watermead or Gary at Colwyn Bay when his fin assembly fell off.
Cheers,
firstfooty