Model Boats: Volume 48, Issue 559 – August 1997

BUILDING NEWS REVIEWS MARINE A ‘SANDOWN What was new at the 22nd Model Sho és a e e M The Model Slipway’s luxury motor yacht reviewed 014 °29 VA.ryu NEXUS VOL 47 No. 559 25 JULY 1997 £2.40 750 Ptas MYA SSI, EORS | and all that! ISAF Radio Sailing Division RRC Chairman NICK WEALL responds to comments made in Mike Kemp’s small YACHTS column Vol 47 ike Kemp’s recent article touched upon a couple of sensitive issues that are very much in need of clarification Firstly the need to have Standard Sailing Instructions for MYA approved events is precisely to ensure that competitors who may have travelled many miles and who may have paid for one or two nights accommodation can be sure of enjoying an event run to consistent high standards. The MYA Racing Secretary, sanctioned by Council decides what the format of the SSI should be and writes a rule within the SSI to ensure that the Race Committee cannot alter the basic ground rules without running the risk of the event not being recognised by the MYA. It is good to note that this objective was achieved at the recent South West District One Metre Ranking Race by many competitors gently requesting that the Race Officer reconsider his rule change. It is perhaps worth mentioning that the only time to date that a MYA recognised event was declared void was when I complained to the Race Officer at the Race Briefing before the event started racing that he was changing a rule of the SSI which was not permitted. The Race Officers reply was that the particular rule being changed was ‘silly’ and ‘that if I did not like him changing it I could always go home.’ I then immediately replied that I would be protesting the meeting to the MYA. This was in the full hearing of all competitors that included most of the well known names and a large majority of senior MYA officials. Thus they and any other competitor had every opportunity to attempt to persuade the Race Officer to change his mind before the racing got underway. None did and the end result was perhaps inevitable. I had travelled a distance and scheduled my day to be racing under the MYA SSI, surely most people would agree that it would hardly be fair to find that a Race Officer had carte blanche to make what ever rule changes he cared to make. It was precisely that sort of frustration that forced the MYA to introduce SSI in the first place. Now to EORS94 fact smaller heat sizes meant less confusion and delay through there being too many incidents which went to protest when using larger heat sizes. The larger the heat size the harder it can be on occasions for the controlling skipper to keep his boat in sight as it tends to get hidden by other boats sails especially on arun or broad reach sailing directly away from the control area. Places on the water really was just a convenience for the Race Committee enabling them to rush on with the next heat if there was no overall time limit or finishing time limit for the race/heat, it had and has nothing to do with fairness. If there are one or two stragglers at the back of a heat, it is dead easy to award them an accurate position and get them off the water and on with the next heat. Time limits are not an alien concept, they simply add another dimension to the challenge of racing. Since the time limit is always related to one boat being able to finish and then providing, at least, twenty five percent of that boat’s overall racing time to the remaining boats to finish – it can hardly be thought unfair. With places on the water, on those very rare occasions when the wind is whisper light and only then favouring parts of the sailing water you can get a skilled light wind specialist romping home almost before the rest of the heat have found the starting line and you then get a very real problem. It is now impossible to fairly award places on the water. In between this extreme and a perfectly ordinary race there are plenty of scenarios where it can and has been plainly shown that attempting to award places on the water is not fair to either the competitors or to the Race Committee saddled with the task. Here are just a few problems to consider when about to award places on the water: Has a boat completed a penalty turn? Has a boat a penalty turn to do? What position, in relation to the boats around it, ought to be awarded to a boat that seems to have just started a penalty turn,? Is the boat actually on a final lap of the course or is it struggling around a lap or more behind? Should the boat that has been off the perhaps just completing a penalty turn or simply completing a tack from port to starboard or the other way about? Should the boat that thought it had finished by crossing the line and being landed, that is then told that it had sailed the wrong course be awarded a place on the water if it is re-launched before the end of the time out period? Should a boat that having suffered gear failure but is-still upon the water be awarded a place? A group of boats on converging courses – both on port and starboard present a challenge to the awarding of ’ positions fairly. This would be even more difficult to judge in the final race of a Championship, where the result might just determine to overall winner. The position of a boat that decided to sail on a running leg, two long broad reach legs instead judging that to be a quicker course to sail than sailing a dead run? The positions of two or more boats that are entangled? The positions of boats actually involved in an incident at the expiry of the time out limit? The position of a boat re-launched close to the finish line just before the time out limit expires, that might have been taken out of the water in a different place further away from the finish line? I could go on, but I suspect that you might now agree that there are plenty of awkward situations that cannot be fairly or easily be adjudicated by the Race Committee. Such a dilemma cannot be permitted to possibly determine the outcome of a National Championship, an International Championship or any serious event. Of course POW is only a potential issue maybe in two or three races in a hundred. At club level it would seem that it hardly matters. Many clubs will not actually be using EORS in any case. Once you start using EORS94 at open events the issue might matter. Once you are using EORS94 at a MYA recognised event and above it matters more and more. The MYA has in the past couple of years consistently attempted to get EORS94 recognised by the ISAF RSD (previously the YYRU-MYRD) At some time in the past under my Chairmanship of the Racing Rules EORS 94 worked fairly well most of the time and at club level, if used, was remarkably successful. The main water for all of the heat except say the finishes be given a place? Committee of YYRU-MYRD we attraction over other racing systems Did the boat round the last mark correctly? How do you resolve the issue of the boat that did not sail the course correctly? How do you resolve the issue of the _ boat that protests the place awarded? How do you know that a boat that approved EORS for two heat only use at International Events. The reason for restricting EORS to only two heat events was and is that EORS puts being that a boat could in theory start off in the bottom heat of say a four heat race and by getting in the top four of that heat, immediately rise to the next heat and so on, thus having a proper chance to actually win that race if lucky or skilled enough to get into the top heat. EORS94 permitted large heat sizes, which at first was felt to be a good thing. Experience gradually suggested that in 48 final thirty seconds before the first boat was on the run that swings around to windward pointing towards the finish line has actually done that rather than intense pressure on a Protest Committee/Jury to hear protests very quickly to permit the next heat to continue. With the alternative Heat Racing System a Jury has more time to ensure that protest hearings are given the time that they deserve. The second half of last year saw the Racing Rules of Sailing being completed re-written and generally changed about as to their format within the rule book. This in turn meant that what is now Appendix E had to also be completely re-written in response to the rule changes and in response to our ISAF RSD experiences at International Championships over the previous four years. After this was done it then became necessary to rewrite both the Heat Racing System producing HRS97 and to rewrite the YYRU-MYRD (now ISAF RSD) approved version of EORS calling it EORS97. International voting by the ISAF RSD RRC during 1996 had given the ISAF RSD the instruction to reintroduce DNF and to get rid of POW for the reasons set out earlier in this article. The shortcomings of awarding places on the water had been discovered at major International Events over 1995/6 when POW was used in both the Heat Racing System (Formerly the International Yacht Racing System – IYRS) and EORS approved by ISAF RSD. During the re-writing of EORS, various people within the MYA were both consulted and kept fully informed of every change introduced over a three or four moth period. Naturally all of the Racing Rules Committee of the ISAF RSD were also involved as were the members of the Permanent Committee of the ISAF RSD. Thus when Mike Kemp writes that ‘someone, somewhere, – out of the spotlight of us ordinary sailing folk has decided to “update” it.’ He is very far off the mark. Further more when he suggests that ‘there are even rumours of “shady” votes deciding such issues’ it is wise that he uses such vague language. It is an appalling suggestion and perhaps demonstrates the waste of emotion that is being spent on what is really a very trivial matter. (POW possibly only effective a handful of boats in two or three percent of races.) When Mike Kemp further writes that ‘POW proved to be too complex and insufficiently objective for some particularly those who purport to be our representatives at International level’ he further proves to be both offensive and lacking in knowledge as to the true role of members of the Permanent Committee of the ISAF RSD. To help Mike and many others who might have believed his erroneous views, members of the Permanent Committee of the ISAF RSD are there to further the causes of International Competition and to ensure fair play coupled with a consistency of rule application and race administration. They are not there to represent their own Country’s viewpoint, indeed it is essential that they are completely unbiased. It is the specific duty of the Chairman of the Racing Rules Committee to ensure that all International Championships are run to Sailing Instructions that , must have his prior approval. It is his objective to ensure that such events are run in as consistent a format as possible. Any shortcomings in rules, racing systems or general race administration must be taken into account when preparing for the next event. As Chairman of the Appeals Committee of the MYA I have rather the same objective of trying to help the Racing Secretary of the MYA to achieve MODEL BOATS VOL. 47-Ne ~59 the same ends for MYA approved which to finish. Unless the event is got things just a little bit twisted. Easy events. After all a rule correctly applied before and during an event is a far better way of ensuring a true Champion being run under the MYA SSI, the Race Committee is at liberty to increase the to do, especially if you only listen to one side of an argument and do not bother A system that has any rules within it time out limits that come into operation once the first boat has finished if they to check with those who might be able to enlighten you before sounding off. able to be simply applied with no room is found that running the risk of such a thing being decided by appeal after the Championship. Mike has also rather overlook a few wish. The problem then being though that if one or two of the races take a very long time, it will reduce the fundamentals: he writes that the overall time limit for a heat is thirty minutes! potential number of races that could then be held within the event. Wrong! The time limit for the first boat At the start of this article I mentioned that the big attraction of EORS is the facility to be able to rise immediately through the heats. That, in my opinion, is a big plus. The tiny little minus is that if you were such a rising star and you suffered the mis-fortune of being timed out in the final A heat, you might tumble to finish is within thirty minutes. RRS35 sets it out: ‘If one boat sails the course as required in rule 28.1 and finishes within the time limit, all boats shall be scored unless the race is abandoned. If no boat finishes within the time limit, the race committee shall abandon the race.’ Only when the first boat has finished all the way back down to the bottom heat again according to Mike. However if you actually read the rules properly (unlike does the second time limit cut in – Mike) you would see that actually you which is a time limit for all the would be placed at the bottom of the A remaining boats to finish within or be heat EORS2.5(d) refers. scored DNF. This time limit is a Mike goes on to claim that he has now had the experience of sailing variable, proportional to the length of time it took for the first boat to finish. A system that changes or modifies for mis-interpretation or ambiguity. Joking apart it is very true that there A time limit for the first boat in the are some extremely vocal members of heat to finish and another time limit for our model boat racing community rather hot under the collar over the the remaining boats to finish so as the event is able to pack in a good few races. above issues. By the time this article is published the season will be nearing its end. I would be very grateful to receive constructive feedback from any club or individual as to how the use of EORS97 has affected their enjoyment of the sport. If you don’t wish to communicate with me then let Keith Skipper Racing Secretary of the MYA know. EORS$97 has all of these attributes and I am convinced that as the season progresses people will find little to complain about. Abbreviations used in this article: EORS: Equal Opportunity Racing Finally you’ll notice that no one System. seems to be complaining about the fact that we have removed the restriction on a competitors right to use all available discards to discard as many DSQ’s as possible. The reason for this by the way is that it is the Jury/Protest HRS: Heat Racing System. ISAF: International Sailing Federation (The international authority for sailing). TYRU – MYRD: International Yacht Racing Union – Model Yacht Racing Division (Is the previous name of the ISAF RSD). POW: Places on the Water (As used in EORS94 or HRS95/6). Committee’s responsibility to award under EORS97 and that he has read EORS97 too! Not very well though as you ought to have gathered by his the RRS as little as possible. mistakes illustrated above. In fairness Disqualification’s that are not Discardable (DND) for very serious infringements of certain rules (RRS2, 42 or 67 plus refer to RRSA1.3). being 16 minutes. to Mike though he wrote his article at the beginning of the season when needed in a good racing system: Another example is that if the first boat finishes in twenty nine minutes, competitors. I have no doubt that by the heats that make up a race in any RYA: Royal Yachting Association (Has the overall authority in the UK including our For example if the first boat finishes in thirteen minutes, then the remaining boats have another 3 minutes in which to finish. The total potential race time everything was very new to all MYA: Model Yachting Association (The UK authority for our sport). RRS: Racing Rules of Sailing 1997-2000. To summarise: the things that are RRC: Racing Rules Committee. RSD: Radio Sailing Division of the ISAF Opportunity to rise and fall through then the remaining boats have eight more minutes in which to finish. When you consider that most heats now he understands the new rules and event that has more than sixteen racing systems a little better. entries. being raced during a MYA approved off suggesting that a supporter of skippers are at similar levels of event take well under fifteen minutes, EORS 97 might strike you down with a competence to compete together as ISAF RSD issue a different set used as a the first boat home was probably finished in under twelve minutes which would give the remainder of the heat at bolt of lightening. It is rather flattering often as possible, rather than using a set schedule where boats meet by basis for drafting up the Sailing least twenty five percent more time in Well Mike you finished your article sport). A system that permits boats whose to perhaps be one of those to be elevated to such a God like status, but really all that is wrong is that you have SSI: Standard Sailing Instructions (Issued by the MYA for MYA approved events. Instructions for all International Championships to which the Race my schedule rather than by their performance on the day. Committee must adhere. CLlECITO/NZEC Speed Controls (ee 43X Speed Contro/ ~ LF a ¥ Br Bp en, ee ae dp Bp bp 2 ap A % Standard radio control input — no servo required. (connector inc.) Smooth forward and reverse control. Soft start’ feature gives excellent low speed control. NEW! 431X and 43HVR High Power Speed Controls Runs any motor up to 15 amp. continuous current. 45 amp. short term stall, 180 amp. peak. (MOSFET ratings) . Runs any motor up to 10 amp. continuous current. 35 amp. short term stall, 140 amp. peak. (MOSFET ratings) * These are uprated versions of the 43X and 43VR incorporating a higher Low loss Power MOSFET switching. rated MOSFET, and special double thickness printed circuit and leads. Neutral and span adjustments. Type 43HX (2 to 24 v motor battery, 15 amp. rating.) Motor stops if signal is lost. Parts kit Size: 72 mm (ex. mounting) x 51 mm x 22 mm (33 mm over relay). © As featuredin ‘R/C Boat Modeller’, magazine September ’93. Parts kit * Beware suppliers who quote MOSFET rating as continuous controller rating! This electronic speed control is available ready to use or as a parts kit to build yourself. The kit includes detailed instructions and is easy to build. Unlike others, our kits include everything, even a case and solder. £18.65 Parts kit Assembled £27.25 Assembled £32.40 £12.75 Assembled £17.95 £18.95 Assembled £25.45 Prices are mail order discount, fully inclusive of postage etc. and apply for < 5 v regulator (B.E.C.) for single battery operation. U.K. and export to any country. The 43VR includes an integrated circuit voltage regulator (B.E.C.) to provide a reliable 5 volt supply for the receiver and servos. The regulator features thermal overload, short circuit and reverse battery protection and will operate correctly with a motor battery as low as 5.5 v (7 v min. battery recommended). An external switch can be connected to switch off the B.E.C. Trade enquiries welcome, both U.K. and export. Export orders are despatched by air mail at no extra charge. Payment may be by Pounds Sterling cheque or charged to VISA / MASTERCARD for easy currency exchange. Telephone orders accepted with VISA or ACCESS payment. Type 43VR (7 to 24 v motor battery, 10 amp. rating.) Assembled £23.45 Type 48-4W (4 relays, 3 amp.) Parts kit ~ All the features of the 43X above. £20.75 £29.95 Type 48-2W (2 relays, 12 amp.) Type 43VR Speed Contro/ Parts kit Assembled 2 way and 4 way switchers Type 43X (2 to 24 v motor battery, 10 amp. rating.) Parts kit £21.35 Type 43HVR (7 to 24 v motor battery, 15 amp. rating.) £29.70 Order direct (please quote ref. MB8) or send for full details from :- LLECTAHOMVIZEDES/GIV : Hlets Road, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, B74 4DQ . ' . ni BOATS VOL. 47 - No. 559 & Fax. 0121 308 5877 49 The restaurant, facilities and bar look out over the part of the lake the Watermead club uses at Aylesbury. The dry ski slope is in the background. Could be a good venue for a weekend event. R/C YACHTS Summer's here and so is the racing - a few race reports, the league hots up; and so does the air as EORS hits the fan! BY MIKE KEMP Gis: 25th May was in the middle of the Spring Bank Holiday this year and, for a change, the weather was quite kind to those who wanted to get out and about. Only a few of those who went out in East Anglia decided to take their One Metre with them for the entry to Gipping Valley’s Mid-Suffolk Trophy meeting was disappointingly small. Club, and regatta, secretary David Cousins, Race Officer Nigel Gilson and a small band of host club helpers must have felt a bit downhearted that only nine skippers turned out to fight the wind around the outskirts of Needham Market. There were no debates over whether we should have been sailing old or new EORS because we all went on together. Nigel sailed two races then gave us a break while he changed the course: then another two, changed course; and so on. Actually, he didn’t change the course between every pair of races: it just seemed that way. It was unfortunate that the prevailing wind was largely off the right hand end of the bank from which we were sailing, was quite light, and didn’t know the meaning of the words ‘constant direction’. At times, during a race, it would swing around in a complete circle: all Top Five at the Mid-Suffolk Trophy Place Skipper Club Design Designer 1st Mark Dennis Chelmsford Single Malt GBantock Score 33 2nd Keith Skipper Chelmsford Scream G Bantock 40 3rd Mike Kemp Two Islands Dann-3 N Gilson 56 4th David Taylor Woodspring Dann-3 N Gilson 62 5th George Beacroft Lee Valley Red Wine GBantock 62 68 of which left the Race Committee in a bit of a downs but can and does turn in a pretty quandary when it came to setting a course which included a beat on at least one leg, particularly the first and last. Irrespective of all this the event was conducted with commendable effectiveness and sailed with a general air of friendliness and relaxation. Even so competition was pretty fierce and there was little chance of making up too much ground if one ‘got it wrong’ at any particular point. Wins were claimed by a number of skippers but Mark Dennis was obviously collecting more lower scores than the rest of us and finished the day in first spot. The rest of us seemed to be making’ hay one moment and hash the next with result that overall scores were pretty close. With the fairly intensive cycle of two races on, a break, another two races, a further break and so on some of the batteries were starting to show their problems. In the case of Rupert Jefferies the failure was rapid and total, causing him to pack up and go home two races from the end. Or was it just that he competitive performance. At the end of the afternoon Peter Cousins emerged from his little igloo tent with a suitably calculated set of results for brother David to announce, present the liquid prizes, wanted to get away and watch the remainder of the Grand Prix on television? Rupert had, like the rest of us, been having an up and down competitive day until his yacht started to move in ways he didn’t want. In this case I believe it was the transmitter that was failing rather than the cells in the yacht. Bryan Bardoe also seemed to be suffering from power reduced induced problems causing intermittent loss of control. One unkind observer was heard to mutter that he normally sails that way (I guess that was one of his club colleagues joking - I hope). Bryan, like most of us I guess, has his ups and and wish us all a safe journey home. The event had been one of those small events where all had experienced an enjoyable day doing what we go to such places for - sailing. There had been no protests, no real cross words exchanged, and a few 360 degree turns done in exoneration. A few extra square inches of skin had received further attention from the sun and a goodly degree of exercise taken up and down the shore: in all a good day out. One Metre District Championships The weekend of the 17/18th June saw One Metre district championships run in four of the MYA’s sections of the UK. The others will be deciding theirs by way of a series of ‘ranking’ events held throughout the'year. As before, the district champs saw some ups and downs in the entry zones with no fewer than 28 in the Northern district while the lowest turnout was in the 17 in each of the Scottish and Metropolitan & Southern districts. Several of the events saw a number of ‘first timers’ in the league championship competition as home club members decided to have a go when the competition visited them. Let’s hope they all decide to have another go by visiting another competition a little way away from home. MODEL BOATS VOL. 47- N°, 5F° 559 Some of the new champions were probably predictable with Rob Vice taking the Met. and South. District event at Three Rivers; Peter Moore, the Midland District regatta at Birmingham’s Whitton Lake, used in place of the weed infested Bournville pond; and Robert Brown, the Scottish district two day event at Levenhall. In the Northern district Derek Priestley came out on top of a meeting at his home club in front of Andy Kissick and Brian Cheetham. One of the interesting points to come out of these events was the emergence in front of two “Two Dogs” designs in the hands of the Scottish champion and runner-up, Robert Brown and Alisdair Law. I suppose there will be a lot of people who will immediately conclude that this is the design to have: Iam still very sceptical and remain to be convinced. After all those two skippers would have been at or near the top almost irrespective of what they were sailing. That Chris Jackson emerged in second place at one of the South West district ‘ranking’ events with his ‘Aussie Skiff’ was also pretty predictable when one considers the peer group he was with. Striking in black and white is the Nigel Gilson designed ‘Dann6’ sailed by Keith Tyson, one of the Southwater Dabblers match racing at Aylesbury. 1997 One Metre District rshampions - so far cottish District Robert Brown Levenhall Jorthern District Derek Priestley Fleetwood Aidland District Peter Moore Bournville Met. & Southern Rob Vice Clapham A nicely turned out Dolphin called ‘Quackers’ was being district sailed by Brian Brumwell, another Six Metres at Aylesbury It has been some time since I extracted my Six Metre from its cradle in the workshop and went sailing. I was pleased to find that after such a long lay-off all the vital bits still worked and even more so when I found that, with a little bit of adjustment, it actually performed pretty well on the water. With the 6 Metre Owner's Association Match Racing series coming so close to home on a Sunday when I could get out, I just had to go and reacquaint myself with this branch of our sport that I used to enjoy so much. I found that I still enjoy it and there are some new faces to ‘play’ with - if you see what I mean! The Watermead Club has its sailing home on the lake from which it takes its name on the outskirts of Aylesbury, deep in Buckinghamshire. The lake forms a focal point of an architecturally interesting development of houses and ‘facilities’ which reminded me of something I had seen in or around Disneyland in Florida. Adjacent to, and forming part of the same ‘leisure’ complex as the lake is a dry ski slope and bar/restaurant. Within walking distance is a Holiday Inn - Garden Court hotel and other bars etc. There is a jetty from which to launch and at which a rescue boat may be moored in readiness. Although the lake has houses all along one side and established trees along most of the rest the wind seems briefing session at which the course was able to get at the water, though it does appear _— generally agreed and described. With a little disturbed at times. thirteen entries, that was my number for the This was the first time the locals had day, we were faced with a total of 78 matches witnessed serious six metre racing and, from arranged in thirteen ‘boards’. With what we heard, they were suitably impressed. | commendably few breaks racing continued » The Club Chairman, David Isitt, acted as a apace, being controlled to a large extent by general overseer and assistant to Club the repeated tape of ‘three minute starts’ and Secretary, Bill Brooks who assumed the role the brief but clear call up of skippers in of Race Officer. Although he was doing it for readiness for their next heat. There were the first time Bill didn’t take too long to settle several periods when almost the entire fleet into the routine that surrounds, and drives appeared to be on the water together, in along, such a meeting. In the background various stages of a match. several of the other members of the home With an ‘odd’ number of entries, my fault club set up and changed the race control I’m afraid, each of had one ‘bye’ during the boards; manned the rescue boat and assisted day resulting in a total of twelve races each: competitors with launching and retrieval. with all the activity it seems a lot more! Racing got under way shortly after the Despite the lake and its surrounding being 2, L BOATS VOL. 47 - No. 559 MC welcome datacomp from the Southwater Dabblers. It would have preferred slightly lighter conditions. Tony Riley’s own design Six Metre ‘Again’ in its element at Watermead. Strong winds are not a problem for this yacht. officially private premises there were quite a lot of folks out for a Sunday stroll, for which the antics of the sixes made an interesting diversion. During most of the day we were accompanied on the water by several ‘sea cadet’ groups taking part in canoe races etc. These are regular partners on the water for the home club and the two groups seem to happily co-exist. The racing was, as might have been expected, a mixture of close contests and apparent walk-overs. Unfortunately for the spectators there were not as many of the former as there should have been. Wind conditions didn’t do too much to encourage close racing as some boats and skippers were obviously more able to handle the gusty conditions than their opponents. There were 69 Race Officer Bill Brooks, Club Chairman David Isitt, and their club member assistants _ are to be congratulated for the way in which they took to conducting this event. Like many, most even, they had no previous experience of running a match race regatta but got it under control very quickly and gave us sailors a great day’s sailing in the sunshine - even if they did fail to stop us being liberally sprinkled with wet stuff from time to time. I think we as an organisation should not leave it too long before we can find an excuse to return to Watermead for another organised event. If an organising team could be imported perhaps they might consider playing host to a ‘major’ MYA event? G.K.P. Salver Match Race Series Paul Hayden from the Southwater Dabblers Club near Horsham relaxes alongside his Renaissance ‘Nightingale’ while others ‘get on with it’ in the background. times when we were all caught with just a bit too much sail aloft but not many actually took steps to reduce by much. Jim Macdonald reduced the size of his mainsail for a few matches and Peter Salt sailed the whole meeting with a main that was full height but with a reduced roach. Peter was also troubled by some slightly leaky joints between planks on the mahogany constructed ‘Chinamite’: by now one of the longest serving radio 6s on the circuit. There are many of us who had a go with this yacht during our formative years on the match racing scene when its constructor Bill Akers brought it along. Another reminder of those early years emerged at this meeting in the shape of a ‘Flair’. The original was one of the second phase of radio sixes to arrive in the hands of David Trippe and now resides in the Childe Beale museum. This beautifully planked yacht always impressed with its performance both in the hands of David and those of us privileged to have a go. The second incarnation is perhaps not quite as eye catching in its green painted guise but retains the lovely lines and is rumoured to be more attractive to the designer, John Lewis, because its bow bustle is the ‘correct’ shape. This has come about because it was arrived at by planking rather than the original’s which was carved. Philip Stevenson has executed the construction in balsa planks which have the been sheathed in glass and epoxy, in the manner of model aircraft wings. In its current guise, with aluminium spars and Philip’s home built sails the yacht is no slouch: when fully tuned it looks as if it will be a worthy successor to the original. Since I last ventured out on to the circuit there has obviously been a lot of moulding activity going on down the Suffolk way, judging by the number of Dann-6 designs being used. These were turned out in all sorts of colours with one of the most eye catching being the black and white trimmed ‘Dann Dare’ being sailed by Keith Tyson from the Southwater Dabblers club. Mick Shillington has also taken delivery of one of Nigel Gilson’s designs and brought it along in preference to the Bill Sykes ‘Caprice’. Having experienced sailing against ‘Caprice’ in these sort of conditions I think he did the right thing: I’m not sure that Mick would agree with me! I think he would rather have been performing a little better than the eye catching blue-green Dann-6 which goes by the name of ‘AnnTix’ seemed to allow. The conditions obviously suited the ‘Renaissance’ and both Paul Hayden with the lilac coloured ‘Nightingale’ and myself with ‘Red Dwarf’ had a particularly successful meeting. Paul must have somewhat demotivated to find all his good performances discounted by the fact that his yacht is not yet measured and registered. Nevertheless he gained the moral victory of defeating nine boats on the water, even if it doesn’t count towards the G.K.P. Salver Trophy, first awarded to Mick Shillington in 1996. The other ‘Renaissance’ present, ‘Excaliber’ in the hands of Denis Brett, suffered from unreliability problems which resulted in a number of DNF/DNS scores. Even so Denis registered one match win, as did both Brian Brumwell - whose Dolphin name ‘Quackers’ was not at all suited to the wind conditions - and Colin Urquhart who withdrew towards the end of the meeting with terminal battery and gear failure on his Tern. The wind conditions have always been said to favour Tony Riley’s ‘Again’: or at least Tony has always said that it is really a heavy weather design and so it proved with Tony collecting a total of nine first places on the water. The Revival design has generally been considered to be more suited to the lighter airs but Peter Salt claimed second place overall with ‘Chinamite’ despite trying hard to drain the lake by way of his ‘sprung’ planks. Top Five Match Racers at Watermead Place Skipper Club Yacht Design Designer 1st Mike Kemp Two Islands Red Dwarf Renaissance G Bantock 2nd Peter Salt Bournville 3rd Keith Tyson Southwater 4th Tony Riley Bournville 5th Robert Harrison Peterborough Chinamite Dann Dare Again Red Oktober Revival Dann-6 Again Dann-6 G Bantock N Gilson T Riley N Gilson The G.K.P. Salver Match Race Series - Top Five before Aylesbury 70 Place Skipper Club 1st Robert Harrison Peterborough 2nd Peter Salt Bournville 3rd Mick Shillington Bournville 4th 5th Tony Riley Keith Tyson Bournville Southwater Design Dann-6 Revival Dann-6 Designer N Gilson G Bantock N Gilson Again T Riley Score 35 28 23 20 Dann-6 N Gilson 19 The Watermead meeting was round four of a seven round series to decide who should hold the Salver for another year. The scoring for the series has reverted from what was used in the last of the old Marine Modelling Match Race Series and the first of the new series. This system used a scoring similar to the MYA Ranking Races whereby the winner of a round of the competition gained a 100% score with all the others gathering a percentage based upon where they finished in the event. The current system relies on awarding a number of points depending upon the number of yachts taking part in the meeting. Thus someone who just happens to attend several ‘small’ regattas and wins them all could still gain fewer points than someone who just happens to do well at an extremely well attended event. Thus, if a group of competitors think that a meeting is going to be poorly attended, it probably will be - because they won't go along because they think they are not going to get many points in the competition. Anyway, things have been looking up this year and Robert Harrison of the Peterborough and Two Islands clubs started off with a rush by collecting maximum points from the first three rounds at Cotswold, Two Islands and Swindon: prior to the Watermead event he was sitting on top of the pile with a total of thirty five points. His nearest rival, on twenty eight points, is Peter Salt with last year’s winner Mick Shillington in third with twenty three points. Each skipper will be able to count his best five scores of the seven in the series and with three remaining, at Birmingham, Woodley and Bournville the end result could well be a close run thing. Look out for further news. The Radio League latest The radio league has been rumbling along with interest growing as scores come in. The latest batch, including those district championships mentioned elsewhere, have seen a few changes including the climb to significance of one or two skippers who often seem to get left in ‘the shadows’. Their participation in the less well publicised classes - remember the R36R and the RIOR - as well as in the ‘mainstream’ either as competitor or Race Official have catapulted them up the order. Probably the highest of this group in this report is Mac Colyer; that well known skipper from Leicestershire club has been involved in this game for longer than I have - or at least it seems that way because I seem to remember Mac always being there, right from my formative days of racing Marbleheads up at Welford and then Loughborough. Mac has been supporting the classes in and around the Midlands and his position in the league reflects this support. This, folks, is what the league is about: so get out there and support it - you never know, you might find yourself in the ‘lights’! A similar story is unfolding in the Club section of the competition where behind the familiar names there are some of the less well known clubs starting to shine as they get involved en-masse. In this particular there are two clubs that have broken into the top ten, Falmouth and Three Rivers are not normally featured this high in the MODEL BOATS VOL. 47 - No, 5-* 559 Top Ten Radio Clubs 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Club Chelmsford Bournville Woodspring Guildford Leicestershire Market Bosworth Clapham Birkenhead Falmouth Three Rivers Score 529.4 494.4 477.7 407.7 363.8 318.3 236.1 201.9 201 142.8 Top Ten Radio Individuals Skipper Score 2nd Gordon Sears 126.2 3rd Mac Colyer 1st 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Chris Harris Simon Pope Ian Cole Roger Stollery Peter Moore Anthony Corbett Peter Fothergill Martin Roberts 137 124.2 98.4 97.2 94.2 90.5 83.6 80.2 80.2 league and have probably done so as result of hosting events which gave home skippers a chance to ‘have a go’ for the first time. All they have to do now is continue that support by travelling just a little further afield when the opportunity arises. EORS- Is it real or is it 97? My little outburst in Vol. 47 - No. 557 published around the end of May, but written around the middle of April seems to have hit a few sensitive points, judging by some of the correspondence I have received. What I found interesting is the contrast between the reaction from the opposing sides in this debate. Those who broadly agree with my sentiments were quick to react by telephone: those who fall into the opposite camp reacted by post. The former have seen the point that a system that appeared to have been working well, even though it did have it’s weaknesses, has been changed to make it anything but an Equal Opportunity Racing System. The latter have taken me to task for putting an incorrect interpretation on the actual words in the ‘system’ or suggesting that there was anything untoward about the way the system was evolved. They have not put forward any argument that EORS ‘97 is a fairer, easier to operate, improvement on the old one. A system that will give better, quicker, more friendly racing without imposing any more loads on the race management. Those of us who disagree with what has been put forward have failed in one major respect: we have not put our thoughts in writing to the person charged with being at the centre of the argument in the UK - Keith Skipper, Racing Secretary of the MYA. Thus, if this discussion is still rumbling on by the time you read this and any of you have anything further to add please write to Keith at the following address: 26 Sebert Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 7EB. Try to make your contribution.constructive, although I guess he would prefer to hear anything rather than nothing. The ‘Official’ View It would not be right of me to force you all to read just my thoughts and those of us who feel that EORS is going in the wrong direction. The response from Nick Weall, who is Chairman of the ISAF-RSD Racing Rules Committee is printed in full on page 48. Firstly I do not agree that what are listed by Nick are all situations that cannot be fairly adjudicated by a competent Race Committee who know that they are going to have to make the decision - because they too have mS MO. . BOATS = VOL. 47 No. 559 spotted that the wind has dropped! They will have been out at the lakeside making notes of who has been rounding which mark, in which direction: who has outstanding protests, who has landed without sailing the correct course (and therefore not finished properly and not stand an earthly chance of getting their bit of string in order in the light wind and time available). The comment that such a decision might affect the outcome of a National or International Championship suggests that they are in some way more important and should be given more care and attention than ‘your ordinary club race’. Why should they? After all it is often the same people running them and they all bring their same competencies and opinions along where ever they are. Back to Nick’s argument: “Of course POW (places on the water) is only a potential issue maybe two or three races in a hundred. At club level it would seem that it hardly matters. Many clubs will not actually be using EORS in any case. Once you start using EORS94 at open events the issue might matter. Once you start using EORS94 at a MYA recognised event and above it matters more and more.” “EORS was approved for two heat only International events because it puts intense pressure on the Protest Committee/Jury to hear protests very quickly to permit the next heat to continue. With the alternative Heat Racing System a Jury has more time to ensure that protest hearings are given the time that they deserve.” {Thank you for those words of wisdom Nick:} I am afraid that my experiences in New Zealand earlier this year suggest that an appropriate comment might be a very succinct ‘cobblers’! Racing in the One Metre Worlds was conducted under the ‘alternative’ system and the only delays between heats were caused by protests concerning yachts that might get promoted or demoted: hence the situation was exactly the same as that black picture you have painted for protests under EORS. The New Zealand jury were thought by some that I overheard to be slow, ponderous, and indecisive. I would very heavily disagree: our delays were kept to a minimum and although appearing in front of them was a strange experience as the same sort of question came several times from different angles and in different voices such that one got the feeling - ‘T’ve just answered that!’ - the overall result was announced relatively quickly. Compared to some other events I’ve been to that is. Not everyone agreed with their decision all the time, but then that is the nature of a protest outcome - you cannot please all of the people all of the time. I appear to have offended Nick and his committee by my suggestion that these decisions were taken out of the spotlight of the ordinary sailor and that suggestions have been made to me that Mark Dennis, left, there was somethinga little unusual about receives the Mid-Suffolk the way in which the decisions were made. I can say no more than that several people have made the point to me that, had everybody who had the chance to vote on the issue done so instead of taking a different course, we would not have the EORS97 that we have. Trophy from Gipping Valley Chairman David Cousins. Scoremaster Peter Cousins looks on in the background. In Nick’s repost he includes a sentence with which I wholeheartedly agree, although from a completely different angle. “It is an appalling suggestion and perhaps demonstrates the waste of emotion that is being spent on what is really a very trivial matter. (POW possibly only effective a handful of boats in two or three percent of races.)” Quite so, Nick: then why change what has proved to be an effective system to clobber those who fail to live up to the same levels of performance as their fellow competitors? Nick suggests that I have offended and have a severe lack of knowledge as to the true role of the members of the Permanent Committee of the ISAF RSD. If I have offended then I apologise: that was never my intention. If they feel that I suggested that they have failed, in this particular case, to fulfil their task of furthering the causes of International Competition and to ensure fair play coupled with consistency of rule application and Race Administration; I can only say “If the cap fits...” For the system they have evolved is incorrectly described as Equal Opportunity Racing System 97. It would neither produce equal opportunities nor fair racing: nor would it be helpful to Race Administration. Nick also suggests that I have misread some of the words, that may be true but in his emotion he has too, for nowhere did I say that someone who has fought his/her way all the way from D heat to A heat to be caught out of time would tumble all the way back down to D heat. However, they would be collecting a score that is equal to them not having bothered to put their boat in the water to start D heat - and that cannot be considered fair when their only misdemeanour is to be caught in a patch of wind that disappeared or a patch of weed that was not visible! By the time you read this some sanity may have returned to the game as I know there are moves afoot to get another version introduced which should address the issues concerning most of us. Once again I apologise for offending anyone: but not for putting the spotlight on something which has a fundamental impact on the way radio yacht racing is conducted in the UK. We have come a long way down the road to ‘friendly’ yet intensely competitive race meetings which the organisers enjoy as well. Don’t let us reverse the trend. 71