Draycote Practice Week

[phil_kirk]

been away from the forum for the last three days.  Slippery will be there Wednesday and thursday.

Like Tim we are doing opens on both the weekends before and after the practice week.  Also my job list at home is not shrinking as i would like.

[Eggbert]

Eggbert is repaired i will be there from monday till wednesday not sure yet on crew situation yet probably not not sure of lodging situation either but i might have access yo a caravan and my dad's offered to tow it down so he could crew form me or helm hopefully but if the worst comes to the worst i'll be in the garage this weekend bodging some tillerextentions and fitting my center jammer and i'll go solo!

[samchilds]

is everyone thinking of camping?
il be there monday to wednesday.  Iwill be camping unless there is a better option.
whats the plan for the evenings? good local pubs?
is the club open during the day for bacon sarnies, cup of tea etc?
sorry for all the questions this is my first time going to practice week
sam

[Will_Lee]

Hi Sam,

Camping: I think so. We are plannign to sleep in the van though we may change our minds at any point.

Evenings: These tend to be at the Dun Cow (local pub)

Club food: Don't know. We normally go to the local supermarket for porridge for breakfast, buit I can't remember what we did for food at the club.

[Eggbert]

which campsite?

[Will_Lee]

The one the other side of the hedge from the club. It's within the country park type thing which the club is in.

[iain_christie]

FFS!!!!!!!!!!!

Just posted 1 page reply but as other posts had happened whilst I typed it it did not get posted.  Cannot be bothered to tyoe nicely again so here goes.

Camp in country park
Sleep in cars in car park
Phone office to find out about night/toilet entry
" to make sure water boiler will be on, no food during week
Club racing Weds night, gun 1900, sign on, bar open, put names on blackboard if you want food
I'd like to take some photos for the class (new DSLR!) can someone ask the coach?
Working from home most of the week, probably available to crew/drive evenings
Might get the 18 out one evening if the breeze is sensible
If anyone is planning on staying for the weekend ask Adam Pretty (water mgr) first as big RS200 event on
Bring mountain bikes, possible mid week ride planned
Bring mozzie rep as they are breeding
Enjoy
Ring me 07740 533045 if any q's

Grrrr!!!

[Stuart Hopson]

I'm unable to attend, lack of job means lack of funds along with a car with suspected head gasket failure (i'll look more closely when it stops raining), i'll have to spend the week job hunting instead. 

[Eggbert]

cool will sort out a tent tomorrow along with tiller extensions i am going to be busy plus had a client on the phone begging me to milk on mon morning so will probably be a bit late depending on wether i can be bothered to get my ass out of bed earlier than 5 mind you if i get up at half four i can be at work after having a coffee for about five so could be finished for eight but will then have to go home to shower so i don't arrrive stinkin of cow s**T!

[Haden_Mills]

Hi,

Will, let me know if anyone needs a spare on Thursday or Friday and I will be along for the day.

Regards, Haden

[Eggbert]

Haden if you go along you will get a ride.

Well where to start arrived about half eleven (had to milk and finish packing before i left)  and met up with Will and Lucy, Richard Taylor and Sam in the bar sorting out the excellent video cameras as supplied by Roland. I was asked about the crew situation and Lucy was straight on the phone and said you'll have a crew in the morning.  The wind filled in and we went down to rig up the boats and get out on the water. I haven't had so much fun in years, and i have never been so fast in a boat until Will took the helm of "Eggbert" and this was still Monday the biggest downer was the fact that when we went for the first hoist the kite was all twisted so we 2 sailed back in to sort the kite and the batteries went flat in the headcam seriously gutted as for a 30 year old woodie were were proper sending it when we went back out. Tuesday and I rigged Eggbert up for single handed as unfortunatley we broke Sam a bit and he was feeling ill so didn't come back, so James went out with Rich, got my first ride on an 05 rules boat (Sutble Knife ).  I was up front and James (aka Y&Y's Ratface) was on the helm set of in lovely sunshine in about 11-12 knots, that boat is so smooth and responsive, well we went up wind getting a bit of twin wiring going got up near the  top dam and went to tack  and go for a kite run mid tack massive wind shift stuck us in irons and then out of nowhere the wind blew 20 knots and spanked us good and proper we just couldn't get it up and keep it there every time we tried to bear away we just got spanked back in, ended up having to be recovered by the saftey crew after haven removed the main, and mast cam (We get squalls at our club but they do't last 1 1/2 hours) it just went bonkers, even Will and Lucy went into saftey mode anyway got back in without having broken anything (thank god) but we were rather cold and we were ordered to the showers to warm up sod's law by the time we came out it had gone back lovely again.  Wednesday arrived and the number of boats increased by 3 with the arrival of Loco, Slippery and Ronin were were also joined by Ross who graciously agreed to crew for me for the day.


i did write a load more but got logged out and lost it and i can't be arsed to write it again sory if it doesnt flow very well

[phil_kirk]

We really got a lot out of the two days at Draycote.
Wednesday was great for improving team work and trying out our recent tweaks.  A highlight was actually leading the 05 rules boats around one of the short races.  Thanks to Pete for the coaching and picking up a few learning points.  It's always helpfull to challenge our preconceptions and bad habits. I feel more comfortable tacking facing backwards for the moment but will try the facing forwards technique in the future.
Thursday: well it was breezy with a few gusts too keep everyone on their toes.  We launched with one of the mast cams to record our adventure. 

Starting easy in 1 1/2 wire mode was quickly changed to getting the jib in and going up with four feet firmly planted on the side decks.  We struggled with some of the tacks and capsized several times.

While reaching was a bit scary we were running out of lake and had to get back down wind. I felt more comfortable in the gusts with my bottom planted on the deck so with Sarah on the wire we bore away got the weight back and took off.   So keeping the rig under the boat was the aim but the gusts were working against us and we quickly decided at the kite was going to stay in the sock. With each gust we went deeper and faster.  The bow was not getting very wet but we were.  A real buzz!  The rigging area was getting closer so we decided to go in while it was still feeling fun.   Much respect to Loco for getting the kite up and trying a gybe.

[Eggbert]

must say Phil Slippery was looking gorgeous!


Also just been looking for those cameras, they are called Digital Hero 3 and they are about £70-85 in this country so far will continue looking for somewhere cheaper!

[simon_jones]

I would like to start with a HUGE thanks to Will and Lucy for sorting this week out, to Pete for the many hints and tips he gave us, also to Draycote for looking after us.

Wednesday morning saw us turning up at about 9.30 to a lovely day with not a lot of breeze, after sorting the boat and some wise words from pete we took to the water in Loco for only the second time. What a blast! Hopefully we learnt a few things as well as recording 15.9 knots on the velocitec.

Thursday morning saw us turn up all enthusiastic only to see the wind steadilly increasing. Pete went out first got to the wind line and fell over (Bugger) we decided it was do or die, stuck on a mast cam and went for it. Upwind was ok if a little scarry, but we had a bit of trouble turning round and fell over (lots). Finally through sheer determination we got her facing back down the lake and set off twinning with the kite, it all went a bit pearshaped  at the gybe and we decided not to push our luck any further and headed for the shore. There was some brilliant footage from the cameras Subtle Knife was hooning on a two sail reach!
Will and Lucy shot off down the lake with the boat almost not touching the water.

I will finish by saying to all who attended many thanks for making us feel welcome. To those that didn't attend make sure you do next year. It was great 

[Tim Noyce]

I'd just like to thank everyone who has written in this thread that has rubbed it in my face that I have been working my balls off all week and not having been out enjoying myself!