Marblehead GAMES
Guildford Administered Marblehead Event Series
Introducing GAMES A new series of events for radio Marbleheads.
This series is to encourage the average club skipper to get more enjoyment from these fantastic racing boats and go to more open events. A brand new trophy, the Midgley Memorial Mug will be presented at the final event of the year. The winner will have the highest points scored in their best 4 events. There will be a special Junior prize for under 16s.
GAMES 1 - Whitlingham Trophy & E District Ranking - Norwich - 13 February 2011
GAMES 2 - MYA National Championship, EURO GP - Guildford - 26-27 March 2011
GAMES 3 - Reading Open & Interclub 3 - Reading - 16 April 2011
GAMES 4 - Open - Ayr Bay - 7 May 2011
GAMES 5 - Acorn Trophy & M&S District Ranking - Guildford - 19 June 2011
GAMES 6 - Broadlands Trophy - Broads - 11 September 2011
GAMES 7 - Northern District - Birkenhead - 8 October 2011
GAMES 8 - Midland District Ranking - Lincoln - 23 October 2011
GAMES 9 - Mermaid Trophy - Guildford - 6 November 2011
GAMES 10 - Stan Cleal Trophy - Three Rivers - 13 November 2011
GAMES scores will be place position converted to % with the winner scoring 100. Race committee members score their average GAMES points.
For further details or questions contact our Commodore Hugh McAdoo through the Contacts Page
GAMES will be fun!
Latest Results & Reports:
Click Here for the Latest GAMES results in PDF
GAMES 5 Acorn Trophy & M&S District Ranking - Guildford - 19 June 2011 - click above for results
Race Report for Acorn Trophy and GAMES 5
6 Skippers from 3 Clubs made the start line for the Acorn Trophy and GAMES 5 held at Guildford Model Yacht Club’s water Abbey Meads Lake, Chertsey on Sunday 19th June, original there was supposed to be 9 entries, but unfortunately 3 did not make the start line. The wind was predominantly westerly and the Hugh McAdoo set a windward leeward course with a leeward gate. The windward mark had to be changed, as we found on arrival at the lake, that a pair of coots had started to build a floating nest moored to the buoy as in the attached photo. The pair were busy all day and as the area was marked at ‘no sail’ area, they were not at all upset by radio Marbleheads sailing within 10m of them. The forecast rain, with the exception of a few spots stayed away, with the sun breaking through from time to time. The breeze stayed fairly constant in strength if not direction all day allowing comfortable ‘A’ rig conditions and a bit of planing in short bursts to make it more exciting.
As is so often the case with westerly breezes on Abbey Meads Lake, there were huge shifts on the whole length of the course, none of these shifts were long enough to make changing the course, which stayed the same for the day.
After the first race there was a delay while a team carried out some re-arrangement of gear on Terry Rensch’s ‘Prime Number’, which was not sailing properly. Thereafter there were two races back to back with a short break and a longer break for lunch.
At lunch time, after 9 races, the lead was close between Martin Crysell and Roger Stollery being separated by 1 point. Roy Stevens was never far away in third, with John Shorrock and Mark Mortimore and Terry Rensch following up.
After lunch, much to his great joy, Terry Rensch won Race 11, in fact the 3 leaders had to be careful, as if they got the shifts wrong, John Shorrock slipped in and got a bullet or podium place. The shifts appears to be more pronounced in the afternoon, much to Roy Stevens advantage as he sailed up the places to win the event at the end of the day.
19 races were sailed and race wins were shared by 5 of the 6 skippers. Martin and Roger battled it out 2nd place and both finished on 35 points with Martin’s eight second places needed to break the tie in his favour.
The Met & Southern District Ranking Race for RMs did not have a Trophy, so GMYC commissioned a brand new wooden trophy in the form of an acorn and this was the first year that it had been sailed for. It was also Round 5 for GAMES (Guildford Administered Marblehead Event Series). Roy Stevens, who had travelled from Middlesborough, was delighted to win and to have his name on the trophy, as the first winner. It made the long journey all the more worthwhile and closes the gap at top of the GAMES table, now only 16 points behind Martin Crysell at the halfway stage, with another 5 events still to go.
Results
1st Roy Stevens (Tri Services) Prime Number 30 pts. 2nd Martin Crysell (GMYC) Rok 35 pts. 3rd Roger Stollery (GMYC) Crazy Tube Too 35 pts. 4th John Shorrock (Reading) Starkers 47 pts. 5th Mark Mortimore (GMYC) Roar Edge 75 pts. 5th Terry Rensch (GMYC) Prime number 86 pts.
Best improver from the last GAMES event, John Shorrock
GAMES 4 Ayr Bay Open, Ayr Bat MYC 7th May 2011 - click above for results
NO Report Supplied
GAMES 3 Marblehead Open, Reading SC 16 April 2011
Reading SC hosted the third event of this years Marblehead Travellers series ( GAMES 3 ) at their Sonning Lake, Reading
There were thirteen entries for the event, with 12 boats making the start line.
The weather was more fitting for July than April, with shorts making the occasional breakout in the glorious sunshine. However, whilst the anticyclone covering the country may be fine for trips to the beach, it does not necessarily produce the best conditions for sailing.
The 5 knot southwesterly wind at the start allowed the race officer , Ron Perkins, to set a course using the full length of the sailing area and racing was competitive, if not at full pace, on this course until lunchtime. The early leader after these first six races was Martin Crysell of Guildford, followed by Roger Stollery, Peter Popham and Roy Stevens all struggling to find consistency .
Whilst the skippers enjoyed a pleasant lunch in the sunshine, the wind decided to swing to the north west causing a few headaches for the race officer. It then moved again to the north for a race, before deserting the lake altogether. The final race took over 30 minutes for the leaders, with the back markers being finished on the water. The PRO called a halt after 9 races.
In spite of an impressive afternoon sailing by Roger Stollery, with three bullets, he was unable to catch Martin Crysell, with Hugh McAdoo just pipping Peter Popham for third place, making it a clean sweep for the Guildford skippers.
The racing was keen, but friendly, in the manner that seems to be a characteristic of the Marblehead fleets.
Results
Martin Crysell Guildford 14 pts
Roger Stollery Guildford 16pts
Hugh McAdoo Guildford 24pts
Peter Popham 3-Rivers 25pts
Mick Shillington Bournville 29pts
Roy Stevens Tri Services 39pts
GAMES 2 - Guildford Model Yacht Club
2011 MYA Radio Marblehead National Championship, Euro Grand Prix 1 & GAMES 2
2011 is the MYA’s Centenary year and it was fitting therefore that Guildford Model Yacht Club, who instigated the very first Marblehead National Championship in 1974 should run this event again and look back to compare the two events. Both were run over two days at Elstead Moat and had just over two dozen entries with an international flavour: an American Soling M challenged our top skippers in vain at the end of the event. However whereas each competitor then sailed just 12 races against only five other competitors in a ‘perfect’ schedule, each skipper at Abbey Meads lake sailed between 17 and 21 heats against 13 other skippers over much longer 600 metre courses. The event attracted 26 entries from 17 clubs including three from France, one each from Belgian and Ireland and included two juniors. This National Championship was the first of the seven Euro Grand Prix series held in five different countries and the second of the GAMES series of 10 races for Marbleheads in England and Scotland.
Saturday, 26th March
A rather grey misty morning greeted competitors with very little wind coming from every direction. It was a nightmare for PRO Roger Stollery who changed the course virtually every heat until Race 5 when it settled down from the East North East as forecast, but still light at 1-5 mph and very shifty. Richard Thompson, chairman of the ISAF/IRSA Appendix E working party was invited to take part in this event as umpire ‘buddied’ with observers from the heat not racing, as part of building his experience of radio racing. This he enjoyed and with many experienced and well behaved sailors racing in this class, there was no need for any penalty calls.
The French pair, Laurent Gerbeaud and Gilles Di Crescenzo dominated Races 1, 2 and 3 with a win each making the local skippers looked decidedly poor with only Peter Stollery, who could not get out of ‘B’ heat in Race 3, challenging them to win Race 4. At lunch the two Frenchmen were miles ahead with just four points each, six points ahead of Derek Priestley in third place. Lunchtime gave the opportunity for competitors to look back over the last hundred years with the MYA Centenary display boards on show in the gazebo.
Peter continued to pick the shifts well to win Race 5, but could not prevent Gilles winning the next one. Mark Dennis found the best route to the windward mark avoiding the holes in the wind to win Race 7 from Belgian Eric Van der Kindere and Martin Crysell. Laurent came back on form to win the last race of the day, despite the early lead being taken by last race specialist John Cleave, who had to be content with second, whilst Irishman, Andrew Crosby also had his best result in third place. The results with two discards were very close with Laurent on 15 and Gilles and Peter tied with 16 points.
All retired to the local Boathouse restaurant overlooking the River Thames for the Centenary dinner, which was a great success.
Sunday, 27th March
Despite losing an hour’s sleep with the clocks going forward, everyone was keen to get sailing and the racing started on time in extremely cold conditions. Fortunately the sun came out later in the day and the wind stayed generally in an East North East direction and a simple windward/leeward course with a leeward gate was laid. The wind still had huge variations both in strength and direction to frustrate skipper’s strategies. Racing started as yesterday’s finished with the French dominating with a win in Race 9, but Rob Walsh improved his challenge with his best result to win Race 10. Peter was seeing the wind shifts well to win Race 11, and finished first again in Race 12. However his protest of principle, after a three boat contact at the windward mark did not go as he expected either in the SYRPH, after which Hugh McAdoo retired, or in the protest hearing that followed and he was disqualified. At lunch this left all 5 top boats within a few points of each other.
Peter responded by winning both Race 13 ‘B’ and ‘A’ heats, whilst Gilles was having problems with his radio gear finishing at the bottom of ‘A’ heat. Local skipper, Martin Crysell had put in some consistent results throughout the event, but none as good as Race 14, which he won from Derek and Peter. Highlight for 14 year old Paul Morgan was finishing fourth in Race 15B and getting a round of applause, after struggling all day with the strategy for making the best of the fluctuating wind. As is often the case, once promoted to ‘A‘ heat he immediately sailed his best race and finished third behind Laurent and Peter to another round of applause!
Going into Race 16, the top five skippers were within six points of each other, so the results hinged on this final race. Gilles was still having trouble with his radio gear and could not finish the race, whilst Fleetwood boys, Rob and Derek finished in fifth and sixth behind Irishman Andrew, Laurent and Hugh McAdoo with his best result in second place, leaving Peter to win both the race and the Championship.
At the prize giving the Guildford team were thanked for putting on such a good event. Each overseas competitor received a special ‘ English ‘ prize and Belgian Eric Van Der Kindere, who lives in Marseille was delighted to receive the ‘furthest travelled’ prize. Neither the winner of the ‘Classic Cup‘ for boats built before 2000, Andrew Crosby sailing a 1998 ‘Paradox ‘ nor junior Paul Morgan were presented with their prizes as they were not available, but were dispatched shortly after the event. Finally, in Guildford Model Yacht Club tradition there was a prize for last place: without competitors at the back you cannot have winners at the front!
When the TOT Trophy results were announced there was a murmur amongst the competitors, who had expected the team of Peter, Derek and Alan Viney to win. However such is the fairness of choosing the teams with one each from the top, middle and bottom third of the results after Race 3, the result is always in doubt until the end. The team’s result depends on all three skippers and in this case it was Mark Dennis, Gilles Di Crescenzo and Hugh McAdoo that took away the trophies.
Results: ( place, name, boat number, club, design, score )
1st Peter Stollery GBR39 Guildford Crazy Tube Too 35, 2nd Laurent Gerbeaud FRA171 UNCL Skalpel 46, 3rd Rob Walsh GBR25 Fleetwood Starkers 55, 4th Derek Priestley GBR 164 Fleetwood 56, 5th Gilles Di Crescenzo FRA 06 CV Saint-Quentin Skalpel 61, 6th Martin Crysell GBR52 Guildford Rok 62, 7th Mark Dennis GBR119 Chelmsford Prime Number 83, 8th John Cleave GBR44 Ryde Skalpel 93, 9th Roy Stevens GBR54 Tri-services Prime Number 98, 10th Andrew Crosbie IRL98 Cork Paradox 104, 11th David Coode GBR86 Guildford Tiranha 116, 12th John Male GBR56 Three Rivers Starkers 118, 13th Eric Van der Kindere BEL157 UNM Skalpel 132, 14th Peter Crisp GBR23 Swanley Starkers 143, 15th Hugh McAdoo GBR16 Guildford Prime Number 150, 16th Hugh Cripps GBR37 Canterbury Monarch 175, 17th Bernard Merlaud FRA19 CN Viry Chatillon Starkers 183, 18th Paul Morgan GBR17 Guildford Crazy Tube Too 200, 19th John Shorrock GBR07 Reading Starkers 205, 20th Alan Viney GBR51 Guildford Prime Number 214, 21st Damian Ackroyd Leeds & Bradford Starkers 227, 22nd Phil Broszek GBR117 Guildford Roar Edge 285, 23rd CJ Vice GBR34 Guildford Mystick 300, 24th Peter Mitchell GBR417 Frensham Pond Roar Edge 302.
Winner of Classic Cup – pre-2000 boats, Andrew Crosby Paradox 10th 104.
TOT trophies – Gilles Di Crescenzo, Mark Dennis and Hugh McAdoo, 268.
Junior winner – Paul Morgan 18th 200.
Race committee – PRO Roger Stollery, ARO Gordon Edmondson, Umpire Richard Townsend (Saturday only) John Townsend, Mark Mortimore, Peter Miles, Alan Morgan, Slieve McGalliard, Charles Smith
GAMES 1 - Norwich Model Yacht Club.
Whitlingham Trophy & Eastern District R>M> Ranking Event, with No 1 G.A.M.E.Series
This early season Radio Marblehead event held on 13th February 2011 at the Great Broad Whitlingham, Near Norwich attended by l0 skippers from five clubs was the venue for sixteen races. With a cool southerly wind increasing in strength as the day progressed. Race Officer Peter Sutton set a 800 metre course with, due to the prevailing winds, a tight reaching start to a triangle with a beating leg and sausage in an area not used by the Norwich club for five years, the clubs area of the road has been plagued by a heavy blanket of "Nuttals water weed" since last June and despite having been completely frozen over and more lately the gale force winds is still not Sailable.
Peter Sutton explained the course to the skippers which due to the site change was set out with coloured tops to the buoys not anticipating that there could be skippers who were colour blind' Racing started at l0-00ks with all the boats on "A" rigs and an eight mile an hour gusty wind' Graham Bantock won I I of the races by quite large margins with a closely packed fleet following Martin Crysell achieving two first and four second places and Rick Buxton gaining two first places and one second place. The last race finishing at 1540hrs. Very good clean racing was seen with few mishaps and no recorded protests.
Results:
1st Graham Bantock GBR95 (Chelmsford) Prime Number 15 points
2nd Martin Crysell GBR52 (Guildford) Prime Number 46 points
3d Rick Buxton GBR41 (Broads) Rok 50 points
4th Roy Stevens GBR54 (Two islands) Prime Number 52 points
5th Hugh McAdoo GBR16 (Guildford) Prime Number 56 points
With grateful thanks for the cooperation of:
The Whitlingham Trust. N.C.C. Outdoor Education Centre Cafe-cafe at the Park.
Ronnie Mobbs Hon. Sec. MY 14.02.11
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