13th Sept

an early start and on the water for 0805 am  the wind was east to north east and crashing in on the beach  launching was fun as i had to get the boat off the trolley and then some how move it higher up the beach because of the low tide. the boat was being picked up and thrown around.
eventually it was done and i launched forgetting to put the rudder down. i though i was going to be thrown on the beach again but got away with it.
after a few tack s i was out past the boats and hitting some fairly confused waves.
one minute leaning out  next minute scabbling to keep the boat from falling over on it self.
i stayed out for over 1h 20 mins asa cup/fun race was due to take place at 11am
i was pleased with how i sailed in the conditions and preferred the laser to the cat in such conditions.
its nice to ride a big wave and crash down on a laser and control it better. as long as you can balance the boat its ok. more work needs doing on the tacking and down wind gybes as a few were all most capsize jobs. once again my gps failed to track so must look into that.

 

IST RACE FOR 4 YEARS ON A LASER

after the trip on MBM7424 bournmouth pier i did the Bent cup race for single handed in the afternoon at 2pm.
the cats were in the macdonna cup sailing single handed fully rigged. mass start and it was a challenging light wind race for one lap gradually increasing as the race went on. i was with rob seal in the raidal and tried to stay with him to get  measure of what i was doing wrong etc, he had the edge on me as my tacks were all fingers and thumbs crossing over the tiler. my reach legs were ok and made ground.
a squall came thru with some rain and it was hiking out time and a little overpowered on the beat.
on the 4th ;lap i could se rob was gaining on the next few lasers and going to number 4 we were all within a minute and a half.
i was last laser but that was only to be expected, normally i never sail a standard but gave it ago.
the boat went ok and no problems.
time 1h 2m 8m  8.5 miles approx  on handicap overall for both fleets as a mas start i also beat all the catamarans as well RESULT

    

sailing log 2014 for laser 173741

1. 26th july first sail with david bryant
2. 8th august 2nd sail solo  6.5 miles 1h 24m
3. 23rd august  Bent cup race 8.6 miles 1h 02m  
4. 13th September training session (easterly winds 12-18 knts)  1h 20m

2nd sail 173741 8th august 2014

well a 2 day friday/saturday turned into a damp sail on the laser on friday late afternoon
it was raining and the sea was calm and the sea was warm . sailed for over and hour and 20mins getting used to the controls and handling. caught on headcam as well all be it 35mins.

6.50 miles 1h24

first sail on mutley 173741

26th july i traveled to swanage early am to do a duty however with the race not run i quickly rigged the boat with dave byants help.
we went out in light winds to get back into the swing of sailing a laser again.
it was good fun and glad i had bought mutley

Mutley173741 arrival at Swanage

after sailing mutley for the first time

it felt strange but felt very connected to the boat, i didnt capsize so that was good. we sailed for over an hour a few things to sort with  the rigging but otherwise very pleased with the boat.

173741 collection

well today after a 2 1/2 hr drive to lyme regis i finally collected laser 173741 from Nicholas Marks.
he had the boat a year and before that it was from castle cove in wymouth.
very pleased with the boat, 2 rigs  standard and radial and a road trailer.
 left home 2pm got home 730pm did a wander around the cobb  got some fish and chips and a
coffe ice cream  NICE.  sophie had her chips stolen by the seagulls, they must know they were good.

new boat soon

as things are getting better during 2014 i have decided to spend the burning hole in my pocket that HMRC has given me and in the process of getting a laser again  173741.
i will be collecting  the boat on friday from Sunny Lyme Regis

Dart 7424 Men Behaving Madly 19/08/2011

ok, good news today, i sealed the deal on a dart 18 #7424

http://dart7424menbehavingmadly.blogspot.com/

getting ready for the new season

buying a new boat is not cheap when you have to buy other kit as well.
new rudder/centreboard bag  £65  wind indicators £25  silva 73 compass and bracket £125
hopefully i will not need anything else for now.
friday the new sail numbers were put on to the sail, after being cut to the number shape required.
This job is always somethhing i hate doing as the sail has a natural curve in it and does not lie flat,
so when you re lift the number you can not just put it back down flat again. no 6 proved a pain !!
the sail was rolled and not folded so that made things easier at the end.
The season campaign is being drawn up and some old venues will be revisited, like the Exmoor beast pursuit
hopefully some new ones like the Starcross steamer.
Work will be a cruical factor in what time i have to race this year and what time i have off, my plan is to do masters series ,wessex traveler, south traveler, UK Q and nationals, and some south west travelers as well, also some cup races at Swanage. in the mean time spare weekends will be used at Swanage for training. i will not be doing the series events as last year proved you need to be in every race to contend.
The traveler series is more spread out so you can choose a series to compete in and dedicate too.
I know when i sailed lasers back in 2001 on the open circuit this suited me well and got into the top 30 of the masters just by completing enough races.
more news soon

new boat

Today was the day i picked up mutley197 my new laser from sail laser in weymouh portland. the home of the 2012 olympics. the day started off ok but then after transferring stuff from straycat to the van i noticed the key was slight best, after a small bend  twang the key snapped. greg was on his way and suggested ring the rac.
they gave me numbers for car key cutters and did a good job. we tried swanage first but to no avail.

So at 930am we headed off to bournmouth with sat nav shouting left right  lol
the man said no problem, so i said two, he said £48, i said thank god you could do it.
We tried ringing tom at weymouth but he never got the message, so we knew we would be late , we eventually after going straight to weymouth met tom and we sorted the boat. really pleased we asked light board he said no, oh ,halfords, ok.
We picked it up in weymouth town and i thought hope its long enough, guess what it wasnt.
We got to portland tied the thing and left. we got back to swanage and unpacked and i repacked the boat down using ratchets straps and a proper light board.
So after an eventful day i am now the proud owner of a 8 month old acadamy owned laser 197631

Now the testing begins to get upto speed before the new season haha, watch this space !!!


This boat was bought by a swanage member in 2013 and has since been sold to Josh Craven in yorkshire sailing club.

straycat

straycat the dart 18 was sold on the 26th january.
i will be sailing a laser again in the UK Q, Masters and traveler series in the south and west

i will name my laser mutley when i get him
further updates to follow

mutley is being sold on

mutley is being sold on by its new owner after the deck was repaired
it is available on apollo duck for double what i sold it. beware the description is not true about how old the sails and tramp are !!

making a fast buck i think

http://straycat7128.blogspot.com/

my new boat
http://straycat7128.blogspot.com/

mutley's departure 16th april 2010

at about 11am today mutley left swanage heading off to sunny cornwall, the home of the cornish pastie.
we managed to get him on the trailer and he was well behaved, we got the mast down no problem and everything went really smoothly apart from the tyre on the drivers side. after pumping spray foam into it overnight and then driving down in the early hours to avoid traffic, the valve on the wheell didnt like mutleys weight and started to protest. when richard the buyer was strapping on something underneath he spotted.........guess what..........a spare wheel and tyre. yippee i proceeded to change the wheel and we were all relieved.
i must admit i was  alittle sad after i seen mutley leave and thought what a good boat he was. a little love and care to the port hull and a few tidy ups and mutley will be cutting up the waves again pretty soon im sure.

this is the last post on this blog, thank you for reading.  

mutley has been sold

well i never thought i would actually get a buyer or that i would sell mutley.

i advertised him sunday on apollo duck and had a reply the same evening.

hopefully the transaction will go thru ok

more to follow

Spring series 3

Did not sail, launch wheels were out of adjustment and had to be taken home to be sorted.wind was not as predicted and was reasonably fresh early morning N.E wind.

10th april 2010

weather for the weekend was predicted to be nice and sunny and an easterly wind.

when we launched we decided to go off in the poole bar bouy direction as richard had never been there before. when we wee almost out of the bay the wind dropped and the sea was like a mirror.

we had a joke about and i said well the wind is picking up in the afternoon. we eventually got back into the bay and close to shore. we hailed a speedboat over and asked for a tow to the pier, they kindly obliged and we had a good chat to them whilst being towed. when they released us there was a bit more wind, and after we packed the boat away the wind filled in, typical. i did say it would in the afternoon and i was right.

after having problems with the launch wheels i decided eventually not to sail on the sunday. however i did stop overnight and see the sunrise over the isle of wight early morning.

=============================================

4th april 2010

SPRING SERIES 2

didnt sail due to gusty winds predicted, wasnt happy to sail with richard as we hadn't had enough pratice

Spring series 1

TEAM 4 SAFTY DUTY

The Opener 2010

the wind forcast was all over the place for the week leading upto the race, on the day the wind was light. richard my new crew was keen to sail and so was i.

we launched at 10 am and got a good bit of pratice in prior to what was going to be a short race (42 mins) we praticed our tacks and gybes so richard knew what to expect on mutley as it was only his 2nd trip on the boat.

a postponment and a very slow start didnt do us much favours, we followed the spitfire thinking he knew something we didnt. we went over the line very late but picked our way thru the fleet well by the time we had gone well right on the course. most of the race was fought against bill in albacore 8001, we had to run a longer course downwind and lost out every time.

we finished in one piece and saw that we had only raced for 42 mins ??

we ended up last on handicap BUT WHO CARES !! we had great fun.

in the evening the opener supper was well attended and we had a good meal.

17th JAN 2010 FIRST SAIL

today i finally managed to get own to swanage and get out on mutly. the road was a bit slippy near bere regis after i almost came to grief with the back end sliding out and then back the opposite way, luckily recovered it but a close call.
today i met with richard for the first time and found him very pleasant and keen.
after showing him the ropes and a few things on the boat we launched, the weather was sunny and wind about 10 knts. about 5 cats turned out all dart 18's. mike cemm, greg& mike , mark & desney
martin and louise and ourselves.
we basically went around marks in the bay all starting together, it was all informal and i wasnt really sure where we were going. it was a good time for me to get rich upto speed and he did really well. i dont think we will have any problems for the season, lots of fine tunning will help us gel to gether very well.
the 2010 season has been messed up already thanks to work. this year it looks as i might have to do the thursday series only and see what luck comes my way with the rest due to a job change and rostered shift hours at work.
hey ho never mind, i have a plan b but that may take till mid season to work if at all.

new crew

good news, mutley has a new crew for 2010. Richard Hart has offered his services for the 2010 season.


Sunday 13th is the expected first sail. winds predicted are north east 12knts++
with light winds richard can get a feel for the tasks involved when sailing mutley in more relaxed conditions.
Hopefully all will go well and a new and succesfull partner will be born, 2010 needs to be a good season building on the 2009 season with john.
CANCELLED DUE TO STRONGER WINDS THAN EXPECTED
actual wind on the day
==================
wind was 15 to 18 on the pier reading, so slightly higher out to sea. air temp was really low as well which would not have been good at all

autumn 10

no race due to strong sw winds 37knts

31st october 2009

sailed with john russ. weather was predicted 8to 12knts wnw
launched at 1000 and headed for poole bar bouy. the swell was big when we got out of the bay so much that we aborted our attempt. we headed back into the bay and enjoyed reaching up and down. sailed for hour and half. weather was very pleasant.
today was filmed with my bullet cam v.i.o pov.1.5
weather for the last race of the season was predicted 35knts+++
so 2009 season is over for me and john, overall a better season that we did the races and sailing we wanted to do.
with the prospects of richard as my new crew for 2010 things are looking more positive.

hopefully i will get some training in before year end with richard.

AUTUMN series cont

autumn 9
did not travel no crew no race strong winds
autumn 8
did not travel no race light winds
autumn 7
did not travel expected light winds race went ahead

autumn 6 4th oct 09

a light wind day and i thought we could do well. the sea had a big swell from the saturday 30knts that was blowing, it didnt bother me beacause it was actually good fun surfing down the waves.
john was raring to go and so was i, we had a really good start and crossed the line perfectly with mark(hawk) nearer the pin end. they tacked first and we went further. we came out at the mark expecting 1st place but we did not because a dart 18 flew up to the line. the dart 18 was absolutly storming we had a job to pull away from it on the reach. we got to mark 2 ahead we got to mark 3 just ahead we got to mark 4 ahead. this was the first time ever in my sailing that i had led a whole lap at swanage. we kept it going for the whole race with the dart 18 trying to spoil the party.
we finnished the race ahead of the 18 but not enough for us to beat it. mark had spinnaker problems and did not have the speed on the downwind and reach legs.
we finnished 5th overall and the d18 was 2nd clive was 3rd richard m won.
overall i was very pleased with my sailing, john did some good crewing and offered good tactical advice. i have done less sailing but wht i have done i have enjoyed. and that all what matters !!

speed graph for 260909

autumn 5

sailed on the saturday with jo.
sailed approx 15 miles++
wind was light 3knts in the morning sailed for 1.5 hrs and again in the afternoon 2hrs wind was about 7knts in the afternoon.
sailed as far as old harry's which was good going.
decided not to sail on the sunday as light winds forcast, which did not happen.

autumn 4

duty day

autumn 3

did not travel

autumn 2 06 09 09

well after a few weeks away mutley was treated to a day out by the seaside.
spud and john john joined in and a good time was had by all.
wind was light to start with and gradually built up. hovering on the start i was too keen to get going and as i went past the committee boat my watch didnt tally with the committe's over i went and i heard the cry from patrick, "spud your over" my imediate reaction was oh well that hasnt happened many times before so i promptly swung mutley around and went around the ends
funny thing was i rounded the mark in 3rd place behind BIG THING and henry
this race a pure shakedown race to get back sailing on mutley. it all went very well and we both enjoyed the race. with no mistakes from either of us well apart from me almost forgetting mark 3
we were rounding roughly in 12.5 mins. henry caught us on the last lap so it showed we were out of pratice. We didnt finnish last as greg was having problems with his tramp.

knoll beach cup 25 07 09

with no crew i did not travel.
this is the first time i have missed this race for many years.

my sailing morale is at an all time low now, team work makes for good sailing and missing Dave crewing is what gets me down.
John has stepped in well and we race well together, i wish he had been able to do the summer series as well and maybe i wouldnt be feeling so low.
the summer series is lost for me now and i will not be competing the rest of it.
i have other projects to do at home, roll on the autumn series !!

summer 7

did not travel. strong winds forecast. i dont do them anymore !!!

summer 6

did not travel

Summer 5

crew was alan induni.
all i can say is i hate the summer series, nothings going right at all. today we launched and proptly capsized with a gust which put us over like a ten pin, had no chance what so ever. i was perched on the top hull dangling and alan was trapped in the rigging at about mast level, when he untangled himself he swamaround to the bow and then couldnt swim toward me because of the tide, then couldnt climb up either. i helped and then we preceded to check the boat that nothing was still cleated. we then had to get the bows head towind. it dint happen at all, bothe were on the bow and the bow was under waterby a foot so should have swung around. swan 3 came over to help, lets say no more about that or this page will be full of swearing. sorry clive not your fault at all, thanks for your efforts.
swan 4 came over and got the job done with in minutes. by that time me and alan didnt have the strenght to haul ourselves abourd the boat. i swam under the tramp and got on from the rear as it was lower in the water. alan did the same and got the boat under control, with that we sailed in. With arms aching like whey were it would have been stupid to have carried on.
we live to fight another day. only my 2nd capsize on mutley probably not the last either!!

summer 4

did not race. light winds predicted.
suffering from the bournmouth race.

elizabeth cup june 27th 2009

weather was predicted wsw 9 knts,weather was sunny and just right for a nice sail to bournmouth, we knew it was going to be a broad reach there and in pratice we knew it was going to be slow. we worked our angles and were ready. we decided on port tack which was scary to say the least. weducked a few boats and tacked to avoid a few others and frantic calls of starboard, all in all it went well and as far as i could see it went without incident.we rounded the short beat well down but set on our way as we decided.
the spitfires were well away in their own fleet, we decided to stay with the dart18's. dooley and miller. every time we heaeded on port we lost ground to making our way to bournmouth so we decided to gybe often, we headed toward balard and then to make the gate at old harry we then headed well out to see,after rounding the gate we heaed out to see again and went parralel to the bournmouth eye. when we gybed we were heading well left and again losing ground. we were trying to spot the mark of bournmouth by watching the groome spitfire. with a place in mind we altered track and made good speed. a few more gybes later we went around the mark in just over the hour. now for the best bit every wave we surfed in on we hit on the way back, i settled down and john was soon out on the wire. john played the downhaul well and i never lifted the main once just played the steering to suit. when the wind died we headed out on starboard for what semed along way, the condor cat told us otherwise to tack again, all tacks were down very well as i normally struggle in choppy seas.
as we were nearing old harry we forgot about the gate and headed back until we spotted it, we wernt far off anyway, the hobie 18 was tariling us all the way back after recoveri ng froma long capsize. he did well or we were struggling, memories of the poole bar bouy race again !
so now we knew we had to back for line honours over them as they had the same handicap.
they went out to sea and because of the chop we heaed close into the bay. we upped our speed and spotted the finnish. we knew they were beat and we crossed the line in 2hr 9min approx
we were glad to have done the race in what i thought were tougher conditions than in 2007
mark groome finnished in under 2hrs and said the tide and wind didnt help the speed of the race.
as i write this i am absolutly knacked and my back is killing me. roll on 2010 for the next epic race, i dont care wher i finnished, to finnish was all that mattered
mutley did me proud and its all on film i hope, wait for the link posted here.
Spud

Summer 3

crew Alan induni.
not a good week as suffering from the flu, so wasnt sure that i would be upto much anyway.
launched at 10.00am it took most of that time to fig that the tide was running strong and the wind was changing alot and then dying.
sure enough at race start it died and we were in irons as usual. 6mins later we crossed the line.
we got to mark 4 eventually and then it all went wrong. the tide was getting us, we tacked and then we hit the mark. we did a 360 and scared the living daylights out of henry. we knew he was there and it wasnt a problem. the next lap was better until mark 4 again. this time we gave it more room.
we called starboard on adrian (d15) he didnt give it saying he couldnt tack. we tacked to avoid and was sandwiched between 2 boats. alan was on the starboard side when we caught a gust, i shouted as we heeled over. aln was caught under the boom with his jacket and in he went for a swim. like a demon he swam back and i dragged him back on board, annoyed with adrian we caled it a day and sailed back in. we were going to protest but didnt. lets just say im having words with him next week as to why he couldnt tack away.
bad weekend ontop of a bad week. roll on next week.

Summer 2

crew was Alan Induni. we launched in light winds at 1020am. the wind was changing all the time and a postponement was posted. the wind filled in and alan was out on the wire on the reaches.
we lined up at the start and reached half way down the short line, we got a good start and tacked onto port to find we were well ahead once again. we tacked for the mark and were in1st place.
we led around mark 2 as well. It seemed natural to go into the middle of the course as we had good boat speed, but ti didnt work when we gybed. the 2 spitfires took the lead and were gone, next lap we went out to sea off mark 2 and seemed better, alan was doing a good job helping with tactical decisions as well. we were about to start our 5th lap when we were stopped. only 48 mins of racing ??. a bit disgruntled we headed back into the club. alan enjoyed his first race on Mutley. With a bit more racing together we should get better.
this season has started out better then i thought, getting better finish positions overall in our fleet. Also getting better starts is starting to help as well, i just need to sort my downwind technique and we could get even better results.

13th june Rees Cup 2009

am.
sailed with alan induni in the morning pratice for for summer series. wind was light and dropped off completely. It filled in again for a reasonable sail.

REES CUP
crew was John Russ .Wind was filling in nicely just before the start of the race, we seen that the pin end was better to head straight to the mark. we started and were the only on's close to the pin, we didn't hear the hotter and got a cracking start. we tacked and rode over robert baker(laser) nobody was close to us at all. we tacked and rounded the mark in 1st we looked back and the groome spitfire was snapping at our heels, with the spinaker up and the chem spitfire fast approaching the two disappeared into the distance. we did our best to stay with them and had a good sail downwind until we got to the poole bar bouy. mark and chem encountered the barfluer ferry and rather than claiming rights of the sea gave in due to the size of the opponent. we did the same and ran along side running up to the bouy. i didn't want to make the headlines of the local news.
after rounding the mark it was a beat all the way back home. john was out on the wire straight away and we did good speed back to swanage bay. we were still in 3rd on the water and the spitfire were just visible. the hobbie 18 tried overtaking us near the line but we outwitted them and got 3rd on the line. we indeed got 3rd cat from 10 but 20th out of 30ish for the whole fleet.
we had a good sail and could not complain. time 57 mins
in the evening we had a barbecue with the rain falling. tomorrow was supposed to be light winds.

Summer 1 7th june 2009

duty day team 4. typical after the day before we were greeted with good wind and flatish seas.
bill macmillan went over before the race started and we sorted him out, then one of the jnr's had tiller problems on a club laser. the race seemed to go very quikly, which was good for us.

James day cup

wind was easerly and 20-25kts
decided not to do the race as did not like the conditions at all. greg said after i wouldnt have liked the waves at all. i hate waves and that with the wind as well im glad i stayed and watched.

spring 8

Crew was john russ. We launched at 1015am. Wind wasnt much, we managed to go around the course and sort out our tactics for the race. We did learn not to tack to early coming off 4 as we got tangled with the mark going under the bridle !!. We did try to free it our self, looking as we were not going too, i called swan 4 on the radio, by that time we had cleared the mark.
mike chem said "how did could you not miss it, its big enough". we laughed and carried on.
For the race we worked out that we had to tack after only a few hundred metres up the course as the mark was off to the right side of the course!! we did this and rounded in 2nd place. The groome spitfire was in 1st and then all the 18's behind us. We followed as long as we could and even made up some ground going from 2-3. however on one leg we fell behind badly. We sorted our way thru the mono's and tried to limit our losses to Mark. we did a few different things down wind seeing if it would work.We finished glad that we had a good sail and the weather was really hot. No other incidents and rudders were ok. Mutley behaved for once or was it that the helm sailed as he should do !!
arrived at swanage the following saturday to check the results and had a surprise when i seen the results. john and i got 2nd place in the last race of the spring series and 5th overall in the series. a good start to the 2009 season.

coronation cup 30th may

In the morning sailed with david holmes on 048 hurricane, praticed going out on the wire. wind had died down from what it had been. 30 mins sailing

RACE
safety team duty team 4
wind was south easterly 9knts

24th may

no racing was reserved for 1974 cup.

commadores cup 23rd may

a nice summers day and an easterly wind.
in the morning i finally sorted the downhaul return bungy that leads back tru the main beam. however after setting it up it now needs adjusting.
greg was down at the club and said you doing the pevril today its your fav race. my heart sank and i threatened to pack the boat up. the course was set and we only had to go around the windward mark then pevril then around the triangle and then 3 sausages. thats ok providing there is some wind. we launched 45 mins early and john was out on the wire again. we waited for the race and when it started the wind dropped completly. we rounded one in 3rd and headed toward the ledge.
we never ever got there. after an hour tim page abandoned the race. we decided a few secounds before it was that we were going to anyway.
nice day froa suntan but that about all.
the rudder problem from 2 weeks ago is now sorted and seemed ok.
a month to go to the big race, cant wait but need some pratice in the mean time!!!

spring series7

SUNDAY 17TH May 2009
did not travel due to strong south westerly's on saturday and sunday
crew John Russ

spring series 6

my crew for today was john russ.
we launched very early so john could get some pratice. we praticed some trapezing and general moves so john and myself were in tune for the race. we had roughly an extra hour prior to the race.
when the race started we were on our own half way down the very long line, we had to dodge the mono's as usual.
with john out on the wire from the very start we made good progress but not as good as the groome and chem spitfire. we rounded behind adrian(d15) we then overtook on what was a fetch rather than a reach to 2 and then down wind to 3. the wind wasnt very good at all. everything seemed very slow. it was a nice sunny day with the occasional good bit of wind.
we could see we werent doing well because martin and greg were catching us.
my rudders made the steering really heavy and i suspect they were out of adjustment from 2 weeks earlier, one rudder arm was sitting lower then the other, the boat kept heading upto wind and i was constantly pulling on the tiller. so with this affecting the boat speed for sure we just had to finnish. The wind died as well on the last lap and we just made it across the line.
we made our way back to shore relieved the race was over. my arms were like popeye's
the whole race and pratice was captured on my new v.i.o. POV.1.5 all singing and dancing rugged waterproof bullet cam.
i recorded 2.5 hrs of sailing and some clips will be on youtube soon
when i got home and looked at the rudder it was out of adjustment and one of the bushes was loose so there was movement in the arm. hopefully it was adjusted correctly and will be ok for the next race.

1974 cup

no crew for the 1974 cup
did not travel

Spring 5

john russ was crew for the day. again it was lumpy but 15knts of wind.
this week we launched ok and when we went past the old pier the wind was more.
we reaced up and down and i decided after the first tack that i was not going to race. in large swells i often have problem tacking and it was happening again. we stayed out until most had launched so we could have a good entry back to the beach. john was happy we had gone out but i was glad we came back. i used my new cam to get some good footage as well.

V.I.O POV.1.5 with 110 deg wide angle lens

Dasterdly has gone

on the 24th april i sold Dasterdly to Sean of Burgfield SC

it was a big desicion to make to sell him on, but lack of use and the problems with crew on Mutley have not helped.
My plan is too raise more funds and then maybe revert to a sprint 15, where crewing will not be an issue.
I will see how it goes for this season and then decide for 2010.

Spring series 4

wind was forcast f4 dropping to f3.
when i arrived it was anything but. white horses in the bay and 20knts at times.
clive stracey was crewing today and we decided we would wait to see if the wind dropped or the white horses. at the last minute we launced in 15knts of wind.
we decided to go right from launching BIG MISTAKE.
low tide and not alot of wind where we were proved fatal as the rudders hit the low lying rocks.
i tried to redo the right rudder but to no avail. we ended up near the old pier and u guessed we went thru, how the hell we never trashed mutley i do not know. we made it and then we had to avoid the new pier. we did and got underway. we cleared the fishing boats and i had another go at re doing the rudder. we couldnt so i had to make my way back to shore, in the process i lost my watch. oh well it only cost £65 !!!!
we got back safe and had a beer to drown our sorrows.
clive was dissappointed as the wind did indeed drop and turned out nice.
i learned from this alot but it wont make up for missing a race when series pts were vital.
life goes on !!

RUDDER adjustments made and fixed ready for sp5

SPRING SERIES 3
duty day.
I asked to go on the committe boat for a change, the wind was 12knts originally and died thru out the race. the boat began bobbing around alot and luckily i was ok from seasickness. before i would have almost certainly been ill. it was a sunny day and a pleasure to be out on the sea. a fishing boat made a guest appearance on the course just as we were about to start, so we postponed and after it had dropped its pots we set the 3 races away. it was good fun watching the other s race and funny when at 56mins we sent all the fast boats around again much to mark g 's disgust. the wind did really die off and the last lap made it tricky for afew near pevrill ledge.
after 7 years of avoiding the committee boat i finally did a turn and see how it is from the scorer's view.

Spring series 2

5th april 09
a force 3 was forcast but certainly was not evident.
clive stracey was welcomed aboard to crew as dave was busy working.
we launched about 30 mins before the start to pratice our tacks as clive is really tall and would struggle to get under the boom. after a few goes in little wind we were happy. the race was delayed for a while and when it did there was no wind. we crossed the line eventually at the same time as the last boats off. we made mark one in 45 minutes!!. once around the wind did pick up nicely and we then worked our way thru the fleet. the chem and groom spitfire was out front and then all the d18's. i managed to get upto martin(d18) but knew i had lost on handicap big time. we finnished ahead of him and we were glad it was over. clive was pleased he had crewed for me and me the same that he had. no doubt we finnished last on handicap but who cares we were there at least. and thats what counts !!

opener/spring series1

today marked 7 years of sailing at swanage sailing club.
a new van LT to get me there and new catrax wheels for mutley.
weather was predicted very light but sunny, lots of boats turned up and lots of new faces.
mutley was rigged and dave and i set off on a season that we hoped would be much better than 08.
the opener was a mass start for cats and monos. the start was dleayed and when the postponemnet di come down we were well behind the line, which then led us to do a port flyer at a good speed. we got to the line ok and were one of only a few that went on port, we had clean air and made the mark no problem dodging the yachts that would have caught many out.
we came off mark 1 in 3rd place behind the chem and clark spitfire's, we followed for 2 laps and just lost touch when a change of tactic took us into the middle of the square course.
we lapped most of the field as far as tim page's laser. we were not far from the two spitfires
we thought we must have done reasonably well , however the overall result was not good. 25th didnt really reflect on how well we had sailed, no mistakes at all and everything we did we gelled well.
we were rewarded with 3rd cat which counted to the spring series. and we beat greg !!!
an encouraging series start, but for the cup it was a mono day.

2009 The Opener

well a good start to the 2009 season, the weather was windy all week and forcast windy all weekend.
I said this year i wasn't going to look at the weather and travel anyway, old habits are hard to get out off.
I looked and decided not to travel saturday, weather was 23 to 28knts and above from the northwest, better lighter winds for sunday. HOPEFULLY !!

new crew needed

well not a good start to the season. trusty dave is working hard and cannot make a lot of the season.
so i need a new crew to cover for him. the ability to trapeze is a must or be willing to try it.
contact me at KJS63@BLUEYONDER.CO.UK
season starts march 28th.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

merry christmas from spud and mutley.

wishing everyone a good festive season and fair winds for 2009.

7th DEC

spud alan & mutley

we planned to go sailing as the forcast was for 8knts, however when i arrived the launch trolley wheel had gone flat and i had no charge in my air pump. The new catrax trolley will be used next time as this is proving a pain.
i had to recover a few items from the kit box anyway so it wasnt a total wasted journey.
also it gave "LT" my van a test ride. It drove ok apart from the usual sunday driver syndrome, also because it was so cold we had good wheel slip going up spread eagle. a feature of the van is awd
it lets the driver know when the drive wheels are slipping on ice and snow etc. comforting to know that every journey is going to be a little safer.

2nd NOVEMBER

AUTUMN 10
Spud Mutley & Dave

still suffering from the flue, forcast wasnt good until early sunday morning when it was forcast to drop from 30knts + on the saturday.
i did not travel and spent time sorting the van which had to be emptied after the season was over.
dasterdly was moved to a more secure spot and all the kit stowed away, so not a wasted day.

Hopefully a few trips out in the off season will be on the cards, to get ready for a better 09 season.

26TH OCTOBER 2008

autumn 9
spud mutley & dave
well the clocks went back, and winter is apon us again.
didnt sail due to a nasty cold which had been brewing all week.
not a good finnish to the season really, one race left to do on the 2nd november.

19th october 2008

autumn 8
spud & dave MUTLEY 16
wind forecast was 18- 22 knots and building SW winds. everything looked calm until we launched and got past the pier. after finding where mark 1 was we did a beat until we got to mark1, we were surprised by some of the gusts which almost hit us over. rounding 1 we reached across to 2 and the sea was surprisingly lumpy. i struggled to gybe and when we did i lost control completely. heading back to the start line was really lumpy and waves were breaking. we were getting hit and the spray was coming right over the bows into our face, at times i couldn't see. i said to Dave,
i don't like this and we would try one more gybe and then decide if we were going to race at all. we went around again and had another scary gybe. ok that's it were not racing. we had been out over 30 Min's in total. we headed back in . many boats were going over. i felt happy with my decision and tommy tipper also didn't start.
If it's not fun then its no fun trying to just survive. I'm glad i went out, but I'm glad i came back.
Today marked the 2nd year of owning mutley. I've not done so much racing this year for obvious reasons. IE weather. and a few mechanical problems early in the year. lets hope next year 2009 is much better and we have a more fuller season than 2008

sunday 12th october

sunday 12th october
SPUD & DAVE MUTLEY
AUTUMN 7
did not sail wind was non existant when i woke up sunday morning and the bay was engulfed in fog.
decided the race maybe canceled so headed home early rather than wait.
sums up the season really

Saturday 11th oct

SPUD & DAVE MUTLEY 15
GENERAL SAILING

well not a good start to the day when i found a flat tyre on the launch trolley.
then no cup race at all, dave showed for 11am and we headed out expecting a slow sail.
weather for the cup race would have been dreadfull, we tried making our way to ballard and old harry but could see it would have been very slow. broad reaching was best toward pevril direction. and also beating back. we sailed for 1h 30 approx, to say there was no wind was untrue, at one time we healed over to the point of going over. dave then decided the wire was best from now on.
only rolo was at at this time and then bruce followed. we headed back in pleased with the sail we had. a few pints and a nice meal in the white horse followed. a fantastic day for october, it was cold over night and foggy.

dasterdly and mutley

dasterdly is my laser #191089

i sail dasterdly when i cant get crew for mutley.

i started sailing lasers at shearwater sailing club in 1997 and then bought a dart 15 #1616 "currant affair".

i sailed the dart from 2003 at swanage sailing club untill 2007, when i then bought mutley a hurricane 5.9 cat #192 this is the biggest cat you can get for club type sailing, it takes alot of skill and experience to sail one fast, the handicap is 691, which is the fastest handicap at the club. 2007 was a learning year with mutley. i couldnt sail the boat fast enough. in 2008 me and dave roper my crew improved alot and gained a 2nd place in a series race during the autumn 2008 series.2009 promises to be another good year hopefully if 2008's progress is anything to go on. this blog will keep u informed on my sailing, the ups and the downs the high's and the lows.

spud

SPUD & MUTLEY LOG from archive

4TH OCTOBER
ELIZABETH CUP
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
RACING CANCELLED SW WINDS 30KNTS ++
===============
5TH OCTOBER
AUTUMN 6
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
RACING CANCELLED
==============
28th SEPT
AUTUMN 5
MUTLEY SPUD & JOHN
DID NOT TRAVEL VERY LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED
LESS THAN 5KNTS ON THE DAY
==============
21ST SEPT
AUTUMN 4
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
SAFTY TEAM 4 SAFTY DUTY DAY lumpy easterly
=============
20TH SEPT
POOLE BAR BouY
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 14 MAP
A light easterly and a nice sunny day.
We left the beach last and got to the start
with a few mins to go. In the brief mike said
those going to the pin end will have bad wind
and lose out, so everyone was at the committee
boat and chaos ensued.
I reached down the line and started by the
pin. Got a good fast start and off we went
into clean air. We went right under the cliffs
and then tacked out in front of henry. We did
this afew times and then we retook the lead
going by old harry. The wind picked up and
they hoised the kite and left us, we wanted to
round the mark first but alas it wasn't to be.
We rounded and then did another bat back home.
The sea was now lumpier and the bows were
digging in a fair bit. We re-caught henry and
did cat and mouse with them to overtake.
Finally going into the bay we headed straight
to white elephant and henry hoisted the kite
again, we were neck and neck all the way home
and henry just beat us across the line. We
were really pleased to have been right at the
front with a spitfire. Overall finished 10th
3rd from 9 cats. All boats were very close on
handicap and anyone could have got the top
places
===============
14th SEPT
AUTUMN 3
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 13
Wind was expected to be very light. After
repairing all the breakages from the knoll cup
race, we finally launched into a fairly
changing wind. The course was short and the
start line busy, we got to the line early and
decided to go pin end and go left, we made a
fantastic start coming underneath Richard and
mike with enough speed that we hit the line
first, then we heard calls of don't luff up ,
mike was frantically saying we were luffing
them. SORRY i didn't know i was. We carried on
and got to mark 1 in 2nd place. Going from 2
to 3 was the key leg and we didn't really know
how to tackle it. We tried a few different
things each lap. We didn't really make any
mistakes this week. Dave had a scare each lap
when i tried to get him in the committee boat
while he was out on the wire. At the end i
said “i only wanted to know what our laps
time’s were, i though you could have looked
over and seen them” (haha)
We lapped Richard and then seen greg in front.
Dave said “theres our next target”, i didn't
expect to catch him but we did rather easily,
the waves were choppy for some reason and we
could see him being battered, we didn't suffer
so much from that because the hurricane cuts
thru them.
We didn't catch martin but we didn't get lapped by mike either.
Overall we were very happy with a nice sunny days sailing which
made a change. 2nd on handicap best ever
result for mutley
=============
7TH SEPT
AUTUMN 2
Race did run MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
DID NOT TRAVEL. GOT THE FORCAST WRONG
FOR TODAY. ALSO GOT THE FLU. 13TH SEPT
Fleming CUP
MUTLEY SPUD & ???
NO CREW
==============
6TH SEPT
ELIZABETH CUP
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
NO RACING DUE TO STRONG SW WINDS
==============
31ST AUG
AUTUMN 1
Race did run
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
DID NOT TRAVEL DUE TO WEATHER wind was very
light (blowing on the Saturday)
==============
AUG 24TH
SUM 10
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 12
After a rough pratice sail before the start,
we got under way making good ground to mark
number 1
We rounded ok and then after another tack to
make the 2nd mark BANG dave was gone again
Lightning does strike twice in the same place.
The cleat had broken again and dave went for
another swim, this time i couldn't get to him
as i couldn't turn the boat as the jib is
normally controlled by the crew. I ended up
making mark 2 wider as i shouted for all to go
around me Finally i got the boat around and headed
toward dave, i wasn't close enough and i had
to get a jetskier to come over and get him for
me. With dave aboard we reflected on what had
happened And sailed home. With the boat packed away
everyone else came in too. The race had been
abandoned due to boats over and drifting
marks. We were lucky it had happened and lucky
to survive 2 breakages that we hadn't
encountered before. MUTLEY was giving us a
hard time saying come on i need looking after.
New bits were ordered so hopefully it wont
happen again
==============
AUG 23RD
KNOLL CUP
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 11 MAP OF RACE
For the main race the wind increased and the
sea was choppy. We started well behind the
line and almost went along the line everyone
else was on port. We tangled with one laser
that tacked ontop of us
We then got underway and got to the mark 1 in
fairly good position.
We headed for 2 and then gybed straight for
ballard . We waited until the last minute
before mwe gybed out to sea. We were 3rd on
the water by this time and only the groome and
clark spitfires were ahead with the spinikers
flying. We gybed once more near old harry and
then again to get inside mark 3 and onto the
bar bouy, we rounded in about 22mins or so and
the had to find the finnish. After a few tacks
we found watanga and went over the line. 34
mins Heading straight back for swanage we
encountered plenty of chop on the beat , so
much so that on hitting one wave dave had
enough and left me to sail back on my own. I
looked around and thought “what the hell” i
uncleated the jib and drifted back to where
dave was. The cleat for the trapeze had
broken. We got back ok and had a few pints to laugh it
all off.
==============
AUG 23RD
MUTLEY SPUD & ALAN 10
Launched at 11am and praticed the course for
the knoll cup We went out as far as pevrill and got a
transit for old harry and then the bar bouy
Wind was lighter then that for the main race
we rounded the mark in 48 mins broad reaching
most of the way accept for when we got into
the next bay.It was then a hard beat all the way home and
the wind was increasing. We went all the way
to pevril and tacked for hom
e. We sailed for just under 2 hrs
==============
AUG 17TH
SUMMER 9
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 9
Wind was 12 knts gusting more before we
launched We set off early to get some time on the
water, going from 3 to 4 we were surfing very
well. We did many gybes to make sure we were
ok. At the start we were late over the line.
By mark 1 we were 4th
Only to lose it on the next lap when the wind
altered and we hit mark 2.
Not done many 360’s in a race on a car before.
Adrian rounded the mark so we knew we were now
well down. We re overtook and left them all.
It was a hard race for us and i could see dave
was struggling
It was good fun and we did some good beats,
the main coming un cleated gave us both a
scare and almost an early swim. We live to
fight another day. It shows that time on the
water does count. We were a little rusty but
nothing that cant be worked on. Map of race
and pratice 21 miles approx
==============
AUG 10TH
SUM SERIES
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
NO RACING DUE TO STRONG SW WINDS ALLWEEKEND
==============
AUGUST 2ND
REGATTA
R1
SPUD & DASTERDLY
The regatta was well attended and many people
not sure what to rig as the wind would be
increasing all weekend. Expected 12 to 20knts.
We sailed out to the north east mark and the
wind was building all the time
The start was hectic and boats were going
over. I started about 30 secs late as i didn't
have a proper race watch. The first beat was a
sign of what was to come. I couldn't keep the
boat flat at all, however i wasn't last in the
laser fleet. Going from 2 to 3 was challenging
knowing the gybe was very soon. I played safe
by spinning the boat around 360. carnage
ensued as one laser had been holed avoiding
another boat that had gone over. Boats were
going over like nine pins
Downwind to 4 was fun and i was gaining
ground. The next beat was harder again and i
did 1 dry capsize. Then around mark 1 i went
over yet again, his time getting a good
soaking, and losing my water bottle too. I
carried on and went to 3 and gybed ok . Then
onto 4 and bang over i went, the boat seemed
to head up and then flipped the other way
throwing me at least 20 ft out the boat onto
my back . When i looked up the boat was
drifting away and i had to swim for all my
worth, it looked as though i wasn't going to
get it when i grabbed onto the submerged mast
and then pulled myself in by the sails
The centreboard was out as well so i had to
rest myself on the boom and feet in the
cockpit to put it back in. I righted the boat
after a while and then found the main trapped
around the rear of the boom and i had to
untangle it in what was becoming an very rough
sea state. I carried on another few hundred
meters and the same thing happened. Feeling
tired i decided to give up, i had wanted to
just finnish the race as many didn't . I
sailed back in to be greeted by many stories
similar to mine and some nursing badly damaged
boats. After a few pints my aches were slowly
subsiding and we enjoyed the fireworks. With
the prospect of stronger winds Sunday i had
already packed the boat away for a swift
return home
==============
AUGUST 2ND
SPUD & DASTERDLY
Launched at 10am to see what the wind was as
it was predicted to rise for the race
Wind was light sailed for about 30 mins near
the shore.

==============
JULY 25TH
GENERAL SAILING
MUTLEY SPUD & ALAN 8
Sailed for 2-3 hrs and went to poole bar bouy.
A greek cargo ship was anchored so we sailed
around that to see what it was. Bournmouth was
reachable but we decided against it.
The wind picked up on the return leg beating
all the way home overtaking many yachts
Wind in the bay was really fresh. When we got
back we discovered it was 6pm WOW what a day
plenty of sailing and totally lost track of
time. I slept well after the barbeque and
fireworks
I never heard the 2nd track from the live
band on the seafront thats how tired i was
==============
JULY 25TH
GENERAL SAILING
MUTLEY SPUD & CLIVE 7
Took clive out for a taster of what mutley
could do. the wind wasn't as strong as expected
Clive took the helm for a while .after 45 mins
we returned to pick up alan 3.4 miles
==============
JULY 25TH
GENERAL SAILING
MUTLEY SPUD & CLIVE 7
Took clive out for a taster of what mutley
could do. the wind wasn't as strong as expected
Clive took the helm for a while .after 45 mins
we returned to pick up alan 3.4 miles
==============
JULY 25TH
GENERAL SAILING
SPUD & DASTERDLY (LASER) MAP
Wind was due to pick up at 11am
Sailed for 2hrs and even sailed around pevrill
ledge 7 miles of sailing using new TRACKSTICK
=============
26TH JULY
SUMMER 5
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
Did not travel Not well
=============
SUNDAY 13TH JULY
SUM 5
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 6
We were released from duty, the weather was light and forcast to build
It was good to be sailing again in conditions we liked. We launched at 10.30 to get some pratice in, the line was very biased to the left so a pin end start was key and going to the left of the course as well.
We reached down the line and my watch want in sync with the committee boat as i heard them counting down as i went by. I powered up straight away and go tover the line really well
Henry sailing with Mark shot into the lead and mike chem. Went right ??
We rounded mark 1 in 2nd place and chased mark for all our might on after 2 mike overtook and then took the lead. We still chased mark and upwind we eventually did get close. We tacked early and it was a mistake as we lost ground to them. We followed for a few laps until they made some mistake going to 3
We rounded the mark just behind and then powerd over the top of them to no 4 holy moly we never overtook a spitfire before that wasn't capsized. We rounded 4 with great delight, unsure when to tack for the line we waited to long and missed beating them to the line by 2 secs.
After a long spell of not sailing mutly i can honestly say that was the best sail me and dave had ever done. Well done dave everything gelled when it mattered. Thanks to greg Vaughn for letting us sail.
=============
Saturday 12th July
Cup race Did not travel to race
===========
SUNDAY 6TH JULY
SUMMER 4
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
NO SAILING HIGH WINDS
25KNTS ++ PREDICTED
===========
SATURDAY 5TH JULY
BENT MACDONA HARDY CUP
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
NO SAILING HIGH WINDS
25-35KNTS
===========
SUNDAY 29TH JUNE
SUM 3
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
DID NOT RACE DUE TO PREV DAYS WEATHER
===========
SATURDAY 28TH JUNE
CHELLINGWORTH CUP PURSUIT
SPUD & CLUB LASER
Wind was still blowing for the afternoon and only 9 boats signed on.
Laser radial seemed a good choice to just go out and have a go.
Off at plus 15 i had along race ahead. After launching i just took it steady rounding the old pier , when i got to the new pier i had my first capsize, luckily i t was a dry one, then a bit further after tacking the main got caught on the transom and this time i went for a swim.
After righting the boat no problem i then sailed out to the start and rob baker was there as well, we only just made it.
The sea was choppy and blowing , i had a job to see even with sun glasses on. When the gun went it was a struggle to get the boat going, i had to have the sail out as if i was on a reach ON THE BEAT !!
Eventually i made mark1 and the onto mark2, it was so slow i decided to give up, the boat wasn't handling very well at all and was full of water in the cockpit. If i had been on dastardly it may have been alot better, however the wind would still have been blowing
===========
SATURDAY 28TH JUNE
MUTLEY SPUD & ALAN
Wind was blowing from 8knts to 22knts really big gusts
We waited for the wind to drop it never did so we did not launch
============
SUNDAY 22ND JUNE
SUM 2
NO RACING RACE ABANDONED
Did not travel due to SW winds 20 to 30knts
GOOD CALL !!!!!!!!!!
===========
SUNDAY 15TH JUNE
DART 15 OPEN DUTY DAY
Unable to attend not well
============
SUNDAY JUNE 8TH
SUM 1
MUTLEY SPUD & ALAN 5
Wind was blowing 18 to 22 knots prior to the start. I was apprehensive about starting and was told the wind would drop. We rigged and was almost last of the beach. We encountered some trouble on the first tack and started sailing backwards. Then we noticed a trapeze wire hooked around the mainsail batten high up. W e sailed to the start and tried to get ready.
We were on the wrong side pin end when the gun was about to go we reached down the line spun the boat around and went into irons just as everyone was starting duh !!!
We got away and only lightly powered it up we rounded 1 ok and the got ready to go around 2 thinking it was a gybe , i was unsettled and it showed in my desicions.
We got ready to go around 3 , we gybed and i was totally out of control, the boom snapped over and i could have gone with it. Alan was unaware i was out of control and did his job well.
We got to 4 and said enough i wasn't happy . We sailed back in to shore.
I don't retire very often but when u get spooked u tend to ere on the side of caution. I sail to enjoy myself and to me this wasn't fun at all. Saturday was fun as i liked the lasers. Sailing a cat in the same conditions to me is totally different, something ive not yet really mastered
===========
SATURDAY 7TH JUNE
CORONATION CUP
SPUD & DASTERDLY (LASER)
Thinking the race was going to be a light wind race, i wast prepared for the wind that suddenly picked upto 20knts ++
AFTER A POOR START at the pin end i crossed the start line dodging capsized boats
Wind was strong and couldn't keep the boat flat at all. Mainsheet kept getting tangled also and had to stop on lap2 to clear it. The course was triangle sausage and going thru the gate both times.
Some forgot !! Gibing was scary and on the last triangle went for a swim. I was trying to follow mike greenleaves as best i could and rob baker behind. I managed to recover from the total inversion and got going again to complete the final sausage. I finished 10th from 22 that started. And only 6 mins behind the winner on handicap. I ached and had bruises Saturday night. An early night was the order of the day. DASTERDLY HAD HIS DAY

===========
SATURDAY JUNE 7TH
SPUD & DASTERDLY (LASER)
Rigged early to get some pratice for the afternoon race
Wind was light sailed for 1.5hrs practicing manouvers for afternoon race
===========
1st June 2008
S8
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 4
Wind was light and eastley weather the day before was hot and hardly anywind
Today was the chance to try out the new rudder , we agreed it was in the correct position and headed out early (1020am) to get some extra sailing. After not being able to lock the new rudder down we had to return to shore. Then we were off to pratice the course, we noticed the tide was running strong after we headed to mark1. so we worked out where we had to be for the race and how we would start
From 2 to 3 was the problem as the wind wouldn't tae us dead down wind.
We had a good start and beat mustt across the line, we went to the left and all the other spitfire all went to the right. At no 1 we were all about equal and we headed further out to see to reach in allowing for the tide. It sort of worked but we didn't gain. Going form 2 to 3 was as bad as we expected and we said we would go to the middle next time. 35 mins to do 1 lap. On lap 2 we gained on mark and by the time they tacked we were right on them, going from 1 to 2 we gained again and rounded 2 about the same
From 2 to 3 the hard bit we followed each oth closely, however we expected them to pull away with the spinnaker advantage. They didn't and we beat them to mark3 and shadowed them again going to 4 we pulled up on them on the beat and when we tacked i messed it up and they pipped us to the line.
And good race for me and dave as we hadn't raced for a month. Light wind racing is never easy , i think on this occasion we did fairly well. A good end to a good weekend
===========
31st MAY 2008
JAMES DAY CUP
SAFTY TEAM 4 DUTY DAY
===========
25th MAY 2008
1974 CUP RACE
DID NOT RACE
2 day cup race
===========
18th MAY 2008
S7
ASKED TO DO RACE DUTY by Bruce Murdoch
As it was a lumpy easterly i was happy to assist. Helped lay the spitfire open course and then beach duties.
============
11TH MAY 2008
S6
COULD NOT RACE
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
DUE TO TILLER EXTENSION BEING TOO SHORT NOW THE NEW RUDDER WAS FITTED
New extension being made to make the gap required
============
10th may 2008
GILMER TROPHY
SPUD & DASTERDLY (LASER)
Shearwater v Bristol avon sc GILMER TROPHY DAY 1
A short trip to bath to sail on the river avon nr saltford.
W e were greeted by a pile of doughnuts and the question was , was it to weigh us down in the race as there was no wind. 16 boats competed in very little wind , the locals seemed to do better on the very narrow river. Race 1 was shortened due to the lack of wind as was race 2. racing was close and fun and knowledge of the rules was key about overlaps at the marks.
We all sat down to a good spread at dinner time and went out for extra sailing when the wind did appear, however it went before race 3 im not a light wind sailor and followed the fleet home for the last race. A barbecue followed the racing and everyone enjoyed the day. However shearwater sc was well behind in the pts going into day 2 at shearwater for the Sunday races. If it had been windy it may have been a different story
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6th may 2008
EVENING 1
SHEARWATER
SPUD & DASTERDLY (LASER)
A welcome return to sailing at shearwater where it all started
Wind was light and we all only just made it to the start with 30 secs to go
John putt took the lead and lapped the field, next was a laser who i battled with all race and also a lark
I was 4th and sally 5th. Nothing changes at shearwater after over 6 years away dying non existant winds
What more could you ask for. We had good fun and every one was friendly. A nice gentle sail back in the laser.
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4TH MAY
1974 CUP
DID NOT RACE
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
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3RD MAY
COMMADORES CUP
DID NOT RACE
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE
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APRIL 27TH
S5
COULD NOT RACE no starboard rudder
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APRIL 26TH
GENERAL SAILING
MUTLEY SPUD & ALAN 3
After checkin for damage from the last sail nothing seemed apparent until we were reaching across the bay, i commented to alan the steering was heavy and we stopped the boat to check the rudders. Nothing jumped out at us and we carried on. We worked our way to the outer limits of the bay and alan said shall we go to poole marker, not alot of wind was showing and i though was it wise. After heading further out to sea we picked up more wind and we then turned for the poole mark.
Rounding the mark we raced into knoll beach with plenty of wind, we stopped on the beach for a break and again checked the rudders. We left with lots of wind and enjoyed our sail out past old harry to again be greeted by no wind. We headed ou to sea and then picked up more wind. We changed course and eventually got back into swanage bay, where there was plenty of wind, helming was hard and commented once more it was really heavy.
Once ashore we checked our rudders with Jason
and sure enough the starboard rudder was out of align.
A new rudder was ordered complete ata cost of £462 !!
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APRIL 20TH
S4
SAFTY TEAM 4 DUTY DAY
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APRIL 13TH
S3
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 2
We followed the spitfires around the course in fairly freshning winds. We overtook the chem. Spitfire that had capsized near the committee boat, i then heard 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 i said to dave what u doin, he replied well we got to be 60 secs up on them before we gain a position, so he was counting how long it was taking them to get going again lol .
We carried on and saw them only just behind from 2 to 3 , a few mistakes by me helming all most cost us a capsize as the boat veered to the left when on starboard reach, pulling a muscle in the process, we carried on. The winds and built up more and the gusts increasing. We got back to the old pier and said hello to the uprights as the starboard rudder popped it self up. Dave quickly held the boat from scaping the old beams and we managed to get away. We finished 6th a good result for our 2nd race of 2008
PICTURES http://www.spud.r5rt.com/mutley13042008/mutley130408.htm
Photos taken by Kathleen and sophie sandover from the new pier
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APRIL 6TH
S2
NO RACING RACE ABANDONED F4-5 COLD ICY WIND 1deg c
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29TH MARCH 2008
OPENER & S1
MUTLEY SPUD & DAVE 1
A purchase of catrax wheels proved a mistake as the supports were the wrong ones.
Stolen shackle pins and shackles greeted an angry spud.
BUY YOUR OWN SHACKLES DONT STEAL MINE !!!!!!!!!!!!
The opener was delayed due to bad weather. So we ran the opener Sunday in con junction with the spring series one. So a mass start was the order of the day. And the new lighting system start, good idea.
Mass start on a downwind start not such a good idea as all i heard was up up , im sure some weren't called for but we got away clean dodging a few lasers. Went right and got some good wind after following martin. Who then went on port early. We made it to the downwind mark in 3rd and only 2 spitfires in front closely followed by mark and desney on 016 spitfire. With light winds and the odd gust we kept our cool and stayed infront of them, however on rounding the 3rd mark we decided to carry on and dave forgot to unclip the jib sheet while on the reach. He undid it while out on the wire and then went for a ducking as mutley suddenly slowed and went to leward with us on the same side both of us scrabbled to stay on the boat, we recovered and carried on, we went far right and made some ground up on 016 who had overtaken us while we were swimming. When we then went onto starboard for the next mark we went past mark as though he were stopped and kept ahead to the end, however not a minute in front of them, we enjoyed the race very much and had a good battle too.

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====================2008 == 2008 =========================
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4TH NOVEMBER
AUTUMN SS9
SAFTY TEAM 4 DUTY DAY
NO SAILING
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28TH OCTOBER
AUTUMN S8 NO SAILING BAD WEATHER
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21ST OCTOBER
Autumn s7
SPUD & DAVE MUTLEY 23
Wind was light and changing, we launched and decided our way would race, however it didn't work.
We went left because of the tide and it didn't pay off because the wind dropped on the left side.
We picked our way through the queue for the mark and then off we went chasing everyone down from the rear of the fleet. The wind picked up and by mark 1 again we were in 3rd position on the water.
Now being happier we pulled all the stops out and started lapping many boats.
We were also catching up to big thing but time ran out and were about 15 to 20 secs adrift.
With light winds getting us back into the shore we snagged a line and we did not know,
We were going nowhere until I noticed we were caught up. After a beer and discussions on how well we caught up with mark , we checked the results to find indeed we had done well our first ever 3RD place.
Our best result on mutley for sure, it’s a shame the season is ending so soon
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14TH OCT
Autumn s6
NO SAILING NO WIND
SPUD & DAVE MUTLEY 22
However we did launch as the cancel signal came just as we were launching.
We reached across to sheps hollow a few times, wind was light and dropping to nothing.
After 45 mins we decided to head for home.
TODAY MARKED OWNING MUTLY FOR 1 YEAR.
We have had lots of fun and learned to sail him much faster than we could originally.
Nothing major has happened apart from 1 capsize in choppy conditions. That was due to poor boat balance when tacking. On handicap we did not do well at all, but on reflection we are sailing better and that can only get better. My aims for 2007 have been achieved in away as I have mentally improved sailing the boat compared to the dart 15. I am more confident and dave has been a great help with his crewing and trapeze experience.
With two races to go in the 2007 season for me and Dave we have come along way both learned the boat and improved weekly. In 2008 we must show further improvement by sailing more to our handicap
Mutly is a good boat and has been very good to us, thankfully he didn't get to bite us !!!
SPUD
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7TH OCT
Autumn s5 DID NOT SAIL
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30th SEPT
Autumn s4 NO SAILING BAD WEATHER
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23RD SEPT
Autumn s3
SPUD & DAVE MUTLEY 21
With a storm predicted to hit around 1pm and freshening winds we launched at 10.15 to get more practice in. we went around the course as it was being set to work out our strategy.
At the start we got to the pin to early and had to tack to port to avoid being totally in the wrong spot. We had many shouts of starboard and we knew we had to give way, some seemed concerned that we were doing a port flyer but I knew to hold station and then get going.
We rounded the windward mark in 5th and then tried holding off a strong 18 fleet.
We weren't doing so well this week as Greg overtook us and Chris haw.
Maybe the survival mode was switched on or mutly just didn’t want to play today.
We caught Greg up and left them behind only to have a near pitch pole between 3 & 4.
We were screaming along and not letting off only heading up we stated to dig in and then Dave decided to do some hull dancing until the bridle wire said otherwise, meanwhile I headed up and stopped the boat, Dave meanwhile had gone for a swim still on the trapeze. We recovered ourselves and continued.
We caught Greg again and Chris haw and left them behind, Chris capsized.
We were lapped by Henry and almost by graham and mark did an extra lap also.
We had fun but handicap wise, oh well !!
We raced to survive this one and I think we achieved it just.
Sometimes its not about the racing its just going out and having a good battle,
no matter how far down the fleet you are.
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22nd September
Commodores cup
Greg & spud Dart 18
With very little wind predicted and only 11 boats entering, I crewed for Greg on his dart 18 for something different to do. The ledge was very tame thank god as 3 laps were planned to round it. We spent the whole race chasing boats from the back of the fleet , the spitfires were way ahead and so was bill McMillan. We finished behind him and finished a strong last on handicap.
Just proves its not only me that can finish last
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16TH SEPT
Autumn S2
SPUD MUTLEY & DAVE 20
We launched at 10.30 to get some extra time sailing
CHOPPY AND GUSTY with that feeling it was going to be a hard race.
With some marks not able to be used we were confused as what the course was, setting my watch late did not help either. So we decided to follow the spitfires, or try too.
A traditional triangle course was set with mark 2 set out to sea which we did not spot originally.
After a reasonable start we headed of the windward mark toward pevril direction, the waves suddenly became very choppy and the boat was getting swamped and us too !!
We gybed and headed into the middle of the course and then gybed again.
We soon caught Patrick and followed closely until the last lap we outwitted them going to mark 2 and led them home although they beat us on handicap of course. A good tussle we all agreed.
Some of the gybes were a bit frantic but we live to tell the tale.
TOMMY TIPPER LOST THE HELM OVERBOARD !!!!!!!!! His crew said after, I wouldn’t have gone back for him if he hadn't held on !!!
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15TH SEPT
WESSEX SHIELD NO SAILING SAFTY DUTY TEAM 4
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15TH SEPT SPUD & JOHN RUSS 19
Easterly F? we launched and had a pleasant sail to sheps hollow and slowly returned, with the wind dying and not much fun happening we returned to base after 1hr of sailing. Nice hot day
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9TH SEPT NO SAILING = SUFFERING FROM THE FLU
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2ND SEPT
FUNRACE #7 SERIES SUMMARY
SPUD& DAVE MUTLEY 18
We launched an hour before to practice what we should be doing !!
We played the outhaul in the gusts and it works .
Race was getting lumpy and wind increasing, with a slow start we got to the mark in about 4th, and Greg rounded first, however we then overtook and got to 2nd place 15 secs behind the chem spitfire.
We followed close and went starboard off 2 chem went port
We came out just behind, next time we lost ground on the same spot and then did the same the following laps, the chem spitfire capsized and we took the lead with Henry close behind.
We went thru the line in 1st something I have never done at swanage ever. We got to the mark and tacked too early letting Henry lead, we could never catch up the distance we lost and then looked to see where the chem spitfire was, going thru the line we had to endure 1 more lap and we both said oh no chem is going to gain on us now, however it wasn’t to be and we finished 3 mins ahead. A good weekends sailing and were both tired as a result
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IST SEPT
Crews race
Sailed for over 2hrs prior to race with Ian truss 16
DAVE & SPUD
Somebody warn me to increase my life insurance next time Dave helms
Joking aside with increasing winds and a strange course set, Dave had to learn fast, the crew had never trapeze on the boat either and was seen over the side a few times in practice. Course was 1-2-3-2-3-4
3 laps. All I can say is I survived !!
Dave did well for his first lumpy race, more practice needed
Came 6th from 6 and 12.5 mins behind 3rd spot on handicap so not to bad
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27th Aug
CHELLINGWORTH CUP
SPUD & ALAN KNOWLES MUTLEY 15
My good friend Alan of the mirror wanted to try the cat out to see how it was done.
After a bad launch where the boat decided to go without anyone on board, we decided to stay out and Alan did the race with me. We launched at 10am and we were off at 11.46. So we did plenty of sailing
With tactics in mind we knew how to do the race and a good start to beat Jason was key. We rode over the top of him from behind very easily an d left him, we then were catching the 3 spitfires until they hoisted the spinnakers. They were then nowhere to be seen, we then caught Greg on the next lap and Nigel at the next mark, again the tide was key and we made good use of it, we finished 16th from 20 on what was a dying wind which was bad for late starters, the monos were going thru the line as we started, so they had 46 good minutes of wind.
Alan enjoyed the race and sail.
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26th Aug
Practice race
During single man race
SPUD& DAVE MUTLEY 14
Well it was supposed to be a single man race, however I decided to do it 2 up and do it for the hell of it. Wind was light and the tide was running strong. After launching dave took over the helm, we practiced until 11.30 then the race started, with dave still helming !! We got to mark 1 fairly easy going on port across the whole fleet except the spitfires.
We then lapped the whole fleet before they made it to mark 1
We did 3 laps of a big course, dave did very well in very light winds and tides pushing us back , we used what skill we have to stay 4th on the water and stay on lead lap. As it didn’t count we retired at the 4th mark as it was near the club. Well done dave. We sailed for the full 2hrs + an hour before the race.
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12TH JULY
FUN RACE
SPUD& DAVE MUTLEY 13
Well light winds were expected like the day before, however after launching we soon got to the start rather fast, after the prev training about starts and mainsheet we reached across the line a little to early
We gybed with 16 secs to go and started late again!!
We spent most of the race catching greg, who was solo. We tried our best and went for good boat speed rather than sailing the course. We made up ground and overtook greg. However mistakes by me dropping the mainsheet instead of letting of slightly dropped us back.
The wind picked up to to a f5-6 and we heeled over many times.
We sailed much better then before and the change was noticed by greg who finally pipped us on the line, by this time the sea was reasonable choppy and about 17knots. Oh and it was daves birthday
Happy birthday Dave, if I had known he definitely would have been dumped in the drink when I saved it haha !!!
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29th JULY
SS8
SPUD & DAVE MUTLEY 12
After a heavy night the night before I wasn’t really looking forward to this race. We launched into a very gentle shifty wind. I messed the start up by tacking within a minute of the start and then swept backwards by the tide. Once started 3 mins late over the line we soon got to the mark but cleverly carried on and reached to no 2 without having to retack.
We got to 2nd place in the fleet with this trick and lost it all into a hole off mark #2
We then did the same again on lap 2 and regained lost spots, however the fleet were only just behind so we lost on handicap big time.
Apart from that a good sail what could we have done
without the mistakes
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28TH JULY
FLEMING TROPHY
NO SAILING SAFTY DUTY TEAM 4
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28TH JULY SPUD & ROGER MUTLEY 11
GENERAL SAILING
SATURDAY MORNING Wind blowing a gentle 3-4
Reached across the bay many times trying to sheet in harder
Roger did very well has he had not been on a cat many times before.
We both hiked out and had good fun. Practice makes perfect. My arms ached afterwards.
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21ST JULY
KNOLL BEACH RACE
JASON & SPUD
HURRICANE 5.9 048
WELL THIS RACE WAS DONE TO HELP EACH OTHER,
RIGGING AND TRAPEZING AND RACE TACICS.
WITH LIGHT WINDS AND A DOWN WIND START WE DIDN’T DO VERY WELL AFTER ROUNDING THE MARK OFF OLD HARRY WE THOUGHT A PINT IN THE BANKS ARMS WAS A BRIGHTER PROSPECT. ON THE RETURN JOURNEY WE HAD A ROUGH RIDE WITH CHOPPY SEAS, THE LITTLE PROBLEMS WITH THE BOAT SHOWED AND WE GOT BACK TIRED AND FRUSTRATED HOW HARD IT WAS. I LEARNED A FEW THING S WHAT ITS LIKE TO CREW ON A HURRICANE AND SEEE THE PROBLEMS THE CREW ENCOUNTER. FROM MY VIEW ITS KNOWING WHAT THE HELMS DOING IS WHAT COUNTS.
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7th JULY
POOLE BAR BUOY RACE
SPUD MUTLEYAND DAVE 10
Another sunny day for the poole bar bouy race.
The start was delayed due to a spitfires mast breaking.
We timed the start ok for once and went around the mark in 5th then
going by adrian d15 upside down on a choppy reach, we timed our gybe
well as the waves were hitting the boat hard. We then broad reached
under the cliffs almost broaching at one point, we headed out to sea
and were overtaken by greg, we then later overtook blasting into the
poole mark. On the return beat the effects of the tide then hit us
again and we lost valuable time. We finnished in 46 mins but last but
one on handicap. However we sail to enjoy ourselves not where we
finnish on handicap. We sailed well for our experience on the boat,
and its only the 2nd time ive done this race anyway.
We were happy and it was all caught on film (swearing as well) :))
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24TH JUNE
SPUD MUTLEY & DAVE 9
Well the rain kept me awake during the night and we got rained on
during the race. The sea was still lumpy like Saturday
We got to the start line and started with the fleet 10/10
Then rounded #3 in 2nd place only to be overtaken by the whole fleet
because spud forgot what to do after rounding the mark ??
We caught up and passed the 15’s and then had some scary gybes almost
losing dave over the side. Overall a good race we live to tell
another tale
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23RD JUNE
BOURNMOUTH RACE
SPUD MUTLEYAND DAVE 8
Somebody tell dave to take over the helm lol
Well not knowing what a postponment flags and then going off for a
jolly we started well behind the field, messed up the first tack yet
again. We rounded the mark and went on a run or was it a reach to the
cliffs at ballard, then gybed and went out to sea doing about 10 knts
overall. Surfing some big waves we eventually came to the bournmouth
mark. We rounded and then got absolutly soaked by hitting every wave
we had surfed in on. We made staedy progress overhauling steve little
john , we then decided when land was to small to see we would come
back inland to be slowed by the tide. We cross tacked around old harry
with chris haw and battled with them for along way, outwitting slj we
got to the finnish in 2hr 6m
Taking 1hr and 4 mins off last years time on currant affair (D15)
After many pints of ringwood in the whitehorse to wash the salt from
our throats I retired to a very heavy sleep ready to do battle on
sunday
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17TH JUNE
SPUD MUTLEY 7 DAVE
Greg said wind is good AND FLAT
It was anything but flat !! Waiting for the start we got into
trouble by not being able to tack. After a few attempts we got the
boat going. After reaching down the line we were ready to turn for the
line when again we stopped
6mins late goin over the line , we got to the mark and hit it
And the whole laser fleet had to go around us drifting backwards. We
then did a 360 and carried on.
Now not wanting to tack for fear of stopping again we carried on and
finally I worked out why we were messing the tacks up.
So after saying to dave what I had done wrong we carried on and
enjoyed the rest of the race , we did good beats and
downwind legs.
I hope I remember for next week what I did wrong this week
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10TH JUNE NO SAILING SAFTY DUTY TEAM 4
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20TH MAY
SPUD MUTLEY DAVE 6
After a postponement and sunshine everyone launched in light winds,
praticing the start the wind died and then the 3 minute warning , oops
we were on course side, we went downwind as best we could making for
the committee boat only to find a que of cats about to head us off, we
managed to get in line and off we went about 2mins down. We made good
progress upwind to round the mark in 4th !!, that’s where we stayed
keeping mark and mike a few mins infront, a few tweaks here and some
freshning winds we finnished, pleased we hadnt gone
backwards from “the big thing” we use this as our guide to where we
should be position wise. Hopefully next time we may do even better
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6TH MAY
SPRING SERIES
SPUD MUTLEY 5 DAVE
Well the day got off to a bad start. Then strong winds prior to the
start told me it was going to get worse. Leaving the shore we found
many things wrong with the boat. Having to stop to alter them out near
the start line we found it impossible to get the boat going again, the
trampoline was very slippery after repair and then I found myself
sliding down when the boat powered up and over we went, oh well we had
to get help from swan 4 and after tipping the mast we were ok and
sailed back in no problem, disappointed is an understatement, having
capsized mutley for the first time was a relief as nothing major went
wrong. We live to tell the tale or tail lol
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29th APRIL
NO SAILING DUTY DAY SAFTY TEAM 4
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22ND APRIL
SPRING SERIES 3
SPUD DAVE 4 MUTLEY
race delayed sailed at 11.30am, light winds
Port tack start didn’t pay as martin got to us first
4th at the 1st mark, let mark go thru inside but he didn’t and we
messed up saield a steady race pulling away from the rest of the
fleet. Almost got lapped by the chem spitfire No result yet.
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08TH APRIL
SPRING SERIES 1
SPUD DAVE 3 MUTLEY
MOVED BOAT INTO M6 BERTH SPACE
rigged the boat wrong again
Messed the start up 3 mins late over the line, other than that a good

sail, got lapped By the spitfires. EARLY DAYS YET !
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08TH APRIL
JASON SPUD Pratice sailing DART18
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12 march 2007
SPUD MUTLEY 2 dave roper
NEW BOAT COVER Sailed for over an hour reaching and
testing the boat out
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18th feb 2007
SPUD jason holmes MUTLEY 1
TEST SAIL Very light winds sailed to the middle of the bay then
returned
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Last autumn series race 2006 LIGHT WINDS MUTLEY dave roper
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Saturday before Last autumn RACE
F5 test sail MUTLEY greg vaughn