Results are on line at

a quick report on http://www.roostersailing.com/wordpress/

Mondays view of events on http://www.roostersailing.com/wordpress/

Tuesdays events http://www.roostersailing.com/wordpress/

and Wednesday http://www.roostersailing.com/wordpress/

Just returned from a couple of days spectating and sharinga glass with the great and the good. It seems that, yet again, there is no good luck to be had on the water - only skill and bad luck are mentioned!!

Just to say that I am really greateful for the prompt results reporting by John and the comments by Rooster. Making my week a bit better! Many thanks.

Yes must second that as both give a good picture of what is happening.

Is Jon Gorringe going for the consistancy award?

Kerrect!

Well done Simon! and Well done Jon - eben I could add up your score!

GGGGG and Jude

nice one Si and Alex!

Also, well done Kelly ;)

A big thank you to Salcombe YC for a great week. We'll be back next year - are the dates set yet?

David

merlin dates for 2012 are - 8th - 13th july xx

Just to say as OOD each afternoon how much I enjoyed the week and thanks for the attitude and camaderie you all show all the time. It is particularly interesting to watch the keen tactical battles that go on down in 45/46th place or so!!

 Merlin Week has always been a wonderful event and it is always sad when it is over again for another year. Like the swallows, please all come bcak again next year.

Bob

Likewise, a big thank you to the usual culprits and the impeccable organisation of the week.

Lots of tide & not a lot of wind on occasion so maybe 15 places hang on the decision to go left or right at a particular point in the course, and yes, it does still matter if those places are in the 30's!  See you next year.

P.S. please can you make sure the harbourmaster puts out the little mark with the cross on it so I don't get lobbed on the fairway again!!!

The final set of events as we saw them http://www.roostersailing.com/wordpress/
Not enough luck and incompetence was the critique of the previous posts, maybe a bit more balanced.

Thanks to Salcombe YC, it was an awesome event and well done to Si and Alex!

John - my earlier post was not with reference to your blog - which was a super runnning commentary - but rather to summarise the post race beer fuelled discussion with competitors in the Fortescue!

Sorry - its all me me me

Seconding Andrew, I had some difficulty seeing where the fairway ended since boats were moored to or at the buoys. I think the one with the cross was there all the time, but not always visible. Since we accept the drop dead nature of the fairway rule, surely it is only fair that fairway marks should remain unhindered and visible.

I think the cross was missing on the in shore mark when there was a Gin Palace moored to it and having watched that race there was a number of boats well within the Fairway that were given the benefit of the doubt and even now probably do not realise that they were in it! The cross was back on it the next day. There was always one at the other end.

On another point, has it got wider? It seems to grow every year but it is most likely me forgetting how wide it was last year!

not really my place any more to comment too much on the Fairway and the buoys but suffice to say it is a matter that is to be discussed in Committee in due course.

OK, full story.  Tuesday morning race.  For whatever reason the northern marker for the end of the fairway was not in place, normally put in by the harbourmaster and was later put in place, well after the start.  Leading up to this were two large yellow buoys on the 1st of which a pair of yachts were moored.  My infringement was to go inside this pair of yachts having looked for the end buoy and not seen it.  I queried it later but I accept I was a long way inside the fairway.  I had had time to check the fairway before the start (it was the only time we started towards the top of the harbour all week) but I didn't.  Mea culpa.  If I had merely gone into the fairway in the area that should have been marked by the end marker but wasn't because it wasn't there, I would have had reasonable grounds for redress/reinstatement.  The boats that went into the fairway in this area were not lobbed.

Andrew 3511

P.S.  Despite everybody's feeling that the fairway is getting bigger every year I thought it was actually significantly narrower though much the same length.  If I had any representation to make on the future marking of the fairway, it would be to try to avoid using mooring buoys to mark it, or at least if at all possible to not have boats moored on fairway buoys when the fairway is in operation.

A group of us observing from the club Tues AM saw the x being added to mark the end of the fairway several minutes after the start, after quite a few boats had sailed into the extended fairway zone. Even the harbourmaster has  bad days at Salcombe!

I think an idea being discussed is to have Fairway buoys of a different colour, say green, to avoid any need for the crossed end markers.  However, my committee days are over so all I can do is ask it be considered and discussed with the harbour.

The SI talked about yellow bouys marked V0 and V3, nothing about yellow marks with little sticks with crosses on top. Maybe I missed something that said we must follow the local harbour rules or something.

Jon,

The SI's refer to the yellow bouys but crucially then also refer to the  local notice to mariners that the Salcombe Harbour Authority issues annually. It is this latter that has the crosses mentioned.

The fairway is there to protect the invasion of your start line by noncompeting boats, something that I think it did very well this year - from my eyrie all the yachts used the fairway without problems. 

The width of the fairway hasn't changed in the 10 years that I have been running the club - as I have said before to people, if it had got wider over the years it would be sitting either on the Smalls side of the Estuary or on its way back by now!

The way I view the Fairway when I am racing is that it is a continuing obstruction in the same way that the banks of the Thames at Cookham, Tammy or Hampton on Sea and call early enough to hopefully avoid problems. I do however take the point about the visability of it but unfortunately that is out of our hands and the responsibility of SHA and I will raise it with them - watch this space!

John, I have no issues with the fairway, I think it is an excellent idea and I have never (touch wood) been lobbed for going in to it. I think I forget how wide it is every time I come back down!! I think I need to visit more often and them I might remember better!!

Yes very well done to Simon & Alex a very good win, pressure on next year for a hat trick !!

Just a thought, if 1079 was awarded the 8 minutes handicapping allowed in a 2 hour race, what then ? ;)

How have we gone from daily reports on Y&Y in 2009 to no report in 2011?

There was a mid week report in Y&Y and daily reports on the Rooster site. I'm sure the full report will be out in due course when the author has had time to complete in their no doubt busy lives...

There will be a report done at some stage as Ben Archer, who was not even there, was taking daily reports from various people to compile a full report. Nice one Ben for doing the hard work and not even getting to enjoy the event!