Despite a chilly and breezy start we had a good turn out and luckily for us the rain held off for the most part and the sun even showed its face a few times! It was lovely to see everyone at our first regatta in the new lake and to start racing again after our enforced break. At the start of the regatta everyone chipped in to help set up the remaining items to get the regatta underway and also helped halfway through the regatta to put 10 bags of stones in the lake to make the bottom more solid, there are some more bags to go in next week and by then we should have a firm footing for everyone to stand on from the bottom of the steps to the pole in the middle of the lake.

The regatta started off with the A1,A1E,B1,B1S the first person to get a timed run was Angela Gullick with the A1E (97mph). Next was the A2, S40 and A3. Steve Poyser got a timed run of 116.69 mph (A2) and Bryn 64.71 mph (4O Sport). No one got a timed run in A3 even though both Norman Lara and Ricky Neal were running their new Nova Rossi 60 DD. There were no timed runs in the A3 class.

Hard core for the starting area	Rick Neal awaiting inspiration	A1E at speed

Second round was much the same in A1, A1E, B1, B1S although Angela smashed the A1E record with a run of 109.92 mph and Bryn Colman had a personal best of 68.84 mph (A1E). In A2, S40, A3 the second round was much the same as the first only Angela got a run of 102.64 mph (Sport 40). In class A no one got a run Rick was trying hard with with his home built engine

Round Three and no timed runs in the A1, A1E, B1, B1S classes. In A2, S40, A3 Stuart Falconer was the only one to get a timed run of 82.74mph (Sport 40). In class A Rick Benson was trying a new boat out, the engine sounds promising and with some practice he should get some good results.

Norman Lara A3	Pete Dirs' B1	Angela Gullick A1E record holder

We then had some spare time and put the A3 cable back on Tony Collins had a good run but the boat flew and cut out. Norman and Ricky had some good laps out of their Nova Rossi’s, both looking quite fast but cut out before a they were able to complete a timed run so lots of work this week in the workshop to see what they can do for the next regatta.

As Steve said at the close of the meeting, for a first regatta it was excellent. We managed to complete 3½ rounds and although the cold weather may have been the reason so many of us ‘Did Not Start/Finish’ it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits.

Results: A1E Class Angela Gullick 109.28mph  Bryn Colman 68.84mph A2 Class Steve Poyser 116.69mph
            S40 Class Stuart Falconer 82.74mph  Bryn Colman 64.71mph

Hall Farm Lake  May 29th

Another chilly start but it looks as though summer is on its way as it soon warmed up, much to everyone’s delight. It didn’t take long to set up as most of the work had been done in the previous week, the gazebo’s and timing tent were set up, the safety fencing erected and with Covid precautions in place, we were ready to go!

It must fit together somehow	Andi and Ian Berne	Poring over the flash steamer

The racing started at 11am with the B1, B1S, B1E, A1 and A1E. Dave Sheldrake got a run in the B1S Class (94.15mph) with his new boat. Angela Gullick ran the the B1E but the bungee was not strong enough and the prop shaft broke on her A1E so its back the workshop! Both Steve Poyser and Norman Lara had good runs with their A2 boats; Steve 116.44mph and Norman 128.24mph. No-one got a run with the A3 - Ricky Neal and Norman are navigating the complexities of setting up their Nova engines. In the AS class Ian Berne decided to forgo a run in the 1^st round as he was having problems with his flash steam boat so was working on that.

Round Two was much the same, Dave improved his B1S time (96.80mph). John Underwood's pressure pipe broke away from the tuned pipe so more glue needed. There were no timed runs in A2. John Underwood had a good run with his A3 (111.04mph)

In Round Three, Dave improved his B1S time (100.27mph). Pete Dirs was able to sort the the bungee out which enabled Angela to set a B1E record (102.52mph). The boat is looking well on the water but would benefit from a different propellor. Steve had a good run with his own A1 engine (97.49mph) Again, there were no timed runs in A2. John improved his A3 time (113.84mph)

Rick Neal launching his A3	Rick and Pete Dirs	Angela Gullick B1E record

It was lovely to see Ian and Andy at the regatta. Ian had a few mechanical issues with his flash steamboat, (as mentioned above), so it was not able to run, but hopefully with a bit of work he will be able to run it soon.

A nosey swan from the neighbouring lake popped its head up a few times to see what was going on but decided it wasn’t for him and went back to his own lake. Darryl (Rickys brother) turned up to help out and 10 gravel bags later we now have a nice firm footing in the lake with any luck we won’t need any more. The new fully flushing welfare facilities worked really well (thank you Mike)

Swan having a look at tethered hydros	Airscrew boat in flight

All in all another really good day – looking forward to the next one!

Results: B1S Class Dave Sheldrake 100.25mph B1E Class Angela Gullick 102.52mph establishes a record for this class
            A1 Class Steve Poyser 97.49mph A2 Class Norman Lara 128.24mph Steve Poyser 116.41mph A3 Class John Underwood 113.84mph