YORK LANDYACHTING REGATTA - ELVINGTON APRIL 21-22, 2001

REPORT ONE - SATURDAY	NEW REPORT TWO - SUNDAY

REPORT ONE: Saturday April 21 time 22:06:29

From: "Gareth Rowland" holivans@enterprise.net
Subject: YORK SATURDAY REPORT
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 22:06:29

Hello Everyone

Made my way across the Humber Bridge towing the trailer, that cost me £4.20 to get across. Hit the heavy Saturday morning traffic, arrived at Elvington, York about 1pm to find everyone ambling around... no wind.

After a week of gales from the North Sea a ridge of high pressure moved over the north and made a nice sunny day. With the wind shadow cast by the trees what wind there was only blew lightly in parts of the airfield. The wind shifted up to a 100 degrees as you slowly made your way round the airfield. At the bottom turn you could pick up a gust and sail quite fast round the turn only to push up the top of the runway.

In the meantime I delivered a fridge to Chris Wright for his new camper van he is kitting out and took delivery of my green yacht from Jon Cookson which is all now repaired and painted white.

Phil Sharp, our Lincolnshire LYC treasurer came along for the ride. As his daughter was visiting his house he was sent out with a picnic for both of us [see piccy]. We even had mugs for coffee and mustard for the ham sandwiches... very nice!

We left around 3pm as there looked no real prospect of any racing. Plotted the course on the GPS. Will do a further detailed report on Sunday on the history of the airfield and a overview of the huge airfield and the small bit we sail.

Regards to all

Gareth K800

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FIRST DAY'S IMAGES Saturday, April 21 Click on photo for larger image.
Cooky going small? Jon Cookson in a Ludic.	Obligatory fuel... Robert "Don't Call Me Bob" Coburn.	Just for you Joyce... the man himself, Len Warren
Phil Sharp with the glorious picnic spread.	Yachts in all a pretty row...York on a windless day.

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REPORT TWO: Sunday April 22 time 18:19:34

From: "Chris Wright" chris.wright3@virgin.net
Subject: A BRIEF YORK UPDATE THAT STARTED BRIEF AND ENDED UP LONG
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 18:19:34

Today the forecast was for rain to reach all parts of the country. We were spared that until it arrived just as I left the airfield at about 4.30.

We made an early start in order to get the races in, with Class 3 on the grid by 9.20. Wind was forecast to be 10 to 15mph and I would guess that at the start it was nearer 10mph - quite OK if you are sailing on tarmac. The course was a pinch across the concrete apron (about a third of a mile) then downwind to the 90 degree right, and 180 degree left through the perimeter track onto the main runway. The runway was a close reach with a 90 degree left at the end of it onto another perimeter track that turns another 90 left then a 90 right to take you back onto the concrete apron. Then a windward leg in tricky winds that varied in direction from lap to lap followed by a gusty reach in the lee of the trees. The top perimeter track got somewhat hairy as the wind picked up during the day as you had to tack in it to line yourself up for the dash onto the concrete apron and the windward leg. Not easy in a Class 5 that wants to wave the front wheel in the air and go straight on. It's bordered by bumpy and muddy grass with many mole hills.

Steve Borrill won the first race from Jon Cookson with Alan Scantlebury third. In the next race Alan won by over half a lap and was pulling away throughout the race. In the third race Steve Borrill had the misfortune to have his mast snap on him as he headed into the top perimeter track and Derek Nixon sheared a wheel off on the concrete apron. Much graunching and swearing followed. Alan Scantlebury won ahead of Jon Cookson and Adrian Warren.

Alan Scantlebury in "Reheat" made short work of his opposition on Sunday.

Race Four and Steve Borrill was back in action with his spare mast and sail. That slowed him down from his earlier pace and the race was won by Alan Scantlebury ahead of John Bottomley and Adrian Warren. The day's final race again went to Alan followed by John Bottomley, with Jon Cookson third.

In Class 5 Dave Green was persevering with his new prototype yacht and in the first race had a fair old tussle with Mike Hampton, who eventually got past him to hold the lead to the finish. Dave followed him in ahead of Ray Thompson. This though was to be the last we would see of Dave in a top three position at the finish as he fell off the pace as the wind picked up during the day. Meanwhile I was languishing back in 7th place with a slow puncture. Quite a relief when I realised that the slowness of the yacht was for reasons other than where I was pointing it or how I had tuned it.

Race 2 and Mike Hampton made a strong start again but I managed to red flag him on the approach to the windward turn on the first lap and squeezed ahead where I stayed to the finish. Behind me Ray Thompson and Roger Leah also managed to get the jump on Mike when he had to pull out with a flat tyre.

Race 3 I took too with Roger Leah and Ray Thompson reversing their positions of the previous race. By now it was pretty windy, with lots of front wheel waving going on at the top turn into the perimeter track if you could not go into it with the sail fully sheeted in.

Though I was overpowered at times, the yacht was behaving reasonably well and I opted to leave it set the same. Ray Thompson though opted for his 4.3 square metre sail for the final two races and as a result was quicker on the runway and the windward leg. The trade off was the fact that he was slower to accelerate away on the reach. After an early tussle with him on the opening lap of Race 4 I managed to get away and leave him and Roger Leah to swap positions with each other. That engaged their attention and neither bothered me again. Though Roger got through a couple of times Ray was able to re-pass him to take second.

The final race and Mike Hampton too went onto a smaller sail - a move that he regretted, as it made him slower not faster. I led the first few laps but Ray kept closing on me every time we sailed the windward leg until finally he drew alongside as we tacked for the mark. I pinned my hopes on out accelerating him with my bigger sail but salvation was provided by a back marker who we were lapping. I got inside him before the mark and Ray had to go the long way round. End of contest as it turned out as Ray could never make up the ground he then lost on the reach. Third behind him was Roger Leah.

York results:

CLASS 3
1 Alan Scantlebury
2 Jon Cookson
3= Steve Borrill
3= John Bottomley

CLASS 5
1 Chris Wright
2 Ray Thompson
3 Roger Leah

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MARK LLOYD'S IMAGES Mark Lloyd was out and about with his camera at Elvington on both Saturday and Sunday. Below are some of his snaps. Click on photo for larger image.
None other than Chris Wright a.k.a."BAAB" a.k.a Bald As A Badger!	Ade Warren giving Jon Cookson first hand experience on how well the Ludics fly wheels.	Hey Len... where's the parking warden. These guys have no respect for traffic.
A dapper Alan Scantlebury with his "Reheat" burning up some tarmac.	Can't you guys see the signs... the course could have been better "posted".
Jon Cookson looking puzzled over a piece of equipment on the Ludic... it's a sheet rope Jon, you pull it!.

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MAP of ELVINGTON, YORK, AREA

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RAF ELVINGTON AIRFIELD - A BRIEF HISTORY

From Gareth Rowland K800

The airfield at Elvington was built originally with a grass surface, soon after the Second World War began in 1939, when there was a major airfield building programme in this country. Here however, where the water table is high, and with heavier aeroplanes due to enter RAF service before long, three runways were then laid down, in the triangular pattern familiar at the time.

The airfield opened in October 1942 when No. 77 Squadron arrived from RAF Chivenor in north Devon with their Armstrong Whitworth Whitley twin-engined bombers, after a spell on anti-shipping operations with Coastal Command in the south-west approaches to UK.

RAF Elvington was one of three bases grouped together and called '42 Base', with RAF Melbourne and RAF Pocklington, at the latter of which their commanding Air Commodore was based: all three stations came under the control of No. 4 Group, Bomber Command. Shortly after arriving here, No. 77 Squadron re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax four-engined bombers and they then operated them continuously from this airfield, on bombing and sea-mining, until April 1944 when the Squadron moved to RAF Full Sutton.

This made way at Elvington for the arrival in May 1944 of two newlyformed Halifax units, No. 346 (Guyenne) and 347 (Tunisie) Squadrons, crewed exclusively by French personnel serving with the RAF.The French wore their own national uniforms, spoke their own language and maintained all the traditions of their home country, which had by then been occupied by the enemy for four years.These French squadrons made their first operational attacks on 5 June 1944, the eve of D-Day, on enemy gun positions near the invasion beaches at Grandcamps Maisy in Normandy. These squadrons then operated from Elvington throughout the rest of the war.

In October 1945, they returned to their home country near Bordeaux, taking with them the Mark VI Halifaxes with which by then they had been re-equipped, to help re-establish the French Air Force in liberated France.

After the war, Elvington airfield was looked after by RAF Maintenance Command until 1952, when the United States Air Force took over and carried out an extensive building programme, to prepare the enlarged airfield for use by their Strategic Air Command (SAC). A new control tower was built on the south side, half way down the airfield, and the much extended runway became the second longest in UK, with a length of 10, 152 feet (1.92 miles), intended for use by resident B-66 and RB-66 "Destroyer" tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, or for visits by the USAFs very large B-36 and B-52 intercontinental bombers.

Also, a concrete area covering over 49 acres was put down for servicing and refuelling these large aircraft. In the event, these facilities were never put to use, but they became familiar landmarks for overflying aircrew and trainee pilots at Yorkshire RAF flying training schools needing to fix their position; we are told that the long runway and parking area was also visible to earth-orbiting astronauts. The USAF vacated the airfield in 1958.

In the early 1960s, the Blackburn Aircraft Company (now BAe) at Brough near Hull, used the long runway for test flying the prototype Buccaneer aircraft. Thereafter, the RAF pilot training schools at Church Fenton and Linton-on-Ouse made use of the airfield and runway as a Relief Landing Ground (to practise circuits and landings) until, finally, in March 1992, RAF Elvington was closed. Since then it has remained the property of the Ministry of Defence, awaiting a purchaser.

Below is the airfield showing a GPS plot of the small area that we use. I started from the pits arced right onto the main runway going north a third of the way along you turn left across to the perimeter track and back down into the pan, left again to the red bollard (mark) and along the edge to the other bollard, then exit and arc round to the bottom corner and start the circuit again. Length of circuit is 1.7 miles. The grid is usually laid out on the pan and racing normally anticlockwise. Finish line is at the pits.

The GPS plot of the Elvington race track.

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