Pond Potty

Ogston Sailing Club celebrated its half century this summer, with a crackin' ball in a marqee on the lawn.  In its time, it was the largest stretch on inland water for many miles around, well before Foremark, Rutland , Carsington etc.  The Oggie 505 fleet was superb: there is a photo of 60 on the start line at the 1967 inlands at Ogston and the club remains the home of the 1975 505 World Champion, Dr John Loveday.  Such is the spirit of the club membership that, after Severn Trent Water pulled the plug in 2002 and the club lodged at Carsington, a good number from that club moved to Ogston with their new friends when the water returned - and they remain with us still.

Severn Trent have tried again this year to shrink Ogston, but after a good few weeks of rainfall, the shallow spots in the middle seemed to have covered sufficiently to introduce foiling to Ogston.

I am glad that I had made good initial progress on the sea - but I knew full well that Oggie would provide plenty of practice going round corners.  Back in Birmingham in the 1980's and 90's, Roger Angell was rumoured to have sailed his various Magnum Moths at Olton Mere Sailing Club.  That I found astonishing at the time: it is a tiny pond within a housing estate in Solihull surrounded by mature trees.  On "Map My Run",  it is a rectangle measuring 420m long and just 110 across...  Perhaps our current world champion, who once lived a nose-dive and a pitch-pole away from that club, of which he too was a member, could enlighten us... 

Ogston, in contrast, has two limbs each about 300m wide and 900m long: plenty of room in comparison, but with the added entertainment of its crescent shape providing perfect mixing conditions for the breeze blowing from each end simultaneously. Last Sunday, the rain abated enough for a pleasant hours flight between the flat calm and forecast F6 .  It was an introduction for me, too, to the abilty of the Ninja to fly through the lee of anything else on the lake.

No specific problems to share.  That I had a spectacular wipe-out in Llanbedrog at the end of the summer when I hit the bottom and smashed the main-foil seems to have gone unmentioned (!)  Fitting the new foil was fine, but the system seemed a little sticky. After a good clean and a silicone lube, it was much better, but there were times sailing when the ride height slowly rose and rose and rose until the inevitable "OMG" moment...  I'll be sitting further forward and winding the rudder up next time... 

All in all, a great sail, proving that foiling on potty ponds is feasible.  I don't anticipate joining club racing anytime soon - I can make myself dizzy enough without going round in circles!

After conquering Ogston Reservoir, Ellen MacArthur moved onto more open water: I'll be sticking there each winter...  Memories coming back of cutting though ice in a Magnum 8 at Bartley - has anyone done that whilst foiling?