With a brisk SE breeze blowing from behind the clubhouse and down the lake, some optimists rigged A plus, but it became apparent even before the first race that the sensible option was an A Rig.
9 sailors took turns as RO, so 9 races, and the gusting wind gave everyone a nose dive or two, which meant race places changed frequently. This resulted in Race Wins spread across the fleet, with Alan Watkinson taking 4 wins to take the day, John Carlin 2 wins, and Andrew Peter, Frans King and Stan Metcalf all managing a race win apiece.
Very close racing, as the scores show, and welcome sunshine and more than enough wind, made for a very pleasant and enjoyable day’s sailing.
- 373 Alan Watkinson 15 pts
- 11 John Carlin 17 pts
- 919 Andrew Peter 31 pts
- 95 Frans King 37 pts
- 33 Dave Williams 39 pts
- 46 Stan Metcalf 42 pts
- 39 Richard Walker 43 pts
- 21 Charles Legg 47 pts
- 80 John Beech 53 pts
The light sea breeze that had now formed brought plenty of floating debris down the lake for boats to catch on and some boats were more unlucky than others. John B again took race 4 from Peter Baldwin, before Peter got the measure of the breeze and had wins in Races 5 and 6 with John B second. John B had his revenge and took races 7 and 8 with Peter in second and Clive and Jon picking up thirds. Peter and John B shared the final two wins and second places, with the consistent Clive finishing third in each.
A bright and warm Spring day with a shifty breeze from the Clubhouse greeted the large turnout of 9 boats for this first in the Summer Series for the RG65. Bill Culshaw put his new Ivy hull on the water for the first time adding to the regular RG65 fleet at Birkenhead and even with Martin away, Chris Elliott joined us to help boost the turnout.
With National Champion Graham Elliott sailing the electronica, it was always going to be hard to gain a race win and so it proved. In the first session, Graham took six out of seven wins, with only Peter Baldwin snatching one win after a fortunate leeward gate split. John Brierley was usually in the podium group, but didn’t get any luck to pick up a win with Bill also getting some good results for a first time on the water.
After a break, the wind was also having a rest and switched to being more over the houses at times along with some long term holes. Chris had a great second session with three wins, although the Ivy in the hands of Brad was well up there for a potential (non-counting) win in 4 of the races. John continued his consistent form, still no wins and Peter fell out of contention after his rudder servo failed soon after the start of race 9. There was also close racing through the rest of the fleet with Alan and Neil tied for 5th and 6th place, split only on the basis of Neil’s two third places. The final result was no surprise with Graham in first, followed by the consistent John in second and Chris taking third spot.
A great day on the water thanks to the combined efforts of Bernie, Bill and Brad for running the racing, Bill and Brad for the photos and Bernie for manning the galley at “half-time”.
