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Author: Peter Baldwin

DF65 Social Racing 2023 – 5/4/23

Light winds from the Clubhouse end the ten sailors with no discussion required, opted for A+ rigs. Racing started as usual at 11am with each competitor dropping out in turn to be Race officer. The first two races were taken by Simon and James who battled with each other throughout the series, ending before discards one point apart. Neil with his consistency of seconds and thirds took second place honours but the overall winner was John C with a string of four wins even after mooring his boat on one of the gate marks.

Racing was halted after 10 races due to the arrival of the lorry from the Parks & Gardens Department to collect the rubbish behind the Clubhouse.

1st       John Carlin            12pts 4 wins
2nd     Neil Westbrook   17pts. 1 win
3rd      Alan Watkinson  18pts. 2 wins
4th      Simon Bates         19pts. 1 win
5th       James Douglas.   23pts 2 wins
6th      Dave Williams     30pts
7th      Richard Walker    31pts
8th      Charles Legg         41pts
9th      Stan Metcalf          53pts
10th     John Beech            54pts

Birkenhead Summer Series 2023 Starts soon

This Saturday 8th April, sees the start of the 2023 Summer series for IOM, DF65/RG65 and for the first time at Birkenhead RS&PC, a short Saturday series for the DF95.  The full list of events and dates through until November are shown in the Calendar, with the next 8 events on a Saturday listed in the “Upcoming Events” section, with a dedicated booking page.  As usual in the Summer months, racing starts at 13:00 and continues until approximately 16:30.

Your committee hopes to see good turnouts each week on a Saturday and it is always a good opportunity to hone your skills or try a different class.  A number of members have spare boats and so please contact the Sailing Secretary, Peter Baldwin via the Contacts page, if you would like to try a different boat.

IOM Winter 2022/3 #8 (1/4/23)

An unusually low turnout for the final round of the IOM Winter Series at Birkenhead, partly as a result of the endless events being run around the country/district in any number of classes.  Those who did show, had the lake present itself in all of its glory with sunshine and mid to top end A rig conditions blowing straight down the lake from the NorthWest.
Sixteen races were sailed with each of the 5 skippers showing form through the afternoon to take more than one win. Once again, older designs in the form of the Chris Dicks Widget and the Gary Cameron TS2 held their own when sailed to their potential, taking more than enough points from the two more modern BritPOPs. As the final scores after 3 discards reveal, it was a day for keeping fast with a flattened off rig, tacking on the shift when it presented itself and avoiding incidents.
A perfect day to end the Winter Series for 22/23 and a result that once again confirms that it ain’t about spending the most on the latest kit but practice and knowing how to get the best and use what you have that usually takes the day, and the series. A truism that has long been the Birkenhead way and most probably why the club boasts more International and National Champions than any other in recent times.
Thanks go to John Carlin for helping out with running the second half of racing and enabling a fantastic set of 16 races to be run in the afternoon.
Final Scores (16 Races/3 Discards)
1st   Brad Gibson        TS2           22 points
2nd Bill Culshaw        BritPOP  29 points
3rd  Alan Bennett       BritPOP  35 points
4th  Martin Roberts  Widget    42 points
5th  Neil Westbrook  Widget    43 points
Next up for the IOMs at Birkenhead is the UK Veterans  Championship on April 15th and 16th. Details on how to enter and a list of entered skippers can be seen at https://www.mya-uk.org.uk/events/#events/event-details/638b0efe7591d307868a5c3a/
Now is the time to get your entry in if you haven’t already done so.

DF65 Social Racing 2023 – 29/3/23

A dry day with varying wind strength from the Clubhouse end. The fifteen keen sailors opted to use the A+ rig even though it was near the limit. Peter donned the waders and moved the marks to give an even start and a decent beat & run. Racing was very close at the sharp end with four wins a piece for Peter and John C with Clive and Andrew taking one each. The strong gusts felt on the downwind leg caused most boats to bury bows and to pirouette, probably losing many places trying to regain control. Ten races were completed with the final being the usual two laps.

  1. Peter Baldwin          11.4 pts 4 wins
  2. John Carlin               16 pts 4 wins
  3. James Douglas        26 pts
  4. Andrew Peter          26.2 pts 1 win
  5. Neil Westbrook      35.4 pts
  6. Richard Walker       49 pts
  7. Dave Williams         49.1 pts
  8. Paul Little                 58.2 pts
  9. Alan Watkinson     61.7 pts
  10. Stan Metcalf            67.4 pts
  11. Clive Warren            69.7 pts 1 win
  12. Simon Bates             81 pts
  13. Frans King                81.1 pts
  14. Charles Legg            84 pts
  15. John Beech                88 pts

Average scores had to be used due to five members not being able to be RO.

RG65 Winter Series 2022/3 #8 (25/3/23)

The forecast of 17mph from the West was pretty close, although I am guessing it may have been a little less with gusts in the low 20’s, proving tricky if you didn’t have a B rig to use.  Dave had to use his C rig for the first session as his B is in “the garage” but was underpowered and so later changed up to the A, but could then be over powered if we had a strong gust, but it was certainly quick downwind in the lighter patches.  John C in his borrowed Pocket Rocket was in a B swing and everyone else had B conventional of varying sizes and setup. We were a little depleted today with only 5 entries, with people away at Ranking events and on holiday

John had a masthead rigged pocket luff sail that certainly had the edge upwind on everyone at the start of the day, not losing out enough downwind to take the first three wins, with Alan picking up a couple of seconds.  Peter then found a bit of a groove and took the next two wins, before an early lunch break as with the wind dropping slightly a few wanted to change up.  John B had a slightly larger B rig which didn’t perform as well, allowing Peter another win and after one race John changed back to the pocket luff.  This initially seemed to pay off and he took another couple of wins, albeit with some close racing with Peter and Alan around the course.  Unfortunately, John B then had some bad luck being dropped in the odd hole which could appear around you without warning and this allowed Peter to take the last 4 wins, albeit with some close finishes.

After 12 races were completed, Peter took the day with 7 wins, with John B second on 5 wins, followed by Alan in third.  John Carlin had a good day for only his second outing in an RG65 with swing rig finishing a few points behind Alan, even after losing one race due to a rig issue.

  1. Peter Baldwin         63     Uno                     13pts
  2. John Brierley           84     Uno                    15pts
  3. Alan Watkinson      23     Uno                    32pts
  4. John Carlin             163  Pocket Rocket   37pts
  5. Dave Williams        33      Uno                     44pts

Thanks as usual to Bernie for running the racing again today and making a brew at lunchtime. Next week is the last week of the IOM Winter series (12:00 start), before we move onto the start of the Summer series for the DF/RG65 on 8th April with a 13:00 start.

DF65 Social Racing 2023 – 22/3/23

A slightly depleted entry of 9 DF65 sailors arrived to what seemed like an A+ rig day, despite forecasts for some much heftier wind strengths. Shortly before the first race it became clear that A rig would be the order of the day so a quick change was required.

John Carlin then started Race 1 on a course which turned out to be pretty much of a Starboard tack close fetch and a reach / beat / fetch back to the leeward gate. Flat spots and some powerful gusts caught almost everyone out at some point, resulting in quite a bit of contact, both bumper to bumper and doorhandle to doorhandle.

During race 1 Dave Williams’ winch failed and he very kindly stayed to RO the rest of the racing which was comfortably won by Alan Watkinson who dealt with the tricky conditions much better than the rest of the fleet.
Mike St Paer and Clive Warren followed, separated by only two points, and then by Andrew Potter and John Carlin who finished only one point apart.
Paul Little and Don Mackinnon also finished only one point apart, and John Beech and Frans King also finished within three points so racing was tight right across the fleet on a typically shifty gusty Gautby road day.

Final Positions were:
1. Alan Watkinson      10 pts 4 wins
2. Mike de St Paer      15 pts 3 wins
3. Clive Warren           17 pts 2 wins
4. Andrew Potter        29 pts
5. John Carlin              30.3 pts
6. Paul Little                35 pts
7. Don Mackinnon     36 pts
8. John Beech               52 pts
9. Frans King                55 pts