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Author: Peter Baldwin

DF65 Social Racing 2023 4/1/23

The absence of any real breeze when the sailors turned up to race only lasted until every one of the 12 had kitted their boats with an “A” rig and started to put them on the water.

The wind from somewhere over the houses had stiffened enough to require a “B” rig which everyone adopted before racing started.  In addition, as the lake was full to overflowing racing took place on the northern side of the lake.

The stiffness of the breeze led to some challenging conditions which made sailing difficult for the first 5 of the 10 races but everyone took the bashes and bumps in good spirits and as usual the wind over the houses was a bit hit and miss.

The wind stiffened further for the last 5 races with gusts making starts difficult and controlling boats generally a challenge particularly on a beat.

John Brierley was able to cope with the conditions best of all with 8 wins from 10 starts with Mike De St Paer’s consistency giving him second place with 5 seconds and 2 thirds and John Carlin taking third, with 2 firsts and a brace of seconds.

Thanks go to Dave Williams and Malcolm Harvey shared RO duties looking after 5 races each.

DF/RG65 Winter Series 2022/3 #3

Six RG65’s made it to the start line for the final club race of 2022.
The wind was quite unlike that was forecast with a steady light breeze from Gautby Road with a few dead patches and some nice shifts.
The race was sailed in a great atmosphere with 4 separate race winners on the day, Graham sailing his Argon and John sailing his Uno had a great battle in all 8 races but certainly not having it all there own way in races 5 and 8 that were won by Neil Westbrook sailing his Pocket Rocket and Alan Watkinson sailing his Uno. Five races sailed before break and then three after break with the wind and light fading fast it was decided to make the last 2 races just one lap races. Graham took the day by two points from John in second and Alan third.
  1. Graham Elliott         Argon             89   8pts  4 wins
  2. John Brierley             Uno                 84 10pts  2 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson        Uno                23  15pts   1 win
  4. Dave Williams           Uno                33  24 pts
  5. Neil Westbrook  Pocket Rocket  03  26pts
  6. Charles Legg              Uno                26  31 pts

During the break a local landed his plane on the lake: see here

DF65 Social Racing 21/12/22

Only 8 competitors remained to sail (after a lake tidy) in this the last DF65 Social racing of 2022.

The wind was a light breeze over the houses and a Windward/Leeward course was setup by Peter, which tested the patience of most sailors during the morning.  The wind had the ability to switch direction suddenly catching some out especially when it happened on the starting line.  By the end of the session, the breeze seemed to be picking up from a more WSW direction, but there were still plenty of holes to fall into.

There were 5 different winners in the 7 races sailed.  Mike De St Paer had the most consistent day and two wins to take the morning overall.  Peter Baldwin was second with just one win and Richard Robinson taking third with two wins, but losing two races due to a battery problem.  Racing was close throughout the fleet with countback separating 3rd and 4th and also 5th and 6th.

The next Wednesday Sailing will be on the 4th January, although there is DF/RG65 racing on Saturday 31st December starting at 12:00.

After lunch a small group of 5 sailed DF95’s, with some informal racing and help with tuning setup.  The wind was as fickle as before lunch with some larger gusts which died away by 3pm, when everyone packed away.

 

Lake Clear of Ice

The lake is clear of ice now (Tuesday am) and so there will be DF65 racing tomorrow.  There will however need to be a session of debris clearance prior to sailing to remove trolleys, telegraph pole! and various logs/branches according to our Club Captain.

Please bring gloves and other kit to help out.

Photo from John Carlin

After DF65 racing tomorrow, (21/12/22) the calendar resumes with DF/RG65 Winter Series #3 on Saturday 31st December starting at 12:00.  For those with a DF95 or IOM, you can always race at the Fleetwood Twixmas event with DF95 on 28th and IOM on the 29th December.  Entry via the MYA Events page.

Merry Christmas and hope you receive that new boat you were waiting for!

Cancellation of IOM Xmas Race and Reschedule of ND Winter Series #1

The club has had to take the unfortunate decision to cancel this years IOM Xmas Race due to ice on the lake and the weather giving no chance of this thawing by the planned start time on Saturday.

As this was also due to be the First Northern District IOM Winter Series races, the club has agreed to reschedule this Open event to Saturday 18th March and will be the last event of that series.  All existing bookings have been moved to the new date, although these can be cancelled and removed or new ones added if required.

Peter Baldwin – Sailing Sec