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DF65 Social Racing 2021 #4 21/4/21

With a steady ESE breeze from the Clubhouse end of the lake, RO Neil Westbrook decided that A rigs were the order of the day for everyone.  Ably assisted by Dave Williams, a course was set using the full length of the lake.  Ten races were completed, with the final race over two laps.

  1. RICHARD ROBINSON    01   12 pts
  2. MIKE DE ST PAER          35   20 pts
  3. ANDREW PETER           919   29 pts
  4. ALAN WATKINSON      373   31 pts
  5. JOHN CARLIN                    11    33 pts
  6. DEREK MATTHEWS       57   41 pts
  7. PAUL WHITE                     45   45 pts
  8.  RICHARD WALKER        39   56 pts
  9. CHARLES LEGG                21    58 pts
  10. SIMON BATES                   69   67 pts[ 1 X 2nd ]
  11. SALLY COLLINGS          829   67 pts
  12. DON MACKINNON        933   74 pts
  13. BARRY BOUGH                  147       RTD

DF65 Social Racing 2021 #3 14/4/21

Yet another sunny but chilly spring day at Birkenhead, with a very light breeze hardly rippling the water for the first race.  RO Andrew Peter set a single lap ¾ length course, with the breeze filling in slightly from the NW. as the morning progressed.  Some new faces were welcomed into the DF65 racing fleet, and the competition was very keen throughout, as the closeness of the final points indicates.

A slightly longer course was set for the last two races as the breeze picked up gaving ideal sailing for A+ rigs. 8 races were completed.  One ‘no-show’ in the bookings fortunately gave our stand-by sailor the chance to compete, and two ‘guests’ arrived to spectate, Martin Roberts and potential new member Mike Hilton.

As has been the case for the last 3 DF65 Wednesday races, the breeze has filled in towards the end of each session, with ideal steady wind conditions just as we are finishing the days racing.  Would a move to a later start time, of say 12.00 noon, perhaps be considered sensible. If you have any thoughts on this subject, please talk to Andrew Peter when you next see him or email him through his details on the Contact page.

  1. Neil Westbrook        03   11 pts   4 x 1st
  2. Richard Robinson   01   11 pts    1 x 1st
  3. David Williams      233   20 pts
  4. Alan Watkinson     373   22 pts
  5. Mike De St Paer        35   23 pts
  6. James Douglas          73   30 pts
  7. Paul Little                   45   33 pts
  8. Sally Collings          829   41 pts
  9. Don Mackinnon     933   45 pts
  10. Charles Legg              21   54 pts
  11. Stan Metcalfe           46   60 pts
  12. Malcolm Harvey  1019   61 pts
  13. Barry Bough             147  62 pts

After 8 races sailed and two discards

RG/DF65 Club Racing 2021 #1

   A sunny, top suit day with the wind blowing straight down the lake, met the 7 RG65 and 5 DF 65 sailors for the 1st Saturday sailing for these classes since lockdown was lifted.

The assembled sailors observed a minutes silence in memory of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, before racing commenced.

The DF65 fleet had a few retirements due to gear failure, which left Richard Robinson a clear winner from John Carlin and Mike De St Paer.

In the RG65 class, Peter Baldwin was fast out of the blocks winning the first two races, with “newcomer” to the fleet Martin Roberts showing a fine turn of speed and best consistency to win overall.  Many of the fleet managed to show at the front of the fleet during the 11 races, to provide a very close day’s sailing.  Thanks once again to Bernie for running the afternoon.

RG65
1st   Martin Roberts       184   19 points     Pocket Rocket  3 wins
2nd John Brierley             84   22 points     Uno                      3 wins 4x2nd
3rd  Graham Elliott          55   22 points     Argon                  3 wins 3x2nd
4th  Peter Baldwin           63   26 points     Pocket Rocket  2 wins
5th  Neil Westbrook         03   32 points     Pocket Rocket
6th  Dave Williams           33    41 points     Pocket Rocket
7th  Alan Watkinson        23    54 points    Scurry

DF65
1st Richard Robinson     01     11 points    7 wins
2nd. John Carlin                11     20 points  2 wins
3rd. Mike de St Par           35    22 points  1 win
4th. Sally Collings          829  44 points
5th. Andrew Peter          919   49 points   1 win

11 races sailed.  Photos from John Brierley

DF65 Social Racing 2021 #2 7/4/21

Thirteen sailors attended again for DF Race Number Two, sporting A Plus rigs, in a light but chilly WNW breeze, which gradually filled in as the day progressed, to allow 10 single lap races.  Race Officer Neil Westbrook set a long course using the full lake, giving excellent sailing on all points.  Competition was close, with race wins shared by 5 sailors, and close fought battles taking place for every position throughout the fleet.

With several new members recently joined, we look forward to seeing more sailors competing in the coming weeks. Get your bookings in early to make sure of a place in the race !

  1. Richard Robinson      01   12 pts
  2. Mike de St Paer           35  20 pts
  3. Andrew Peter             919  24 pts
  4. Alan Watkinson        373  30 pts [ 2 x 1st ]
  5. John Carlin                     11  30 pts [ 1 x 1st ]
  6. Don Mackinnon        933  49 pts
  7. David Williams          233  50 pts
  8. Richard Walker           39  54 pts
  9. Derek Matthews         57  60 pts
  10. Sally Collings            829  69 pts
  11. Paul Little                     45  74 pts
  12. Stan Metcalfe              46  83 pts
  13. Malcolm Harvey     1019  90 pts

After 10 races

RG/DF65 Winter Series #1 report

The first of the RG65/DF65 today at Birkenhead, unfortunately the wind was from the South which for anyone that wants to know is the houses wind, not ideal, and difficult to lay a course but Peter once again donned the waders and did his best. All the RG’s were in there top swing rigs except for Martin that had borrowed Johns Pocket Rocket for the event but John chose to supply Martin with a slightly lower aspect top suit that did disadvantage him on the day but he’s still a tough nut to crack. The DF’s all chose the A plus rig.
The DF’s and RG’s all start on the same gun but the DF’s had a slightly shortened course, this option of racing does seem to work when sailing a mixed fleet, giving plenty of practice on a loaded start line.
The wind started off with quite a few vicious gusts but as the day went on these gusts vanished and the wind swung around about 20 degrees making more of a reaching course unfortunately, still plenty of skill required though looking for those pockets of wind and shifts.
The racing proved to be very close on the day with only 16 points separating 3rd-8th in the RG fleet, Graham and John sharing all 8 wins between them took 1st and 2nd, unfortunately we lost Peter after race 5 with a split tyre on his car and this needed to be changed before his journey home. The DF fleet was dominated by Mike who took all 8 races, well done.
Well done also to Bernie who started and finished us, having to walk round to the top bank to accurately get our finishing scores kept his steps up.
The club has gone from strength to strength in these lockdown periods that have stopped us travelling further afield, lets keep this level of entries and quality up in 2021 and hopefully we will see the fruits of this when travelling is open again.

RG65s

  1. Graham Elliott            55   Argon                       6pts    6 wins
  2. John Brierley                84    Uno                        10pts    2 wins
  3. Martin Roberts            22   Pocket Rocket    20pts
  4. Peter Baldwin              63   Pocket Rocket    24pts
  5. David Potter                 20   Pocket Rocket   27pts
  6. Matt Stephenson        08   Pocket Rocket  33pts
  7. Dave Williams              33   Pocket Rocket  34pts
  8. Neil Westbrook            03   Pocket Rocket 36pts

DF65s

  1. Mike de St Paer       35     6pts  6 wins
  2. Colin Deakin             93      18pts
  3. Derek Mathews       57      18pts

DF65 Social Racing #12 9/12/20

There  were 12 entries and one OOD turned up to race this week, with a south west  to west wind forecast at 7-9 mph.

However, on arrival at the lake we were faced with no wind at all.  A course was set allowing us to go either way up or down the lake and after waiting for the wind to appear a light variable wind started up.
We only managed 4 races of one lap each until it was decided to give up in frustration after one and a half hours racing.
The final scores after one discard were:
  1. JOHN BRIERLEY            84       5PTS
  2. NEIL WESTBROOK       03       6PTS
  3. JOHN CARLIN                 11       9PTS
  4. MIKE DE ST PAER         35     12PTS
  5. RICHARD ROBINSON   01     16PTS    1X3RD
  6. CHARLES LEGG              21     16PTS    1X4TH  1X5TH
  7. SALLY COLLINGS        829    16PTS    1X4TH  1X6TH
  8. RICHARD WALKER       39     19PTS
  9. DEREK MATTHEWS     57     20PTS
  10. CHRIS WESTON            194     25PTS
  11. PAUL LITTLE                   26     26PTS    1X6TH
  12. DON MACKINNON         93     26PTS    1X8TH
Many thanks to Stan Metcalfe for being OOD for the racing.