Category: rg65

RG65/DF65 Race #5 28/9/19

A wet and windy day greeted competitors for the last RG65 series race.  Four Pocket Rockets and one DF65 sailed the same course this week with the wind coming out of the Top left hand corner. Seven races were completed by the tea break with everyone in B Rigs, when Neil had to leave early and then 3 more were sailed after tea in A Rigs to complete the day.

Racing was very close with Dave showing good speed to register 3 wins with John taking out the other races.  Alan with a new conventional A rig he has made,was also showing good speed on the race course.

With the 10 races completed an extended final race was held for a bit of fun, with the only DF 65 sailed by Andrew leading for most of the race only to be pipped at the post by the RG65 of John.

Thanks go again to Bernie and Jack for running the races on such a wet afternoon.

RG
1st John Brierley          9pts
2nd Dave Williams    15pts
3rd Alan Watkinson  20pts
4th Neil Westbrook   29pts

DF
Andrew Peter                27pts

Series results are available on the Current Standings page

RG65/DF65 Race #4 31/8/19

A torrential downpour greeted seven (six RG and one DF) sailors as they arrived or rigged their boats.  Thank goodness for the shelter of the clubhouse.  Fortunately the rain did not last for long and it was on a weather front that rapidly changed the wind from Southerly to Westerly within 45 minutes.  This enabled a good windward/leeward course to be set down the lake using the marks as set. With no additional competition arriving the one DF sailor decided not to sail and so left six RG65’s to start the day.

After the first four races, Peter and John Brierley shared the honours with two wins and two seconds each.  With the wind at 10 knots and gusting easily 15, both had opted for a low aspect A rig which helped in the gusty conditions.  After a short break and the arrival of Graham Elliott, John B managed two further wins, before John Tushingham found his groove and posted his first win in Race 7 and the two of them shared the wins through until Race 16, with Graham taking a number of seconds.  At the end of 16 races completed by 16:30, John B was the winner, John T second and Graham third. Three designs shared the podium, with rig selection and setup for the conditions in each race a determining factor on the end result. Thanks to Bernie and Ernie for running the races.

  1.  John Brierley           Pocket Rocket     19 pts
  2. John Tushingham  Scurry                    26 pts
  3. Graham Elliott         Electronica           37 pts
  4.  Peter Baldwin          Pocket Rocket      42 pts
  5. Neil Westbrook        Pocket Rocket       55 pts
  6. Alan Watkinson       Pocket Rocket       68 pts
  7. Dave Williamson     Pocket Rocket       77 pts

Next and final event in the series is on Saturday 28th September with a later start time of 13:00.

RG65/DF65 Race #3 17/8/19

Six RG65 and three DF65 sailors turned out to sail this week, including two welcome DF65 visitors from Gresford.  There was a good breeze down the lake from the WNW, leading to plenty of discussion about whether it was an A or B breeze for the RG65 (or perhaps an A or A- depending on your rig wardrobe).  All of the DF65’s opted for an A rig to start with. John Brierley had a good start with a 1,2,1 in the first three races until Graham Elliott found his form and won the next four races until there was a break for lunch and a change of batteries for everyone. Andrew Peter had the best morning from the DF65 sailors with visitors Rob Andrew and David Bradley taking a few wins between them.  Andrew gave some setup tips to both visitors and racing was very close between them later in the morning.

Having started with a good sailing breeze straight down the lake at the start of the day, it had changed to be well across the lake by the second session, giving a delay whilst the course was angled diagonally across the lake to provide the chance of a windward leg.  Graham carried on his winning form from the morning, gaining six wins from the next 8 races sailed, narrowly missing out to Peter Baldwin in those two.  Andrew also had the lions share of wins  in the DF65 fleet during the afternoon.

Thanks go to Bernie for scoring during the day assisted by Neil after problems forced his early retirement.

The next RG65/DF65 racing day is on Saturday 31st August starting at 11am.

  1. Graham Elliott        Electronica            9       16pts
  2. Peter Baldwin          Pocket Rocket      63     26pts
  3. John Brierley            Pocket Rocket      84     38pts
  4. Dave Williams          Pocket Rocket      33      52pts
  5. Alan Watkinson       Pocket Rocket     23       53pts
  6. Neil Westbrook        Pocket Rocket     103     82pts

DF65

  1. Andrew Peter           919         15pts
  2. David Bradley            98         23pts
  3. Rob Andrews             835        40pts

RG65/DF65 Race #2 22/6/19

Sunny conditions, wind from the clubhouse end and a fair degree of shiftiness in that wind , met the competitors for the RG/DF day at Birkenhead on Saturday.
5 RG65s and 3 DF65s started at 1100 with the DFs starting one minute ahead of the RGs with this format ensuring all the boats finishing together.
With 7 races before lunch, the racing was very close and a  battle in the RGs between Graham Elliott and John Brierley developed with Graham leading at the break.Neil Westbrook, Dave Williams and Alan Watkinson were also swapping places constantly showing how competitive all of these boats are.
The DFs were also having close racing and a welcome return to Birkenhead of Roger Lincoln showing he had not lost any knowledge of the lake. Peter Baldwin and Andrew Peters were also having their moments in the shifting conditions that prevailed all day.
After lunch both fleets were reduced as both Graham and Peter had to withdraw due to family commitments and the remaining fleet had 6 more races.
Thanks as usual go to Bernie and Jack for running the days racing and making drinks for everyone at break times.
12 races sailed.
 
Results
RG65 
1st   John Brierley       13pts
2nd Neil Westbrook  28pts
3rd Graham Elliott    33 pts
4th Dave Williams    34pts
5th Alan Watkinson 56pts (broken winch at lunchtime)
DF65
1st Roger Lincoln 16pts
2nd Andrew Peters 26pts
3rd Peter Baldwin 32pts

RG65 TT Round 3

A good entry of 19 boats of which there were 7 different designs competing for round 3 of the RG65 TT at Birkenhead, where we were met with blue skies and a decent breeze of 6 to 8 knots straight down the lake, with all skippers opting for their number 1 rigs to start the days sailing.
We sailed 4 races before a quick cup of tea/coffee (and a piece of cake) with no one skipper quick out of the blocks. Martin Roberts did take 2 out of the first 4 but also scored heavily in the other 2 sailing a borrowed Scram for the day. Eight races were sailed before lunch and still no one skipper dominated with 5 different race winners and only a few points separating the top 5 boats it was obvious that consistency was going to win the day.
After lunch with the breeze building and skippers going down a rig at some point during the next four races, it was tight to the finish, finally after 17 races it was Martin Roberts who ground out the win on his maiden venture with an RG65 and gave the lad a smile from ear to ear.
We had two lady helms competing at this event, both enjoyed the champagne sailing with Liz Tushingham finishing in a well placed 7th and Susan Parkington 13th.
Thanks must go to  Judith Baldwin, Bernie, Neil and Chris Westbrook for their help and not forgetting John Brierley for supplying the scones and Bara brith to have with our tea.
There are a few more photographs in the Gallery.
Click on the image to expand

Open Events at Birkenhead and West Kirby

The Open Events being run by Birkenhead are now all open for entry on the MYA website.  In date order they are:

  1. DF Racing Traveller Rounds 5 & 6, April 27th/28th @ Birkenhead
  2. RG65 Traveller Round 3, May 11th @ Birkenhead
  3. 10R Nationals, Thursday & Friday 18th/19th July at West Kirby Marine Lake
  4. M Nationals, Saturday & Sunday 20th/21st July at West Kirby Marine Lake

For further details on all these events (NoR and Entries) refer to the 2019 Open Events tab on the website. We look forward to seeing your entry soon.