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Category: rg65

RG65 Summer Series #1 – 8/4/23

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”.

More photos from Bill and Brad via the Flikr Album here

Next week is the IOM Veterans Championship on Saturday and Sunday, with racing over the whole day.

1st    Graham Elliott               electronica              12 pts    8 wins
2nd   John Brierley                 Uno                             27 pts  
3rd    Chris Elliott                   Uno                             31 pts    3 wins
4th    Peter Baldwin               Uno                             39 pts    1 win
5th    Neil Westbrook            Uno                             53 pts    2 x 3rds
6th     Alan Watkinson           Uno                             53 pts
7th     Bill Culshaw                  Ivy                              56 pts
8th     Charles Legg                 Uno                            60 pts
9th     Dave Williams              Uno                            71 pts
 
after 12 races  

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.

RG65 Winter Series 2022/23 #7 (11/3/23)

Cold, Cold and Cold, all with a capital C, probably one of the coldest days racing we have ever had, and all in mid March, the good points were that we had 8 RG’s and a lovely East South East wind of around 10mph gusting to 15mph. It was great to see Vernon who had made the journey up North to try his new boat out before the TT series starts in April, still some work to do on her but I am sure he will get it there soon.
All 8 opted for their B rigs, full area but lower aspect, mostly conventional rigs but 2 with swing rig, after a few races the wind did die a little (with the arrival of the rain) so Martin changed up to his full height rig, the rest of the fleet were either too cold to change up or just lazy. It was Peter Baldwin sailing his newly wrapped Uno that led the fleet home in the first 2 races but the next 5 before tea all went to Graham Elliott sailing his Electronica.
After tea, the wind did pick up again and Peter and Graham shared the wins between them, 2-3. Unfortunately we lost John for the last 4 races as he had an appointment watching the Welsh beat Italy in the rugby.
Great days sailing and well done to all who braved the elements but most of all, Bernie, who started and finished us in all 12 races and coping well with a soggy results sheet.  Photos are courtesy of photographer Dave Williams.
  1. Graham Elliott        electronica         12pts     7 wins
  2. Peter Baldwin         uno                         17pts     4 wins
  3. Martin Roberts      pocket rocket     38pts
  4. John Brierley            uno                       46pts     2 x 2nd 
  5. Alan Watkinson     uno                        46pts
  6. Neil Westbrook      uno                        52pts
  7. Dave Williams         uno                        57pts
  8. Vernon Appleton   Shadow                62pts

DF/RG65 Winter 2022/3 #6 (18/2/23)

A great wind, straight down the middle from the top of the lake for today’s RG65 club race.
All 6 skippers started in there 3rd rig, reduced area and conventional but after just one race the vicious gusts had disappeared so we all dived back in the club to move up a rig, for most this was a full area rig.
Martin unfortunately had to retire his Pocket Rocket after race 5 due to intermittent radio problems but took the helm of Daves Uno for the remaining races. Alan and Charles both enjoyed good boat speed, coupled with good sailing, this gave them quite a few decent positions throughout the day.
The RG is a great class to sail in these conditions but just one small mistake in the tack or at the start can lose you 10 boat lengths.  In the end it was Graham sailing his Brad Gibson designed Electronica who took the day, winning all 11 races.
Thanks go to Bernie for starting and finishing us and Dave for the few photos.
  1. Graham Elliott         electronica                    9pts     11 wins
  2. Alan Watkinson       Uno                                26pts
  3. Martin Roberts        PocketRocket/Uno  29pts
  4. Charles Legg             Uno                                36pts
  5. Neil Westbrook        Uno                                39pts
  6. Dave Williams           Uno                               44pts

DF/RG65 Winter Series 2022/3 #5 (28/1/23)

Racing got underway soon after 12:00 after Peter had rearranged all of the marks following the recent ice which had moved everything around.  There was a decent Top suit breeze from the far end with occasional gusts causing some nose diving at times and plenty of shifts to gain (or lose) places on the course.

Peter took the win in Race 1 after splitting from Martin and John at the leeward gate before the finish, then catching a significant lift to jump from third to first.  John then took races 2, 3 and 5, with Peter  picking up race 4 and Martin race 6 and a short break.  After the break, Peter took 5 of the 6 races sailed, with Martin managing to pick up one win to spoil the run.

John retired after seven races as he was suffering with a bad leak and spent the time identifying the cause.  Charles and Martin also unfortunately lost a few races each after losing contact with their boats. There was, however, plenty of close racing throughout the fleet though, with nearly all of the fleet having some time at the front.

This left Peter as clear winner after 12 races and what had been a very close first session, with Martin second and John hanging onto third even counting three DNC’s. Thanks go to Bill Culshaw for running racing at a great pace and managing to fit 12 races in before 3:30.  Next week is back to racing for the IOM with race 5 of the Winter Series.

  1. Peter Baldwin              63  Uno                        13pts
  2. Martin Roberts           133  Pocket Rocket  21pts
  3. John Brierley                84  Uno                       37pts
  4. Neil Westbrook           03  Uno                        40pts
  5. Alan Watkinson          23   Uno                        43pts  (3x3rd)
  6. Dave Williams              33  Uno                        43pts  (2x3rd)
  7. Charles Legg                 26  Uno                       59pts

DF/RG65 Winter Series 2022/3 #4

We arrived to find a decent breeze from the West, but with a lake full to overflowing.  Neil and Alan set to and cleared the overflow, although even by the end of sailing at 15:30, the level had only decreased by an inch or so.

Peter moved a few marks around and replaced some that had floated to the leeward shore because of the lake level and racing got started soon after 12:00 with most boats sporting their C rigs (where available).  Although  8 sailors arrived, we only had a maximum of 5 boats on the water at any time and occasionally only 2!  The wind took its toll on most if not all boats with rig and servo failures and others having to bow out due to the lack of a C Rig or problems with the walkway being flooded.

Wins were shared out among the 4 RG’s with John taking four (and the win overall), Peter and Martin three each and Alan one.  Clive was the sole DF65 today as he was unable to get anyone else to join him for the afternoon. Racing was close at times, although equally someone could gain a good lead if they picked up a gust at the windward mark and leave everyone in their wake.

Thanks to Dave for running the most of the races having loaned his boat to Martin who gave it a good run later with a bigger rig especially when the wind abated slightly.

  1. John Brierley          Uno  84  14pts
  2. Peter Baldwin        Uno  63   17pts
  3. Martin Roberts     Uno  33   28pts
  4. Alan Watkinson    Uno  23   33pts

 

  1. Clive Warren          DF65  53  9pts