Category: news

DragonForce Summer Series #4 24/7/19

Another tricky day with the wind not doing the same as the forecast and switching direction several times during this mornings session.  There were 14 boats this week with most of the regulars (one of the highest turnouts recently) and another potential new member Dave who had travelled over an hour to sail with us and gain some guidance.  Peter took some of the early wins, but then had some difficult races including getting caught up on on mark for over a minute.  This left an opening for John who had the best of the later races from the 8 that were sailed.  In all there were 5 different race winners and John took the day by one point from Peter, who only beat Neil  to second on countback due to his higher number of firsts.

  1. John Brierley                84       14 pts
  2. Peter Baldwin              63        15 pts    3x1st
  3. Neil Westbrook            03        15 pts    1x1st
  4. Kris Morrow                 94        21 pts
  5. Derek Matthews         57         25 pts
  6. Dave Williams            233        26 pts
  7. Alan Watkinson         373        35 pts
  8. Colin Deakin                  93       36 pts
  9. Andrew Peter               919       41 pts
  10. Richard Walker              39       44 pts
  11. Dave Pickup                    86       49 pts
  12. Chris Morrow                194      62 pts
  13. Bob Davies                       72       76 pts
  14. David Halstead             855      81 pts

M Nationals Day 2

The second day of the Nationals was sailed in much lighter winds from the SSW ranging between 5 and 10 knots on average.  The control area was therefore shifted to the main promenade.  There was a delay to the start of racing due to an outstanding protest from Race 8A on Day 1 being heard before racing started.  However, after having a minimal break for lunch, 7 additional races were completed by the ultimate 17:30 cut-off time.  Prize-giving took place in the WKSC clubhouse with a welcome speech from the Club Commodore Jean-Louis Simons and a short thank you to the volunteers from Birkenhead Commodore John Brierley.

The final podium was:

  1. Brad Gibson             Grunge                        31 pts
  2. Graham Bantock    Quark                          52 pts
  3. Martin Roberts        Starkers Squared   59 pts

The Classic M Trophy (first registration of a boat prior to 2009) was won by Andrea Roberts and the TOT’s Trophy (Team of Three) by Brad Gibson, James Edwards and Mike Parkington.

There are photos in the Gallery from Day 2 courtesy of Mike Parkington and a set of 65 from Andrew Peter.

Check out the HD Drone footage of 4 different A heat races taken by Henning Faas on the MYA Youtube Marblehead Racing Playlist.

M Nationals 2019 at Day 1 at West Kirby

Eight Races were completed in 2 heats, with 14 to 20 knots of breeze from the West veering round to WNW.

The were a good number of breakages and failing gear leading to a reduced size B fleet.  Some boats had to stay on shore due to not having C2 and C3 rigs for their boats.

Winds are forecast to be lighter for tomorrow at 11 to 14 knots.

Here are the provisional results to the end of the day, subject to a protest which is due to be heard before racing on Day 2.

A small selection of photos from Day 1 courtesy of Alan Watkinson are available in the Gallery

10R UK Nationals Day 2

Not much time for a report, but suffice to say it was wet, wet, wet.  But there was a good breeze of 10 to 20 knots from an ESE direction, which shifted around a bit during the day as the fronts went through.  We did see a small rainbow, during the early sunny period that lasted for a minute and then was replaced by rain.

Here are the overall results with an emphatic win from James Edwards in first, David Potter from Birkenhead in second and Henning Faas from Germany in third.

A small selection of photos from Day 2 courtesy of Alan Watkinson are available in the Gallery

10R Nationals Day 1 at West Kirby

It was a long hard day for both the sailors and the boats on this the first day of the 10R UK Nationals being held this year at West Kirby.  There was a Westerly breeze moving around to WNW and then back again and starting at 10 knots, increasing to nearly 20 knots and then finally dropping to 11 knots by the end of the day.  Cloudy at the start of the day, the sun appeared at lunchtime and the fleet enjoyed good clear sun for a while and champagne sailing in the breeze.

17 races were completed by the select group of 13 sailors, who had a hard time an may have ended up the day having walking getting on for 12 miles with a 250m long course of 2 laps and a short windward leg to finish.

James Edwards ended up on top with Graham Bantock not far behind, with third place being taken by Duncan Ellis.  Graham had problems with losing radio contact early on in the day and so missed out on 4 races an currently counts one DNF in his final score.  All to play for tomorrow.

The weather for day 2 is not looking as good as Day 1 with heavy rain forecast.

DragonForce Summer Series #3 17/7/19

A light and shifty SW breeze kept everyone on their toes this week.  Nine sailors completed 10 races with the last race being two laps. Dave Williams was unfortunate to lose power and miss the last two races otherwise he may well have placed higher.

  1. Neil Westbrook           16pts
  2. Andrew Peter               18 pts
  3. Alan Watkinson          27 pts
  4. Dave Williams             29 pts
  5. Colin Deakin                 30 pts
  6. Derek Matthews          38 pts
  7. Rob                                    46 pts
  8. Chris Weston                54 pts
  9. Zoe Matthews               57 pts

10 races sailed