Birkenhead Radio Sailing & Power Club
I would like to wish all our members and sailing friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in these difficult times we are continuing to experience.
I thank you for your support and understanding over the past year and look forward to welcoming old and new friends to Birkenhead in 2022.
John Brierley
Commodore.
Ten intrepid sailors arrived to do battle in the coldest windiest day of the year. The biting wind from the clubhouse end was more or less straight but with heavy gusts making the boats perform several deviations.
Unfortunately several boats had minor problems but trying to fix these with very cold fingers seemed impossible with the last few races down to five starters. We have to thank Dave Williams for being OD and running the ten races.
14 skippers gathered for our annual Christmas race for IOM’s on the 18th December, with a start at 10.30 to give skippers an extra 30 minutes in bed for this race. The wind was perfect, straight down the lake from the clubhouse end, middle of top suit, shifts that could make you look like a fool or a hero, shifts that could take you from a decent top 3 to bottom 3 in a blink of an eye, the way to sail in these conditions is not to paint yourself into a corner.
15 races were completed on the day with race winners being Brad Gibson (BritPOP!) with 7 wins, Peter Baldwin (Lintel MMX) with 3 wins, Martin Roberts (Vanilla) with 2 wins and a single race win for Darin Ballington, Bill Culshaw and the hungover Paul Allen.
As normal there was no entry fee for the race but a Secret Santa (wrapped gift but no bottles) but before the gifts were handed out we had a bigger presentation, John Brierley our commodore presented Derek Priestley with the Acersail “Top Club” shield that had been residing at Birkenhead for quite a few years, as Fleetwood had pipped Birkenhead for the trophy in the 2021 season.
Many thanks to all competitors for supporting this serious but fun light hearted race and to John Brierley who gave up his sail to run the race with Bernie and Dave Williams and last but by no means least, Jack who opted to stay in the clubhouse and supply everyone with hot drinks.
Have a great Christmas and all the best for the new year.
Stay Safe
Graham Elliott 
All photos by Dave Williams
A very slight ripple on the lake encouraged the 12 sailors to compete. With a single lap It was vital to get a good start and to make the most of of the very tricky conditions. New member John Beech had his first introduction into competitive sailing and is hoping the conditions will be more favourable next time. Many thanks to our OD Stan Metcalf who managed to give us 8 races.
After the cancellation of the first RG/DF65 Winter Series a few weeks ago due to high winds, a top suit wind from the clubhouse end, met the five hardy RG sailors for the second event. The fleet comprised of four Uno and one Scurry with the fleet all using their A rigs.
Neil Westbrook got of to a flyer winning the first race. John Brierley then got into his stride winning seven of the ten races with Dave Williams having a well deserved win in one race and Neil finishing, as he started, with a win in the last race. Charles Legg and Alan Watkinson were “in the mix” for most of the races and there were some close finishes.
Thanks to Bernie for running the racing especially when the timer failed and he had to call the time. Next week (is the club IOM Christmas Race, one of the highlights of the Birkenhead RS&PC season.Entry may be made until late on Friday via the event page here
After 10 races
With Storm Barra blowing vigorously along the pond, sailing was never going to be easy. Add driving rain and freezing cold and you have to admire the fortitude of those who stuck it out for 8 races. C-rigs were the order of the day; those who tried to sail with B-rigs were cruelly punished in the gusts, leaving 5 intrepid skippers braving the elements for all eight, single lap, races. On the positive side, it was possible to set a course taking in most of the length of the pond. Thanks go to Charles Legg for braving the elements and keeping order as Race Officer.
