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DF/RG65 Winter Series 2023 #5 – 17/2/24

It was another light SE breeze again today, but this week we ran from the South bank walkway.  Once again the marks needed some adjustment and so Peter donned the waders and shifted things around to produce a reasonable windward/leeward course and with 3 DF65’s racing this week, a separate windward mark 10m downwind of the one set for the RG65’s.

We had an excellent turnout of ten RG65’s and three DF65’s, with the RG65’s mostly sailing with a full sized swing rig.  The wind looked fine for the swing rig during pre-race practice and up the first beat and then a prolonged gust hit the fleet downwind, with plenty of nosediving and some loss of control creating some position changes.  John Brierley led the race in his newly launched Ivy, until the last beat when he was overtaken by both Bill Culshaw and Alan Bennett.  Wins were spread around the front of the fleet in this first half with Graham Elliott and Alan taking two wins each and Peter Baldwin one.

After a break for lunch, Alan had the best afternoon session with three wins, John picking up two and Graham managing a further one.  Dave Williams had a better afternoon sporting an A swing rig and this helped improve his overall position to finish ahead of Martin Roberts who had gear failure in race 9 and missed the final 4 races.  A great afternoons sailing marred only slightly by the appearance of rain for the last few races.

Many thanks to Neil Westbrook who acted as RO for the afternoon and Dave Williams for working out the scores at the end of the day.

  1. Alan Bennett            Ivy                     68  16pts
  2. Graham Elliott        Electronica     09  26pts
  3. John Brierley            Ivy                     84  27pts
  4. Peter Baldwin          Uno                   63   32pts
  5. Bill Culshaw              Ivy                     21   37pts
  6. Dave Williams          Uno                   33   72pts
  7. Martin Roberts        Pocket Rocket  133  74pts
  8. John Berry                 Uno                         71  74pts
  9. Alan Watkinson      Uno                         23  78pts
  10. Charles Legg             Uno                       26   79pts
DF65 Report
Only 3 skippers turned up for the 5th Winter Series but that didn’t spoil the enjoyment. We were greeted at the lake by a South Easterley breeze, from the clubhouse end and after Peter had shuffled the buoys around to produce a biased start line, good  beat to a windward mark (as there were only 3 of us there was no need for a spreader mark), so it was straight back diagonally down the full length of the lake to a gate, with 2 laps set, then finishing half way up the lake. We shared the start with the 10 RGs, they had a separate windward mark about 10m further on as well as a spreader which proved almost a perfect handicap and meant the fleet was close with the DFs and RGs finishing at the same time
A+ rigs were the order of the day, and with the wind direction coming through the houses there were plenty of shifts to pick, but picking the right one was important. The wind built over the first couple of races and nose diving downwind added to the tricky conditions but after a couple of more races it subsided and remained  good A+ conditions.
The racing between the DFs was very close and although Paul didn’t get the win he was craving for, he did lead around the last mark on more than 1 occasion losing it only on the final beat to the line, and considering he is new to RC sailing, once he sorts his fingers from his thumbs out, it won’t be long before he gets his first win!! The main battle for honours was between Tony and Clive and it took a win in the last race for Clive to edge the days honour. 12 Races were sailed and a big thank you to Neil Westbrook who was our RO for the day,
1    Clive Warren            14pts    6 x wins,  6 seconds
2    Tony Sedgewick     14pts    6 x wins, 4 seconds
3     Paul Plested             25pts    2 x seconds

 

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 14/2/24

Continued strong DF65 turnout today with 13 skippers, all of whom might have been forgiven for thinking it was Groundhog day at Gautby road. No sign of Punxsutawney Phil, the legendary groundhog alleged to herald spring and, for the second week running, not much sign of any wind either.

It blew in fits and starts approximately from the clubhouse, and the usual course was used with a fairly generous top spreader to try and get away from the flat patch in the top corner out into the wind.

The line looked to be somewhat starboard end biased, but Frans did a race one flyer start from the Port end, and although eventually overhauled after sailing into one of the many flat spots made everyone realise that there were some options at the start.

It seemed to pay to try and sail just outside the windward side flat patch to pick up a lift into the windward mark, but every race seemed to bring exceptions with those sailing close along the windward shore winning out, and in other races getting completely beached while others sailed round – or even either side of them.

Mike dSP eventually ran out the winner with 3 wins, and all agreed after 2 hours that 8 races were enough for the day.

Thanks once again to Dave Williams for sorting out the result with averages, which finished as shown below:

  1. Mike de St Paer      9 pts   3 wins
  2. Alan Watkinson     13 pts  1 win
  3. Andrew Potter        19 pts 2 wins
  4. James Douglas       20 pts
  5. Neil Westbrook     21.6 pts  1 win / 2 seconds
  6. Paul Plested            21.6 pts  1 win / 1 second
  7. John Carlin              31 pts
  8. Dave Williams       39 pts
  9. Charles Legg          40 pts
  10. Richard Walker     41 pts
  11. Dave Howard         46 pts
  12. Frans King              52 pts
  13. Malcolm Harvey   62 pts

IOM Winter 2023/4 #4 – 10/2/24

A return to strengthening IOM numbers at Birkenhead had 13 entries received for Round 4 of the Winter Series. We were a couple down with Tracey Ballington and Neil Westabrook unable to join us, leaving eleven race ready skippers.

Peter Baldwin had the waders on and set a course that used the full length of the lake with a 5-9knot South easterly blowing straight down the middle from the clubhouse end. With skippers on the Eastern bank, PRO Dave Williams had us underway just after 12noon.

Race 1 gave an indication of what was to come with starting accuracy and shift picking of high importance. Graham Elliott led the way with a close chasing pack of Martin Roberts, Brad Gibson and Allan Bennett pushing him all the way for his win.

After a startline tweak and the finish line being extended further up the lake, we were back on the clock. Brad managed to break through a tight cover from Graham to get him on the line with the leading group finishing closely bunched in the mid range A rig conditions.

Brad then found some rythym to record a string of wins leading up to tea break through managing to wiggle through the fleet in the sometimes tricky conditions. 

After the break the breeze had lightened a little with results mixed in the second half of the day. Wins were shared between Graham E, Allan B and Brad. After a slower start to the day Darin found form to record a string of second places. Peter Baldwin, Martin Roberts and Graham Birkett were regularly challenging the leading bunch with only the slightest mistake or misfortune costing race wins or higher placed finishes.

There were strong performances across the fleet with a number of different designs being sailed with skipper trim and ability to read the conditions proving the difference.

After 12 races it was Brad who took the day on 12 points from Graham Elliott in second and Alan Bennett in third.

  1. Brad Gibson                  BG                42   12pts
  2. Graham Elliott             Britpop!    09   24pts
  3. Alan Bennett                 Britpp!     180   30pts
  4. Darin Ballington         Britpop!     98   41pts
  5. Martin Roberts            Chimera   122   45pts
  6. Peter Baldwin               Britpop!     63   54pts
  7. Graham Birkett            Widget      133   55pts
  8. Bill Culshaw                  Britpop!      21   70pts
  9. Alan Watkinson           Britpop!      23   85pts
  10. John Berry                     Viper             12   86pts
  11. Charles Legg                  K2                40  104pts

Club member Paul Plested took a number of photos during the first session and these are available via the following link and a few examples are included in this report – many thanks Paul.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vvg3TAgqJrmKNYpR9

A big thank you as always to Dave Williams for keeping things going at a cracking pace , Peter B for the course setting and Neil for assisting Dave.

Round 5 is in two weeks time and we welcome members and vistors with their IOMs to come along to join us and experience racing at the club where Champions are made.

Entry for Round 5 at https://birkenheadrspc.co.uk/iom-winter-2023-5/

DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 7/2/24

Following on from the morning session, strange things happened during the lunch break. The wind completely disappeared with only the slightest zephyr on the lake. The start was delayed for about 15 minutes whilst the 5 skippers debated whether to sail or call it a day, fortunately during this period the wind started to fill in so we decided to “give it a go”.
A short course was set utilising only half the lake but before we could start the wind filled in from completely the opposite direction so a new course was set, starting at the clubhouse end of the lake, the windward mark was set halfway down the lake taken to port, a spreader mark down to the gate and the back to the windward / spreader marks which were used as the finish line.
A massive thank you to Neil Westbrook who was the RO for the afternoon and also gave some very useful coaching and tips, 7 races were completed in testing conditions.
From the off Clive showed his intentions taking the first 3 races followed by Alan and Frans. Rolls were reversed in the next 3 with Alan taking 3 wins, Clive 2 seconds and John taking the other. Unfortunately Alan had to call it a day after 6 aces. The wind was filling in nicely, so the course was reset to utilise the whole of the lake, and being the last race 2 laps were set. Frans and Clive battled it out for the win with Clive sneaking through on the final windward leg, with John finishing third.
Final results after 7 races, with 1 discard
  1. Clive Warren          8pts   4 wins
  2. Alan Watkinson    9pts   3 wins
  3. Frans King            18pts
  4. John Beech           22pts
  5. Dave Howard       23pts
As with most weeks racing was close throughout the afternoon with lots of “private” battles being fought throughout the fleet, another enjoyable sunny afternoon was enjoyed, We were all delighted to have persevered with the start of the afternoon.

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 7/2/24

Another great DF65 turnout today with 14 skippers ready to sail, including new member Paul Plested who has acquired Martin Whittingham-Jones boat. Welcome Paul!

Conditions were, as usual, very shifty with wind blowing from the houses and not much breeze near the clubhouse top corner – and not really much anywhere else either for that matter. It did look as if it might fill in from time to time but this never really happened.

Racing was very keen right from the start on the usual course format, with Paul Little dong an immediate horizon job.

The next three races had three more different winners, until in race five Neil won his second race on the way to winning the day with three wins and nine points winning on countback from Mike dsp with only two wins. Close racing.

Elsewhere on the results sheet the points didn’t tell the whole story, with much very close racing, and many skippers going from  being completely down the pan to good results and vice-versa.

Thanks again to Dave Williams for sorting out the average points and doing the results which finished as below;

  1. Neil Westbrook           9 pts            3 wins
  2. Mike de St Paer           9 pts            2 wins
  3. Clive Warren              19 pts             1 win
  4. Andrew Potter           21 pts
  5. Alan Watkinson        22 pts              1 win
  6. Dave Williams           28 pts
  7. Paul Plested               34 pts
  8. Paul LIttle                   35 pts              1 win
  9. Frans King                  44 pts              1 3rd
  10. Malcolm Harvey       44pts
  11. Simon Bates                45 pts              1 x 4th
  12. Charles Legg               45 pts
  13. John Beech                   56 pts
  14. Dave Howard              65 pts

DF95 Winter Series 2023 #3 – 3/2/24

There was an excellent turnout of 12 boats for todays DF95 racing with the sailors served up an excellent mid to top end of A suit breeze straight down the lake from the far end.  After Peter had tweaked the marks for a good windward leeward course, racing got underway promptly at 12:00 as with 12 racing and no designated RO, we needed to get 12 races completed to allow everyone to undertake an RO duty and avoid averaging results.

The most common sail number at the front of the fleet seemed to end in 84, with both 84 (sailed by John Brierley) and 184 being loaned by John to Martin Roberts for the day.  Between them, Martin and John took ten of the wins, with Martin bagging six (one whilst sailing 429) and John Brierley four.  Peter Baldwin picked up the remaining two wins.  We also had a couple of guest sailors who used Martin’s boat to very good effect with them both finishing their races in the top 5.

There were some notable results elsewhere across the fleet with top 3 finishes in a number of races by Neil Westbrook, Alan Watkinson and Tony Sedgwick.  Dave Williams, Dave Howard and Frans King also had some good results after starting well and being well placed at the first windward mark.

Some close finishes across the fleet in many races, we unfortunately lost one boat at half time due to illness and then by the end another couple through unfortunate gear failure.

A great days racing, with a well deserved winner in Martin Roberts, John Brierley second, followed closely by Peter Baldwin just one point behind.

Next week is IOM Winter #4, with 6 entries so far and more promised.  It’s looking to be a strong field.