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Category: news

RG65 TT Rounds 1 & 2

This weekend saw rounds 1 and of the RG65 TT series being held at the coastal marine lake of West Kirby in the North West of England.

14 boats made it to the start line with 8 different designs on display. the wind was from the favoured NW and blowing around 13knots with most boats opting for the reduced area B rig, some using swing rigs but most using a conventional rig. The course was the normal windward/leeward gate with a distance of 120m from the gate to the windward mark that gave these fantastic boats to show off there exceptional speed.

15 races were completed on the day with race winners being Graham Elliott with 14 wins sailing his Brad Gibson designed Electronica and John Tushingham sailing his Scurry design, these two were joined on the podium by Peter Baldwin sailing his Dave Creed designed Pocket Rocket.

Round 2 on the Sunday started with much the same wind strength as Saturday even though all the forecasts predicted a significantly lower wind speed and all skippers once again opted for their B rigs. The course was moved slightly as the wind direction had swung a little to the North but we still had that 120m length from the gate to the windward mark.

By lunch time the wind did reduce in strength significantly enough for all skippers to move up a rig to the full area A rig.

By the end of the day and 14 races sailed on this slightly shorter day, Graham Elliott comfortably took the win, with Chris Elliott second and John Tushingham third.

7 different designs were on display with race winners for the day being Graham Elliott taking 12 wins with his Electronica, Peter Baldwin with his Pocket Rocket and Chris Elliott sailing a Graham Bantock designed Argon.

Many thanks must go to all volunteers that made these races happen, especially after the late change of venue.

The TT series now moves onto Bournville on 21/8/21 for round 3 and then onto Watermead the following day for round 4 before we go to Keighley on the 18/19th September for the 2021 National Championships.

Click on results to see larger version.

Photos are available in the Gallery – click on the image to view each of the 2 sets.

Sailing Update

Although access to the lake and clubhouse have been re-instated by the Council, tests conducted by the Environment Agency (EA) have shown the presence of toxic blue green algae in the lake water, with a concentration  above the EA warning threshold for a health hazard.  The Club have therefore agreed with the Council that sailing will remain suspended until algae levels and concentrations subside.

Andrew Peter and Neil Westbrook have spent three long days at the club running a Council provided aerator in the hope that this would ease algae levels, but there  has been no visible change and a thick surface mat is still present at the leeward end of the lake.  The EA are due to re-test the water on Monday 26th July, but with the weather forecast for the next week, UV levels will be high and so a decrease in algae blooms is not expected.

Once again, your committee can only apologise for the lack of sailing and will be in touch when we have a potential date for re-opening.

As a result and as the water is unlikely to be available for sailing, we are attempting to book a nearby alternative location to hold the RG65 TT Event in case the lake is still not available for use.

Lake and Clubhouse Closed

The Council have closed off all access to the lake and Clubhouse and so all sailing and racing is cancelled for the time being.

Your committee will be in touch again when we have a potential date for re-opening.

All future club sailing events have been withdrawn for now.  The existing bookings will remain, but new bookings may not be added.  The RG65 TT Event is still live until we have confirmed that the lake will not be open at that time.

DF65 Social Racing 2021 #13 23/6/21

A fairly light Westerly breeze meant A plus rigs were chosen again. Malcolm Harvey did a grand job as Race officer today, setting a full length course over 8 races, with a 2 lap race to finish.

Light drizzle did dampen things down a bit, but cleared before the last race.  Matthew Stephenson missed some early races, due to heavy traffic on the drive up from Stoke, and Sally Collings did a Cinderella flit before the end of the days proceedings. Some very close racing today, as the points show – with some very promising form from newer members – keeping us all on our toes.

  1. Richard Robinson           01 – 9 pts
  2. Alan Watkinson             373 – 18 pts 2 x 1st
  3. Andrew Peter                  919 – 18 pts 1 x 1st
  4. Neil Westbrook                03 – 22 pts 1 x 1st
  5. John Carlin                         11 – 22 pts
  6. Simon Bates                     69 – 31 pts 1 x 1st
  7. James Douglas                73 – 31 pts
  8. Paul Little                          45 – 45 pts
  9. Richard Walker               39 – 49 pts
  10. Stan Metcalf                2146 – 58 pts
  11. Matthew Stephenson   28 – 65 pts
  12. Sally Collings                829 – 72 pts
  13. Paul Whalley                    53 – 74 pts

Just a reminder that Race Officer duties will be asked of participants on each Race Day – in numerical sail number order where possible. Please be prepared to sacrifice a day’s sailing every so often to perform RO duty.

IOM Summer Series #2 19/6/21

A fleet of 12 IOM’s were met by a solid top suit breeze down the middle from the clubhouse end. It was to be a day of nose diving, wind shifts and boy there were a lot them. Brad started the afternoon with 2 wins with Graham getting 2  seconds. Bills new tactical masterplan of sailing fast came to the fore with wins in race 3 and 4. Neil had his best with a second in race 4. Brad dominated  the races either side of the break with 5 wins from the 7 sailed. Graham got a deserved win in race 8 with Andrea finding her recent form with a win in race 10. Peter was to win the final race with Dave Hollom  showing good speed with a 2nd.
Although Brad was the clear winner, a discard score of 15 showed what a hard days sailing it was. Graham was my sailor of the day with 8 top 3 places sailing his Widget. Bill showed a much improved race series performance with 8 top 4’s.
A big thank you to Bernie who was working without his usual sidekick. Was it because of this he set a new PB in general recalls ? An early Fathers day visit from Vicky sorted that out.
  1.   Brad Gibson          62            britpop            16pts   7 wins
  2.   Graham Elliott     27            widget             28pts    1  win
  3.   Bill Culshaw          21             britpop           32pts    2 wins
  4.   Martin Roberts    22             A2                     39pts
  5.   Peter Balwin         63            Lintel MMX   40pts    1 win
  6.   Andrea Roberts  122            Vanilla             47pts    1 wins
  7.   Dave Hollom       186            Celestial Fix   65pts    (1 x 4th)
  8.   Neil Westbrook    03            widget              65pts
  9.   Tre Joinville           94           lintel                 77pts
  10.   Alan Watkinson    23           britpop             86pts
  11.   John Berry             123           Lintel MMX  105pts
  12.   Charles Legg          23           rubix                110pts

After 12 races

Next event in the IOM series, is on Saturday 3rd July.

DF65 Social Racing 2021 #12 16/6/21

A very variable light breeze, shifting 180 degrees from West to South made setting a course very difficult. A+ rigs were chosen. Thanks go to Paul Little, acting as Race Officer today.

We managed 8 races using ¾ of the lake and a single lap course, apart from race 8, when the breeze filled in to a steady Force 2-3 Westerly, allowing a good two lap race to finish the day.

  1. Richard Robinson    01   10 pts
  2. Neil Westbrook         03   19 pts
  3. Andrew Peter           919  20 pts
  4. Alan Watkinson      373  26 pts [ 2 x 1sts ]
  5. Andrew Potter         194  26 pts
  6. John Carlin                   11  37 pts
  7. Charles Legg               21  43 pts
  8. Simon Bates                69 53 pts
  9. Stan Metcalfe             46 58 pts
  10. Malcolm Harvey    1019 62 pts
  11. Richard Walker          39 74 pts Rtd [ 1 x 5th ]
  12. Graham Reeves        189 74 pts Rtd
  13. Paul Whalley               00 86 pts

Finally, may we remind all sailors that pre-registration via the online website entry form is still required, to enable Track & Trace, manage numbers, and allocate RO Duties.