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DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 27/3/24

DF65’s

All the signs were there for a good morning of A rig racing for the 14 helms, with the breeze straight down the lake from the clubhouse as we arrived and even as most boats went on the water a few minutes before the start.  Then, a heavy rain squall flattened the boats and soaked the competitors for a couple of minutes before the clock went on.  The rain thankfully stopped, but took most of the wind with it and made it veer through at least 45 degrees, so that by the time we started, the key skill (or was it luck?) was to work out where the most breeze might be on the course to take you to the windward mark the quickest (and it was often not the shortest route).

The conditions were not to the liking of Mike dsp and John C and they both dropped out after a few races along with Paul Little who had things to attend to.  This was a pity for them, as the breeze during the later races was probably the best of the morning.  During the seven races completed, the wins were shared between 4 helms.  The winner sometimes being decided on the final beat into the finish when the leader at the gate could be becalmed in the middle of the lake heading nicely for the finish, whilst a later boat in the fleet sailed up the far bank and got a very nice breeze into the finish.

Peter Baldwin gained 3 wins, James Douglas two, with Neil Westbrook and Andrew Potter taking one each.  The morning however went to James with a very consistent set of results, just one point ahead of Peter, with Neil eight points adrift in third place.

  1. James Douglas              73   12pts
  2. Peter Baldwin               63   13pts
  3. Neil Westbrook            03   21pts
  4. Andrew Potter             194  22pts
  5. Clive Warren                  53   27pts
  6. Paul Plested                   54   28pts
  7. Alan Watkinson          373   33pts
  8. Simon Bates                   69   37pts
  9. Dave Williams                33   46pts
  10. Frans King                       95   51pts
  11. John Carlin                       11   58pts
  12. John Beech                       80  62pts
  13. Mike De St Paer              35  67pts
  14. Paul Little                         45  76pts

DF95’s

After the frustrations of racing the DF65 in the morning, unfortunately only 4 skippers turned out for the afternoon, partly due to the morning experience but other commitments also took their toll on the normal fleet.
For those that did stay there was a very pleasant surprise in store for them.  The very fluky southerly wind from the morning, was replaced with SE which was just enough of a shift to straighten the direction to not quite down the middle of the lake but took out a lot of the dead spots that were seen in the morning. Added to this it was strengthening throughout the afternoon and with some added sun it was a very enjoyable sail.
It was a good A rig wind at the start of the afternoon with a few shifts but no real holes to fall into. As is normal with Gautby Rd picking the right shift to tack on was imperative to stay in contention, and if you picked a wrong one and got headed you were suddenly tail end Charlie. The same course as the morning was used, with one lap sprints to maximise the number of races. With only 4 boats although racing  was very light hearted, and more social than racing, but most enjoyable. Unfortunately Alan had to leave after 5 races for a prior commitment  after taking 4 wins and a 3rd..  The remainder continued to enjoy themselves in the freshening wind that would have been good for a B rig in the later stages but we all stayed on A’s. After 11 races grey clouds started to threaten so we call it a day.
Final results didnt really matter but Alan had the bragging rights with 4 wins, John B 3 wins, with Clive and Dave both on 2.

IOM Winter Series #6 – 23/3/24

The weather forecast from a week out had strong WNW winds predicted and in a rare occurance, held true for the final round of the 2023-24 IOM Winter Series at Birkenhead.

With a number of skippers away representing the club at events abroad (Belgium RG 65 Nationals) and around the country (DF TT at Lincoln), it was an eager 6 skippers who fronted with C suits bar one, firmed up for action.

As is his standard, PRO Dave Williams had us away at 12pm sharp with a course stretching the best part of the lakes length. Early races were hard fought between Brad Gibson, Alan Bennett and Martin Roberts, with Brad breaking for a number of early wins.

The race pace was quicker than normal in the conditions with all enjoying the quick beats to windward and even quicker runs to the gate set deep in the chop at the leeward end. The first six races flew by and a break was had for refreshments in the warmer confines of the clubhouse. 

Martin came out of the blocks firing for race 7 to take a well fought win from Brad. Graham Birkett was enjoying a slight ease in the wind with his rejuvenated Widget sporting a B rig and throwing no end of spray on the runs.(Best get the C rig done Graham!). Better races were also had by both Alan Watkinson and Charles Legg.

Race 8 again had Martin leading only to find trouble at the gate with misfortune that took him from a further push fir the top placings. Brad, Alan B and Graham were swapping places in some close races with Alan taking a strong race 10 win.

With 3 o clock approaching it was agreed that after 13 races that all had enjoyed the day and a close to racing ws called as the skies opened and the WNW bared its teeth.

In the wrap up it was Brad who took the day with 11 wins for a score of 11 points from 13 races. Alan Bennett took a deserved second place and the perseverance of Graham Birkett saw him round out the podium with third.

Thanks as always to Dave Williams and Neil Westabrook for running a great days racing. We look forward to the start of our IOM Summer Series on April 27 and invite anyone looking to join us for some final practice in for the Nationals at Poole the following week.  Folow the link to enter or register your interest.

  1. Brad Gibson            42  Post Punk    11pts
  2. Alan Bennett         180  Britpop!       23pts
  3. Graham Birkett    133  Widget          37pts
  4. Martin Roberts     122  Chimera       42pts
  5. Alan Watkinson     23  Britpop!        55pts
  6. Charles Legg           40  K2                   58pts

Best of luck to our Vane 36 skippers over Easter and our travelling Marblehead and IOM skippers at upcoming Ranking events early in April.

Pics by Victoria Gibson

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 20/3/24

DF65’s

A Northerly, or maybe N. Easterly breeze, for todays DF racing which made a welcome change. Various sailors arrived with the expectation of no sailing as it had been flat calm elsewhere on the Wirral, but in the event the breeze held and very slowly got up to a reasonable A+ rig day.

Twelve skippers showed up today, including a welcome visitor from Gresford. Welcome to Gautby road John Pritchard, hope you enjoyed your racing. Various regulars were away, and John Carlin stayed briefly to discuss some parts for a starting system but had to leave before sailing.

The usual course was used, with a line which favoured the starboard end, and was also conveniently far away from the RO to make spotting OCS easy. The initial intention was for all to share the RO duties, but Dave Williams’ boat had some electrical gremlins which he was unable to fix pondside, so he very kindly ran all the races, leaving the fleet down to eleven racers.

Racing was once again very competitive, and the shifty conditions meant that no one could relax at any stage of the race. Mike dsp won 5 races during the morning’s sailing, but his total before discards was actually more than Jon Whitehead and Andrew Potter who sailed more consistently and also won two and three races respectively.

In the end Mike’s wins were just enough to run out the winner, followed closely by Jon and Andrew, with overall results shown below.

Many thanks again to Dave for ROing.

  1. Mike de St Paer            13pts   5 wins
  2. Jon Whitehead             16 pts  2 wins
  3. Andrew Potter              17 pts  3 wins
  4. Frans KIng                     41 pts  1 x 2nd
  5. Clive Warren                 41 pts
  6. Neil Westbrook            43 pts
  7. John Pritchard              53 pts
  8. Dave Howard                 59 pts
  9. Richard Walker             60 pts
  10. Don McKinnon              63 pts
  11. Paul Little                        66 pts

DF95’s

The afternoon got underway with 8 skippers taking part which was great to see  as a number of regulars were unavailable for various reasons. A big welcome to Jon Whitehead on his maiden 95 voyage, following on from Mikes inaugural 95 sail last week.
The conditions were very similar to the morning, warm and partly sunny a steadyish Northwesterly , which was perfect for an A rig but produced just enough shifts and holes to ensure the skippers couldn’t relax. The same course as the morning was used with a mixture of 1 and 2 laps. Seven races were sailed  and a special thanks to Martin Wittingham-Jones for recording the finishers
As seems to be the tradition, we always let the new skipper win the first race to keep them keen!! (only kidding but it happened last week with Mike and again this week with Jon) – well sailed Jon. Neil was 2nd  and Clive 3rd.. Racing was close throughout the fleet with private battles throughout with 6 of the helms scoring a top 3 place. Neil was unlucky with battery problems which caused him control issues in 2 races, before skipping 2 races to diagnose and sort, otherwise he would have a much better result. Mike sailed steadily notching up 2 wins, Clive taking 3 and Jon finishing  the day the way he started taking the last race with a win.
Results (with 1 discard)
1   Clive Warren         11pts     3 wins
2    Jon Whitehead    14pts    2 wins
3   Mike de St Paer    15pts    2 wins
4   Neil Westbrook    26pts
5   Richard Walker     30pts
6   Frans King              31pts
7   Paul Little               32pts
8   Dave Howard        35pts

DF/RG65 Winter 2023 #6

Today was the final race in the Winter Series for the RG65 and DF65.  There was a reduced turnout as unfortunately a number of regular sailors were unable to sail for a variety of reasons.  This left just five RG65’s and only two DF65’s for today’s racing in a decent breeze and a little rain at the start of racing.  The wind was approximately SE and so coming out of the Clubhouse corner, although in the middle 4 or 5 races it seemed to straighten a little to be almost down the lake, but still with some good shifts to help in the snakes and ladders of racing.  Most RG65’s opted for A swing rigs, although after only 4 races we called an early lunch and those that could, changed down to a conventional A.  In this first session, Peter and Bill were chasing each other around the course, with Peter getting the upper hand with 3 wins to Bill’s one.  For the remaining three, Charles was having a good session and was neck and neck with Dave at this stage.

After the break, the wind had perhaps eased a little for a race or two, perhaps due to another light rain shower.  However, once this rain stopped, the wind slowly increased and even the conventional A rigs were losing control downwind at times and in one start, Peter was the only one near the start as the remainder of the fleet struggled to line up and start on time.  Bill put together a good series of four wins in the next 5 races and after 10 races he and Peter were tied on firsts (and seconds).  Peter then won the next race, giving him the advantage going into the last race.  Bill unfortunately couldn’t take the final win and thus left Peter with the overall win today with Bill a close second.  Alan had a better later session after some rig tweaking and unfortunately Charles had to sit out the last four races, being overpowered in his swing rig and without a conventional A to drop down to.  He did however just manage to take third place after being tied on points with Dave, but had five third places to Dave’s two.  They only just beat Alan who ended up the day only one point behind them.

Meanwhile in the DF65’s Clive and Jon had a match racing day, with Clive starting well and winning the first two races, before Jon strung a series of seven wins from the next eight races and take the overall day, although having been in A+ rig for ten races, they opted to change down and then Clive had an electrical issue as he put his boat back on the water which ended their day’s racing after only 10 races.

Thanks go to Peter for moving the marks around and Dave for watching over the start line and calculating the scores at the end of the day.

  1. Peter Baldwin          63   Uno  13pts
  2. Bill Cukshaw            21    Ivy    15pts
  3. Charles Legg            26   Uno  38pts (5x3rd)
  4. Dave Williams         33   Uno   38pts  (2x3rd)
  5. Alan Watkinson      23   Uno   39pts

DF65’s

  1. Jon Whitehead        770  9pts
  2. Clive Warren              53 13pts

Next week is the final day of the IOM Winter Series, but numbers may be limited with at least 5 skippers away at Open events.  If you are planning to sail, please make an entry soon.  Visitors are always welcome with only a minor race fee of £2 to pay.  Enter by clicking on the relevant link under “Upcoming Events”

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 13/3/24

DF65’s

The forecast strong SW breeze didn’t really reach Gautby Rd lake and, as it was blowing right over the houses, gave very fluky conditions even by the standards of the venue.

Another excellent turnout of 17 skippers arrived although, as reported below, this reduced for various reasons during the morning’s racing.

Dave Williams very kindly offered to RO the racing, and then as the first race ended John Brierley had to leave followed closely by Simon who had come with only an A rig having been led astray by the forecast. Charles and Sally also departed a bit later leaving the remaining helms to enjoy the conditions which varied from real knockdown gusts to complete flat spots,

There was initially a bit of debate about which end to start, but the decision to start at the far end of the lake turned out to be the right one. The usual course was used with a line which looked very starboard end biased, but once again enabled good starts to be made pretty much anywhere.

Despite the tricky conditions there was good racing, although after 8 races (and a couple of rain showers) all agreed that this was enough for the morning.

Thanks to Dave for running the racing and for untangling the results which ended as follows;

  1. Mike de St Paer     8pts           4 wins
  2. James Douglas     12 pts         2 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson   13 pts         2 wins
  4. Clive Warren        24 pts
  5. John Carlin            27 pts
  6. Dave Howard       40 pts
  7. Richard Walker   41 pts
  8. Neil Westbrook   44 pts
  9. Paul Little              45 pts
  10. Sally Collings       49 pts (sailed 5 races)
  11. Don Mackinnon  53 pts (sailing an A rig)
  12. John Beech            58 pts
  13. Malcolm Harvey 67 pts
  14. Charles Legg         74 pts    (sailed 4 races)
  15. Simon Bates          90 pts    (A rig & ret’d during race 1)

DF95’s

The highlight of the afternoon was the turnout of skippers, 8 in total which given the wind and weather forecast was a great turnout especially considering regulars, Frans King, John Carlin, Tony Sedgewick weren’t racing. Double figure starters are just around the corner!!!!
The lowlight of the afternoon was the wind, no change from the morning conditions with a S SW breeze directly over and through the houses which provided wind from all points of the compass at regular intervals. Added to this were some strong gusts from any direction. it was a tricky day to sail for sure!! Having said this the DF95s handled the conditions better than the 65s in the morning and racing was as competitive as ever.
5 Races with one discard were sailed after a slightly extended lunch, when technical help was being handed out. With normal 95 racing protocol in place with self managed starts and with the winner recording the results (now we have a reasonable fleet we may need to change to dedicated ROs). We were ready for racing using the same course as the morning, providing a beat, reach and run on each leg.
Mike on his maiden voyage in the 95s showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with once he masters the subtle differences in the big boats to the 65’s, leading for most of the way round to take the first win of the afternoon, followed home by Alan in 2nd and Richard in 3rd. Dave took the second race showing his steady improvement before with Alan 2nd and Mike sailing very consistently 3rd. Alan then stepped up a gear and took the next 2 wins with Mike and Clive taking the 2nd places with Dave and Mike picking up the 3rds. The final race saw Clive take the win with Dave finishing 2nd and John 3rd
Final Results
1     Alan Watkinson        6 pts,     2 wins
2     Mike de St Paer         9pts      1 win
3     Dave Howard            13 pts  1 win
4     Clive Warren            15pts     1 win
5     Richard Walker       16pts
6     John Beech                17pts
7     Malcolm Harvey     20pts
8     Paul Little                  28pts

DF65 Northern District Championships – 9/3/24

This was the first time in a long while that a District Championships had been held for the DF65, such that some might consider this to have been an inaugural one.  With ever increasing costs for travel and accommodation, all MYA Districts are trying to organise more one day events for sailors in different classes.  Unfortunately, with other events and traveller series at the moment, it is often difficult to avoid clashes and fit them into club programmes.

The day started with light rain and a decent top end of A+ rig breeze from the top corner at the clubhouse end.  One or two opted to start in A, but most were in A+ and when those few changed up after race 1, all remained in the same rig all day.

Race Officer Martin Roberts along with assistants Dave Williams and Neil Westbrook opted for batches of 4 races with breaks between to get re-hydrated and enjoy the biscuits and cake on offer.  The first session belonged to John Brierley and Tony Sedgwick who had two wins apiece, with Peter Baldwin, Simon Fairman, Paul Middleton, John Carlin and Andrew Potter all figuring in the podium places.

After the break and with the wind straightening a little, this seemed to suit Peter as he took three of the next 4 wins, with John B picking up the other one.  Simon, Tony, Paul, Alan Watkinson and Jon Whitehead all figured in the podium places this time.  This late morning surge saw Peter leapfrog Simon and John B to take the lead at lunch by a slender one point margin.

Post lunch and with the weather and light levels improving, saw three new race winners with Alan taking race 9, Andrew Potter race 10 and Simon Fairman races 11 and 12.  Podium places were shared between Peter, John B, Jon, John Carlin and James Douglas.  Peter’s consistency kept him on top though with Simon taking second at this point ahead of John B before the final break was taken.

As we started the final session of 5 races before the 4pm cut-off, the wind had backed once again to be out of the top corner, giving more significant gusts, shifts and holes.  There were places to be gained by tacking at the right time, but it was never always clear when that time was.

This final session belonged to John Brierley with two wins and two seconds, with Peter, Paul and Tony picking up the other wins.  Other podium places were taken by Simon, Paul, Alan, Jon, John Carlin and James Douglas.

John Brierley missed the last race due to gear failure, but with Peter unable to capitalise on this fact, it left John Brierley with the well deserved overall win, just three points ahead of Peter in second and Simon Fairman third.

Winner John Brierley on the right with RO Martin Roberts

Overall, it was a tricky day at Birkenhead, leading to consistency issues across the fleet.  In his winner’s address, John Brierley thanked the race team and most especially Chris Westbrook for running the galley and making us tea and coffee, serving biscuits and cake all day.  All photos courtesy of Dave Williams.  A link to other photos taken is available here