Positives – Water level is absolutely fine with no grounding issues for DF65s and close to being full.
Weed – still bits of weed floating and sub-surface but not causing a major problem ….. you had to be unlucky to pick up any during racing. Thanks to all the personnel who have been netting and removing most of the weed. What weed is left is clearly dying off as the water temp drops and will hopefully sink to the bottom and rot away soon.
However, Although we didn’t experience our traditional summer algae bloom largely due to Clive’s efforts with the dye, but it has now returned with a vengeance. It’s certainly possible to sail in it, as everybody is pretty much affected equally, but it is still a nuisance as it collects onto the keel and rudder, slowing you down and making the boat harder to sail and manoeuvre. I think we are past peak algae and as with the weed, the colder weather should speed up its death and decline so we are hopeful that algal conditions will only improve from here on in.
Sailing conditions today: Difficult/Awful! …. possibly the worst i have experienced at Gautby Rd which is saying something when we all know what a “normal” bad can can be.
With a NW 15-22kts at Hilbre today, I was expecting a B rig day with wind straight down the lake. In reality it was A+ rigs with the wind from any direction usually all at the same time. I can’t comment too much on the actual racing as i suffered from a winch problem early on and then got frustrated with conditions and went home early. In the races I did complete, it was quite possible to go from first to last and back to first, all in the space of sailing 30m. Clive certainly seemed to ‘master’ the conditions better than most closely followed by Dave then Alan and James. For everybody else it was a total lottery unfortunately. Thanks as always to Dave for the results and photos.
To quote Tony Blair and New Labour In 1997 ‘Things can only get better” – and hopefully they will do soon.
It was a sunny morning as ten sailors with their DF65’s turn up for some social sailing.. Conditions made for some very tricky sailing. The wind was light and variable blowing down the lake from the club house in a southerly direction. The wind strength could be described as being light and very variable. There were plenty of shifts and headers to be had with all sailors benefiting and losing. A standard course was set utilising the full length of the lake with starting from the top end of the lake.
Racing commenced promptly at 11:00. The first race one was keenly contested between all skippers, as they managed the ever changing conditions which was eventually won by Richard (39, )who seemed to manage the conditions the best. Clive (53) second and Stuart (805) third. Alan (373) finished last. Oh how things would change for Alan.
The racing continued in the same vein, Now Alan found his groove managing the conditions the best and started to put a run of results together. All other skippers had mixed results battling with the ever changing wind direction and strength. Some skipper found the condition to be to testing and decided to call it a day.
The three remaining skippers braved the ever changing wind battling shifts and headers. All in all a very pleasant if not challenging mornings sailing if not frustrating at times.
A big thank to Neil (as RO) who kept us all on our toes and we managed to get 8 races in in total and to Dave W for the photos and results table.
After a long layoff due to low water level and more recently some weed, it was decided to test the water with some social racing with DF65’s. This followed attempts to clear the lake over the last week. The problem we then faced was that the wind had changed direction 3 times over the last 3 days, resulting in any floating weed not settling at one end.
A standard windward mark, spreader, gate and finish line were set outwith a good WNW breeze blowing from the far end of the lake. A+ rig was the choice for all, which was sometimes over powered on the run, causing broaching and nose diving. Neil Westbrook volunteered for RO duties and kept us in check on the start line, calling back any early starters.
Well done to Clive who was reasonably consistent in avoiding the weed, especially in the later races. Also, well done to John Mackie with a race win and pipping Alan who finished 3rd also with a race win. Finally a big welcome and well done to Sam McDougall, potential new member, finishing in a well deserved 4th place.
Ten DF65 sailors arrived at Gautby Rd today to be greeted by very pleasant conditions …. sunny but not too hot and a gentle breeze blowing down the lake towards the clubhouse. A+ rigs were the default option as was the standard course. All the usual Gautby Rd hazards were in place. ….. significant wind shifts, puffs, lulls and dead spots, weed plus a new hazard not experienced before which became very apparent in the first race!
As the first boats approached the windward mark for the first time, they ground to a halt. Weed was the cry. The next boats took a different line into the mark hoping to capitalise on the misfortunes of the leaders, but they too ground to a halt. Weed bed was now the cry. The back markers then arrived and proceeded to join the rest of the fleet now parked all around the mark. Massive weed bed the cry changed to.
With seemingly everybody stuck and unable to escape the apparent water borne triffid, Andrew set off to get the waders. On his return most boats had escaped but his own and Charles’s were still there. Arriving at he mark he lifted the boats out the water expecting clumps of weed on the keel …. but nothing apart from a cloud of disturbed mud in the water. It quickly became apparent that there was no weed … but equally not enough water for a DF65 to sail in … everybody had just gone aground! With no rainfall for the past 6 weeks, the water level in the lake has dropped by at least a foot creating a problem that only some prolonged rainfall is going to solve
Luckily the clubhouse half of the lake is a couple of inches deeper which allowed us to move the windward marks down the lake and continue racing … although there were still areas which were shallow enough to slow the boat during tacks as it came upright. The other downside was that any weed on the bottom of the lake invariably got picked up by everybody at some point or other. Only the luckiest managed to complete a whole race without weed, with everybody else having to make formula 1 pit-stop tactical decisions, as to continue racing with weed, come into the bank on the downwind leg to remove it, or round the leeward mark before coming into the bank to remove it
Over an 8 race series, it’s probably safe to assume that everybody got affected the same, but it didn’t feel that way as you watched boats cruise past you, or you made a major detour into the bank to de-weed
Just seven DF65’s out today in a light and variable mostly Easterly, which at times disappeared and usually reappear once again from the East, but occasionally could be from the North, South or West. Testing times therefore with the wind and unfortunately a few pieces of floating debris, which caught out most of us during the session and some more often than others. At least the sun was out and it was not too hot.
James came out on top with some great starts and picked up four of the wins, just edging out Peter for top slot who only managed three wins (an OCS never helps get a good place!) with Richard taking the final win. Unfortunately that win was not good enough to keep Alan away from third place, who had a consistent set of results and his fair share of the floating debris to mess up his challenge for one of the two top spots.
Dave Worron also struggled with consistency although he had some good races once Peter had made a few adjustments to rig setup. Stuart was going well at times and did manage a third in Race 4 and another third may have bumped him up a place.
So, James took top spot this week, followed by Peter in second and Alan third. Thanks must go to Dave Williams acting as RO and also loaning his boat to a sailor but Radio sailing novice to try out. Dave also captured a few photos for the report and produced the final results.
