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.
- Peter Baldwin 63 Uno 13pts
- Bill Cukshaw 21 Ivy 15pts
- Charles Legg 26 Uno 38pts (5x3rd)
- Dave Williams 33 Uno 38pts (2x3rd)
- Alan Watkinson 23 Uno 39pts
DF65’s
- Jon Whitehead 770 9pts
- 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”
