DF65’s
The morning started with Peter moving the marks around and removing a number for later work to put new warps on them. There were enough left for a decent windward/leeward course complete with gate. It also turned out even after tweaking the line with the help of those practising, the line was rather port biased at times.
So to the racing where there was a delay before we even started as having opted for A rigs, the breeze strengthened such that B rigs were needed (and in some gusts even C would have been useful!), so everyone changed down.
Paul Little opted to act as RO after having transmitter problems before the start (thanks Paul), which allowed everyone to sail all eight races. Consistency was key today and very hard to achieve in the gusty and shifty Westerly, which also created problematic waves at the clubhouse end, especially if the wind dropped off for a few seconds. You could often find yourself going backwards after a tack until the next gust came along to provide some forward motion.
We had five different race winners today in the eight races sailed. Only Peter managed to pick up three race wins, with Clive taking two then Mike DSP, Alan and Neil all having their moment of fame. Dave Williams was unlucky to miss out on a win having led at the windward mark for two of the later races, but was unfortunately pipped to the post in both cases.
The final race went to a Black Flag start having tried two starts with no penalty, each resulting in a general recall after a freeing gust pushed too many boats over the line when we couldn’t bear away quickly enough. Fortunately, nobody was caught out when the race finally got away on the third attempt.
A good but frustrating mornings racing with the main comment at the end being “have we only done 8 races??” as it seemed like 18 to some.
- Peter Baldwin 63 11pts 3x1st
- John Carlin 11 16pts
- Alan Watkinson 373 20pts 1x1st
- Dave Williams 233 21pts
- Clive Warren 53 23pts 2x1st
- Mike De St Paer 35 23pts 1x1st
- Neil Westbrook 03 29pts 1x1st
- Paul Plested 54 33pts
DF95s
After the lunch break it was the turn of the 95s to take to the water, like the 65s the turnout was down on our usual numbers and Richard forgetting his transmitter didn’t help, but did provide us with a very efficient RO for the afternoon. Thanks Richard.
The wind and course were very similar to the morning and B rigs were choice of the day, which proved a good one. One lap races were used with the last race of the day extended to 2 laps.
As in the morning races, the race was won by being in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the wind shifts but just as importantly picking the right wind shift to tack on, a lot of the time the wind would back and the boat would be caught in irons, with the resulting loss of distance frustrating for the skipper as they watched the other competitors powering away.
Race one, and Neil came out of the blocks well and took the race win followed closely by Clive and Paul. Race 2 and it was Clive’s turn to master the conditions best, taking the win from Neil followed by Paul. This was the case for races 3 and 4, until Neil put an end to Clive’s winning streak in race 5. Race 6 saw Clive back on top with Neil second. Meanwhile Paul who in his words “was having a nightmare day” began to find some boat speed but more importantly his way around the lake taking second place behind Clive in the last 2 races, with Neil third. Unfortunately Martin also had a bad day at the office but did manage to pick up a third place in race 6
Results after 8 races with 2 discards
- Clive Warren 6pts
- Neil Westbrook 10pts
- Paul Plested 16pts
- Martin Wittingham-Jones 21pts
