The forecast for the last day of sailing in 2025 at Birkenhead, promised top end A rig rising to B rig as the day progressed for the 12 skippers who turned up to play. As it turned out, it was A Rig all day with only a spell in the morning when a few gusts were a challenge for some.
Paul Plested made the mistake of getting to the Club before Peter Baldwin and it was he who donned the waders to move marks to set the standard windward/leeward 2 lap course, with a beat straight down the lake towards the Clubhouse.
As is the norm Martin Roberts was cutting it tight arriving at the Club with five minutes to go before the first race. Fortunately, his borrowed boat was already rigged and tuned by John Brierley and he did just make the start, which got away promptly at 11:00 am under the watchful eyes of Neil Westbrook and Sharon Plested, who had kindly volunteered to run the racing for the day.
The pattern for the day was to see big shifts and it was easy to slide down the fleet if you got them wrong, but equally if you got into sync you could climb through the fleet (at least the more experienced could) if you’d messed up the start.
In the first four races Peter showed his intent by scoring two firsts, but was also down in the pack in the other two races. Martin worked his way up to 2nd in the first race and also got two other podium places in this session. Paul also bagged three podium spots including a 1st in the third race. Alas, this was his best spell of the day, which would eventually end with racing cut short due to intermittent transmitter problems becoming terminal by mid afternoon. Bill Culshaw, in only his second sail with his DF95, showed his experience with a 1st in the 2nd race and a 3rd in the fourth race of the day.
After a slow start to the day by his standards, Olly Murray who had travelled down from Fleetwood, started to find his form and in the two races before the tea break he added a 1st and a 2nd to his scorecard. Peter banked another 1st and a 3rd with Martin and John Brierley picking up podium places. Bill continued to be a threat at the front of the fleet with two 4ths and a number of great starts.
After a short break for a cuppa (thanks to Chris Westbrook) and mince pies, the afternoon session of six races got underway, in what proved to be lighter and perhaps tricker conditions, particularly in the top third of the beat. As most found out at some point, wind bends to both port and startboard could leave helms having to take an unfavourable shift to get to the windward mark, which almost always proved costly. The only helm who really cracked it was Peter who dominated with both top results and consistency scoring three 2nd and two 1st, winning race five by a country mile. The only blot on his scorecard was in the last race of the day when a coming together and a terminal entanglement with a running boat led to a retirement. Olly continued to add podium positions including a 1st and a 2nd, as did Martin who also added a 1st and a string of 3rds to his tally. John Brierley, whilst lacking a little consistency over the day, did have a better afternoon and capped his day off with a big lead win in the final race. Bill also added a 2nd to his tally.
Whilst there were a few helms hogging the top spots, further down the fleet there were battles being fought and some notable performances in individual races. Guy Cowper scored a 4th in race one and might have had a better overall tally but for a few misjudged mark roundings and being OCS in the penultimate race. Dave Williams, had several good races with two 5th places on the day. Good also to see Steve Miller’s progression since the start of the year, with an 8th in one race and a 6th in the last and usually staying in touch with the fleet.
As the overall result table shows it was Peter’s day with a nine point lead over Martin, who nudged Olly down to third by a single point, With John 4th and Bill a very creditable 5th on his first club outing with the ’95. Thanks to Sharon and Neil for acting as RO and scorer’s and Chris in the galley. Post racing we had a Xmas themed buffet lunch (thanks Paul & Sharon) and a good natter before heading home.
The next Club Racing is IOM Winter 2025/6 #2 on Saturday 3rd January. Start Time 12:00 – all welcome.
