DF65’s
A rather unpromising forecast for today didn’t deter the 65 fleet, although the conditions on arrival had everyone looking for some extra layers of warm clothing. The promised rain arrived before racing was due to start and really hammered down for a few minutes, but then cleared up enough to make the sailing if not pleasant, then certainly not bad for winter sailing.
The forecast had got the punchy S. Easterly breeze about right and there were some hefty gusts which were right at the top of A rig conditions. There was a bit of debate about whether to stop for a change to B rig, but after a couple of races everyone decided to stick with the A.
Existing mark positions allowed for a good line, and it seemed to pay to start at the pin and then get the bow down on Starboard and sail right across until the breeze started to get affected by the trees on the far side and then make a fairly long port tack board back until the last bit of the beat where the clubhouse shifts came into play. During the morning this changed a bit, and it started to pay to come across on port early and pick up a starboard tack lift along the clubhouse side.
A number of boats had really good boat speed so the racing was interesting, with six of the eight skippers recording a second or first during the morning. Mike was lucky to get his boat dialled in early and the slight speed advantage allowed wins in the first six races. By race seven Richard had closed the gap to win, and Guy finished on a high with a race eight win.
A cold but competitive day’s racing with thanks to Malcolm for the results, and to Commodore Dave for keeping everything moving and taking pictures (at the expense of a race).
DF95’s
A strange wind today carried over from the morning, nominally easterly but with some brutal swirling shifts especially around the approach to the windward mark. The same course as the morning was used and the starts were self monitored.
A good turnout of 8 skippers opted for a safe B rig set up, A rig would probably have been ok with hindsight with only the odd stronger gust posing a problem.
As seems to be the case recently, the racing was generally very competitive with 6 of the 8 helms recording at least 1 top three position. Paul was the pick of the bunch posting 7 wins out of the 9 races sailed. He only lost out to Clive in the first race and Alan in the 5th and sailed very consistently throughout the afternoon.
Clive and Alan had a close dual for the other podium spots, with Alan posting a 3rd place against Clives 4th separating their scores in the end.
The rest of the group had a battle royal to determine the final positions, unfortunately Dave had gear problems with the mainsheet jumping off the winch spool which cost him dearly and after a couple of repeat disappointments, called it a day and became RO and cameraman for the rest of the afternoon. Meanwhile Andy was winning the battle for 4th and pushing his brother Stuart into 5th securing the bragging rights for another week!! The final positions were also close with only 2 points separating Steve and Malcolm with the latter taking the 6th spot.
Summary
A good afternoon in a healthy breeze with a few nasty shifts in wind direction to keep the helms on their toes. Good competition throughout the fleet and sailed in a social manner. What more can you ask for?
Thanks to Dave for photos and RO (part time) and Malcolm for the results.
