DF65’s
Spring was definitely NOT in the air to greet the eight DF 65 sailors for the morning session.
Guy had his portable anemometer out and it showed gusts of 16 knots, although it must be a cheapo from Tandy’s because it lied! Speke Airport was gusting 36 knots blowing from the WNW so you can imagine it was very choppy down the clubhouse end of the lake.
So much so that it was deemed “unseamanlike “ to use a gate and one of the starting marks was utilised as the leeward mark to keep things manageable.
C Rigs was the call as this is the smallest suit the 65’s carry. Boat handling and consistency paid off as ever. Very challenging conditions in the rain and squalls. Many a lament as skippers struggled to tack and found themselves in irons to great cost in the placings.
John Carlin shone through with a steady scoreline to win the day. Second with more bullets than John (Wayne??) was Alan Walkinson but a few shockers kept him of the number one slot. Our illustrious Commodore was very happy with his third place. Overall, all of us really enjoyed the boisterous conditions.
Our thanks to Malcom who sadly did not have a C Rig and so elected to be Rave (sic) Officer and photographer. Do join us again next week for yet another great Rave!
DF95’s
The wind continued to blow straight down the lake from the far end providing almost perfect sailing conditions for the six skippers who took to the water for an afternoon of DF95 sailing. The only downside was the intermittent rain showers and the cold wind, but you can’t have it all. The wind strength was perfect for C rigs an unusual sight at Gautby Rd.
A standard course was set with only one lap to maximise the number of races, with only six boats on the start line the starts were self monitored and the normal first to finish recorded the results.
Race 1, saw field split into 2 groups, with Clive, Alan and Guy taking the podium spots. There was then a gap to the other 3 boats.
It was agreed that the front three should be handicapped to make the racing more interesting / challenging. The handicap was for the front 3 to start between the gate marks which were set about 15m behind the normal start line, in addition to the added distance an added problem was judging the length of the line given the conditions, a problem Guy fell fowl of on more than 1 occasion. Alan also realised that he hadn’t taped down the hatch, not a good day to forget, but he missed the start of race 2, drying the boat off and sealing the hatch.
The handicapping worked to close the gap between competitors, during the next 6 races all skippers visiting podium at least once. However they couldn’t catch Clive who had a very solid day posting 7 wins in the first 7 races. After bailing the water out of his boat Alan seemed to struggle to repeat his first race result whilst Stuart improved to post a string of 4 seconds. Steve also profited from the handicapping with 2 thirds, with Malcolm chipping in also with a third. It took a bit of team work in the last race to prevent Clive having a clean sweep, when Guy took Clive out whilst battling for the lead on the final leg to allow Alan and Stuart through.
In summary a great afternoon sailing, with near perfect C rig conditions, but after 8 races the skippers returned to the clubhouse to dry off and warm up.
Thanks to Malcolm for the results and Clive for the photos.
