c

DF65/95 Social Racing 2024 – 18/9/24

DF65

The day started inauspiciously, with mist, leaden skies and little sign of breeze. By the time we arrived at the club, the skies remained dreary, but the breeze had started to fill in from the Southeast, and we found ourselves with consistent wind along the lake, allowing us to set a course from the far end start marks to the clubhouse end, with a gate at the two furthest marks at the end of the downwind leg. Rather than persuading someone to don the waders we left a fairly short start line that created challenges for many of us as we tried to time our approaches to the line without contact with other boats or the start marks. As Neil kept pointing out, this shouldn’t have been a problem as we are all good sailors.

We tried one race with the buoys closest to the clubhouse as the windward mark and spreader but, after howls of anguish went up as boats hit dead air as we approached them, the decision was made to use the two start marks at the clubhouse as a port-hand windward mark and a spreader. This allowed for some close, competitive and enjoyable racing. Each sailor acted as race officer in turn, giving us nine races in which positions changed regularly and in which many results were settled on the finish line. Our congratulations to John Carlin for his superbly consistent sailing and our thanks to Dave Williams, who turned up to open the clubhouse before returning home.

At the end of the nine races, the results were:

  1. John Carlin                  8.1*                      5 wins
  2. Neil Westbrook        15.5                         1 win
  3. Alan Watkinson       15.9                         1 win
  4. Clive Warren             25.9                         1 win
  5. Charles Legg             31.1
  6. Paul Little                  33.8
  7. Richard Walker       34.9
  8. Frans King                 49.6
  9. David White               52.6

*The decimal points are there because of the use of average ponts for races in which sailors acted as race officer

DF95

The numbers for the afternoon 95 racing, like the morning session, is still being affected by the “senior holiday season” even so 6 skippers rigged their boats. Unfortunately before getting his on the water Paul L had a phone call from home signalling the end of his fun for the day. So 5 skippers took to the water in very similar conditions as the morning although the 95’s seem to handle them better or was there a bit more wind and a few less holes to fall into? A rigs were perfect.
The same course as the morning was used, and with the limited numbers the starts were self regulated with the first home recording the results. 7 races were sailed of 1 lap each, with the final race extended to 2 laps.
It didn’t take long for our second casualty as Neil fell foul of an intermittent electrical problem during the first race, but managed to return for race 5. Although only 4 boats remained for the initial races,  the races were very competitive with extremely close all the way to the finish with the final positions, more often than not changing hands on the beat to the finish.
Neil’s return in the 5 race only added to the competitiveness, and after 8 races  4 of the 5 helms had bagged at least one first place. Success was all about picking the right wind shift to tack on or to bear away, with much ground to be gained or lost and if you hesitated more often than not you’d end up head to wind and floundering.
Final results after 8 races (2 discards)
1.    Clive Warren             9pts        3 wins
2.    Frans King                 14pts      2 wins
3.    Alan   Watkinson     17pts
4.    Richard Walker        19pts       1 win
5.    Neil Westbrook        20pts      2 wins
In Summary,  a very enjoyable afternoon spent in the sunshine with a tricky wind with a bunch of like minded friends. Unlucky for Neil, without his electrical problem Im  sure his result would have been a lot better. Well done to Clive for winning and to Frans showing some good boat speed.