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DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 19/2/25

DF65’s

None of the promised warmer weather was evident at Gautby road as the DF65 group arrived today, and the single digit temperatures were feeling even colder in the brisk SE breeze.

Despite the conditions 13 skippers showed up, although John B and Dave W did not compete for various reasons. Rig choice for the day was A, and as people rigged it started to rain heavily making everyone wonder what would happen next.

However, the rain stopped, the existing course looked OK and Dave W got race 1 away in a punchy top of A breeze blowing straight down the lake from the clubhouse end, and Neil then arrived and very kindly took over as RO for the morning despite the cold.

The first two races were won by Mike and Andrew P, but it was then agreed to change to B rig as the gusts were increasing, and the next four races had four different winners indicating how close the racing was. The beat seemed to work OK on both sides of the course at different times, but was very shifty nearer the top with almost everyone struggling to keep position at some point. The starts were very closely contested with two general recalls and some other OCS calls.

Paul P used some pressure downwind on the far side of the lake in a couple of races to good effect, but Peter B won the day with three wins and very consistent results over the nine races to beat Paul P and Mike who managed a couple of wins apiece.

An excellent mornings racing which ended up in sunshine and rather steadier conditions with results shown below, and with thanks again to Neil for being our excellent RO and Malcom for collating the results with grateful thanks to Dave Williams for the photos again and as can be seen from the last one, the sun did come out, but it didn’t make it much warmer!

  1. Peter Baldwin                12 pts        3 wins
  2. Paul Plested                    16 pts        2 wins
  3. Mike de St Paer             18 pts       2 wins
  4. Andrew Potter               24 pts       1 win
  5. John Carlin                     25 pts        1 win
  6. Clive Warren                  32 pts
  7. John Beech                     48 pts
  8. Charles Legg                  49 pts
  9.  Malcolm Harvey          54 pts
  10. Dave White                      67 pts
  11. Phyl Fanning                  75 pts

DF95’s

The morning may have started with a bit of rain but the afternoon started with sunshine but not enough to warm the 7 skippers who turned out for the DF95 sailing.  It was a small but well formed group comprising of 5 regulars and 2 relatively new members in Phyl and Steve. Apart for the sunshine the weather was the same as the morning so B rigs were chosen. No surprises in that the same course as the morning was used, with a windward mark, spreader and a run down the full length of the lake to a gate. The average person would say the wind was blowing straight down the lake, however the reality was it was coming from the clubhouse causing a number of shifts and a few holes for the skippers to deal with. The problem being, these were not the same for 2 consecutive races, so the skippers had to adapt accordingly. Self monitored starts and first to finish recorded the positions.
The racing predictably split into 2 sections with the 5 established helms leading the way, with Phyll and Steve having their own private battle, although not that far behind. They will soon be sailing in the pack.
Up at the front Peter was showing a clean pair of heals or should that be a shiny transom with 7 wins from the 8 races sailed, his only blemish was in race 4 when Clive and Paul relegated him to third. In the meantime Paul was notching up a consistent set of second places. The results don’t tell the true story with, more often than not, the top 3 places beingkeenly contested between 4 boats with places changing hands right up to the finish line .
Results  (2 discards)
  1.  Peter Baldwin         6pts       (7 wins)
  2.  Paul Plested          13pts
  3.  Clive Warren         17pts       (1 win)
  4.  John Carlin            17pts
  5.  Malcolm Harvey   30pts
  6.  Steve Miller           38pts
  7.  Phyll  Fanning        39pts