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Author: Peter Baldwin

DF65 Social Racing 2025 – 16/4/25

A very cold, wet and light wind day at Gautby Rd. Only six keen sailors arrived willing to take part. The start was delayed whilst many hands assisted Neil in rebuilding his boat after having to replace various components.

The usual start at the top of the lake down to the port rounding of the windward mark spreader to port and then a run to the gate and then a beat to the finish mark. As we were sailing with only six, the start line was self monitored with out problems.

Neil felt he had to show his gratitude for the help he received and promptly took the first two races! Those two races looked as though we had two separate fleets with Neil, Clive and Alan half a lake a way from David, Charles and Dave.

Then with the wind increasing and the shifts becoming more obvious the fleet closed up and brought David and Charles into the reckoning with a win and two wins respectively. Neil then unfortunately had battery problems and was out of the next three races and then Alan’s rudder failed on the last race. The racing was so close at times the finish line almost needed a camera to spot the first to cross. Due to his consistency the days honours went to Clive with his four seconds and two firsts.

  1. Clive Warren             10pts 2wins
  2. Neil Westbrook       15pts 3 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson      15pts
  4. Charles Legg            18pts 2wins
  5. David White             23pts  1win
  6. Dave Williams        26pts

IOM Summer 2025 #1 – 12/4/25

Saturday had 12 starters for Round 1 of this years Summer IOM series with a few missing on Europeam Championship duty. Well done Graham Elliott on your 6th place!

The wind was out of the South south east with a healthy number of shifts to keep all on their toes in a light and puffy A rig breeze. 

Brad hit the ground running with a number of firsts leading to tea break paused by wins each to John Brierly and Phyl Fanning. Phyl made the most from our slightly reduced course length designed to help and encourage new skippers as they build confidence in the fleet.

Paul Plested was showing his continued rise within the fleet with a solid set of scores, having a 4th as his worst. Martin, Andrea and visitor Simon Fairman each had moments in the at times difficult conditions.

With a pause for refreshments after race 6 allowing time for some re-tuning and gremlin sorting in the winch department for Martin and Robert we were back for another 5 races.

Wins were shared between Brad, Robert and Martin in a veering wind that at times had beats that went to a reach and back within a blink, keeping all on their toes. The final race of the day had the predicted Westerly breeze swing from the far end of the lake mid race with Noah McIntosh making the most of an excellent start to only lose his lead on the now run to the finish.

It was a good hit out for skippers heading to the Nationals at Lincoln over the Easter long weekend.

Brad took the win with Paul scoring a steady and well earned 2nd and the strong finishing Martin in 3rd.

Once again thanks to our fantastic race team of Dave Williams and Neil Westbrook who kept the racing ticking over at a welcome pace.

Our next round of the IOM Summer Series is on the 26th of April with a start time of 1.30pm. Enteries can be made at IOM Summer 2025 #2 – Birkenhead RS&PC

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 9/4/25

DF65’s

9 DF65 skippers were greeted to clear blue skies and a light SE breeze, which proved to have plenty of holes and big shifts in it for most of the day.  A standard windward/leeward course was set, with a beat towards the clubhouse end of the lake.
John Brierley got away in the first race only to become becalmed near the end of the downwind leg.  He was then swallowed up at the leeward gate by the fleet coming down in breeze and, to add insult to injury, he was taken out by another boat, which pushed him down the fleet.  Paul Plested seemed to have benefited the most from this, but he lost out to both Andrew Potter and Charles Legg who sailed around him just before the finish, with Phyl Fanning finishing with a creditable 4th.
Race two and John led the fleet home followed by Paul and then Andrew, with Clive just off the podium in 4th.  Race saw our 4th different skipper coming home first, with Dave Williams taking line honours, followed closely by Clive and then Andrew.
For the remaining 5 races the same two boats, which seemed to have more boat speed than the rest of the fleet, took the top two spots, with Paul just edging out Andrew into second in all 5 to take the day with a decent haul of first places, helped by Andrew in one race as he was OCS for one of the starts. Clive scored several thirds to put him 3rd overall and John was fourth, although John missed the last two races as he needed to get away early.
Dave W had a good day overall and his points tally was close to those above him, and Charles also finished well in several races, but not quite consistent enough to push him up the table.

Finally thanks must go the Neil Westbrook who acted as Race Officer for the day.

DF95’s

The afternoons sailing conditions were very similar to the morning with blue sky and a wind that was nominally easterly (from the industrial estate) but did whatever it wanted! Creating large shifts and holes for all the skippers to fall foul of.
A rigs all round for the 5 boats that were on the start line, being Easter, holidays, child minding took its toll, so with such a small fleet the starts were self managed and first to finish recorded the results. Sailing got underway on time at 1.30pm and 8 races were sailed
Considering the conditions and the spread of experience the sailing was very close, Steve Miller, very new to both sailing and RC sailing (about 6 weeks) shows consistent improvements and  managed a 3rd position which 15ft from the line looked a certain 2nd before he got headed by a wind shift and Clive took the opportunity to nip ahead. Paul ran out the clear winner with 7 wins, his only loss being race 5 when he had a loss of steering issue for about 10secs (or did he?) and Clive took line honours. Martin had a very consistent day and was pushing the front 2 in most of the races and finally got his reward with a 2nd place in race 7to go with his five 3rds.
With such tricky conditions, and they were tricky with beats turning into reaches and at some stages even runs, and holes in the wind when the boats sat going nowhere , the skippers all did very well and results in some races were extremely close. It all provided an enjoyable if challenging afternoons sailing.
Results  8 races (2 discards)
  1. Paul Plested                              6 pts      7 wins
  2. Clive Warren                           12 pts      1 win
  3. Martin Withington Jones  17 pts
  4. Phyl Fanning                          25 pts
  5. Steve Miller                             26 pts

DF95 & DF65 Social Racing 2025 – 2/4/25

DF95’s

Nine skippers turned out for the DF95 morning racing to be greeted by a lovely sailing day by Gautby Rd standards.  A top end A rig wind and blue sky with sun, there was a chill provided by the easterly breeze, which in practical terms was straight down the lake with a touch of industrial estate thrown in to make things interesting.  Neil Westbrook offered to be our RO for the morning, and our thanks go out to him. The course was set utilising the full length of the lake with a windward mark,  spreader and a gate then back to the finish half way down the lake.
Neil got us underway on time, and straight away was brought into action with a general recall. Lessons learnt, and for the rest of the morning the skippers behaved themselves. Racing was competitive, with plenty of private battles throughout the fleet.
The first race saw Clive lead the way from start to finish with John B chasing him in second and Alan third.  Race 2 and 3 and John after tweaking his set up John B got into his stride to record 2 straight wins followed by a much improved performance by Dave W taking 2 second places, Alan and Martin filling up the top 3.  Race 4 and Richard lead round the final mark with John right behind, it looked like Richard was going to take the win until 10m from the line John overtook him. But in true style Gautby Rd had its own plan, and John  B then got in trouble and let John C through to take the win with Clive second and Phyl third.  john B and Richard finally finishing in fourth and fifth respectively. Unfortunately Dave W lost his rudder servo during this race and had to retire from the rest of the morning.
Races 5, and 6  and Clive and John B shared the top spots with one win each and one second each, leaving John C and Phyl to share the third places. Alan decided that the wind had build sufficiently to change down to a B  rig after race 5 so missed out on race 6, 7 and 8, and true to form John and Clive had one win and one second each with John C and Alan with his B rig taking the third spots
It was a great sail and enjoyed by all on the bank, thanks again to Neil for being RO allowing the sailors to make the most of the conditions and Dave Williams for yet more photos.
RESULTS   after 8 races  and 2 discards
  1. John Brierley                               8pts       4 wins
  2. Clive Warren                               9pts       3 wins
  3. John Carlin                                20pts        1 win
  4. Alan Watkinson                       21pts
  5. Phyl Fanning                            29pts        2  x 3rd
  6. Martin Wittingham Jones   29pts       1 x 3rd
  7. Richard Walker                        34pts
  8. Steve Miller                                47pts
  9. Dave Williams                           53pts

DF65’s

 
Only 4 boats took to the water for the afternoon session of DF65 sailing, which was a shame given the glorious sailing conditions. The conditions were very similar to those in the morning but the wind had strengthened a little, meaning B rig was the choice, which proved to be the right one although there was a little nose diving in some of the gusts.
Club member Dave Howard turned up to spectate but was soon roped into being the RO.  Dave was on his way back from the dentist after having an extraction so talking / understanding him was difficult.
The sailing was very enjoyable with Clive taking the 7 of wins and Sally picking up 1 win. Both Clive and Sally shared their boats with Dave as he hadn’t sailed since last summer, and he hadn’t lost his touch taking a  2 x seconds and was very unfortunate to when leading round the last mark to pick up a large bag on the keel  which put him firmly last. Hopefully its wetted his appetite again and we look forward to seeing him next month. Meanwhile, Dave W and Phyl were having their own private battle with David taking 3rd place overall by a single point
Results      8 races 2 discards
  1. Clive Warren          6pts        6 wins
  2. Sally Collings       11pts        1 win
  3. Phyl Fanning        18pts
  4. David White          19pts
  5. Dave Howard       23pts    (3  x races and 3 x dns)

 

 

 

 

IOM Winter 2024/5 #6 – 29/3/25

A reduced fleet due to National events afar presented themselves for the Midday start with a patchy SW breeze arcing across the lake.

PRO Dave Williams ably assisted by Neil Westbrook opted for a clubhouse end startline for race 1 with skippers timing their runs for an eased shhets first leg. It quickly became apparent that driving deep in gusts and trimming in for height in the lighter spots would take full concentration. Race winners up until the halfway break were Brad 3, Rob McIntosh 2 and Martin Roberts with 1, plus Andrea Roberts well in the mix with the leading pack. Alan Watkinson sadly succumbed early on to electrical issues.

After a biTE to eat and a drink, skippers returned to conditions swinging a little further to the right and a decision was taken for Race 8 to start from the far end with a more traditional windward beat forming over the course. While the leading group of 4 continued their tussle with often a struck match, or secret squall between them, others were getting to grips with the conditions. Our ‘Rookie’ Noah McIntosh was improving at a rate that saw him mixing with the lead group for extended periods, claiming a 4th place finish. Both Phyl Fanning and John Beech being new to the fleet showed continued improvement over the day to a level where latter races were finished with the full fleet on the same leg in at times top limit gusts and tricky shifts.

A good day across the board saw Brad take a closely fought win from Martin and Rob back in third. Once again, thanks to Dave and Neil for a superb effort in at time trying conditions.

Our next Race Day is on the 12th of April as the final hitout for club members and guests before the Nationals at Lincoln over the Easter Break. Entries can be made on the link below to join us for some of the UKs best IOM racing.