Author: Peter Baldwin

DF65’s

Another excellent 65 fleet turnout today, with twelve skippers ready to race. Lovely blue sky and – slightly unusually for Gautby road – lovely blue water as well but with a cold South Easterly breeze which had various folks looking for extra layers of insulation. The usual course with the start at the far end and a nice wide line allowing a really good choice of start position.

Paul was fast straight away with wins in races one and two and maintained a slight but significant boatspeed edge the whole day. James won race three, and then it was business as usual again for Paul in race four. Very close racing meant there had now been four different second place boats in four races, Clive, Mike, Paul and James. James then sailed very consistently to score seconds in races five and six, while Clive and Mike counted some rather variable results by comparison.

The final three races were a slight variation with Mike scoring one, one, three against Paul’s two, two, and one point two as RO, however by this stage Paul was long gone leaving James, Clive and Mike to fight it out for second. Clive was unlucky to have to count a seventh in the last race with Mike just making it to second in front of James by half a point.

As well as sailing consistently well Paul was visibly the quickest boat on the track, and although he was pushed at various stages ran out a clear winner. Very competitive racing again with a few OCS calls and turns. It was great to see Neil racing again after a bit of a layoff and he was unlucky to get tagged and suffer a broken mainsheet which meant he missed the last two races.

Thanks to Dave for getting us out and started on time and for the photos once again, and to Malcolm for collating the results which are shown below using the Afleet software.

DF95’s

The afternoon conditions were very similar to the morning with the wind from the east, and whilst this looked a steady breeze basically straight down the lake the reality had some large windshifts which switched the prominent tack from port to starboard along the length of the lake coupled with a few smaller shifts to keep helms on their toes.  The sun shone and it was a good A rig setup, an extended final beat was set to provide a full length beat.  6 boats were ready to start on time at 13-30. A self monitored start and first to finish recorded the final  positions.

Race 1 and it didnt take long to lose our first casualty,  when rounding the gate mark in third place Paul suffered control issues which kept him out for the rest of the afternoon, a shame as he sailed so well in the morning. Martin sailing his new hull for the first time showed good race speed finishing second behind Clive with Alan third.  Race 2 and this set the tone for the next 2 races with Clive taking the win and Alan getting ever quicker in second, with close battles for third, Malcolm taking it in the 2^nd race and Martin in the 3rd.  Race 4 and 5 and Alan continued his improvement and took the race wins, with Clive second and John finally getting his boat performing taking two third spots.

Race 6 and It was Clives turn to return to winning ways, with John making further improvent taking second, Alan would have finished third but a lapse in concentration saw him heading for the windward mark and missing the finishing line, gifting third spot to Malcolm.  Race 7 Unfortunately Alan had to leave, Clive handed himself a starting Handicap, starting at the leeward gate marks whilst the rest used the standard start line. This worked well

Cold North N West wind as forecast for the DF65 crew today. It wasn’t blowing quite straight down the lake which had consequences as covered below.

Dave W set the usual course using the top set of windward marks and a nice wide line. The line looked to be starboard end biased, and was actually so, but no one fancied going paddling in the cold to adjust it.

The wind had enough north in it for the far side of the lake to have flat patches where the wind was chewed up by the trees and buildings and this meant that the breeze in the prestart park zone was variable to say the least, and caught a few people out. In one case the breeze simply disappeared for a minute or two, and in other cases there were heavy gusts in the last few seconds before the start resulting in the odd OCS.

Neil (“I like a good discard”) very kindly offered to RO and got the racing through very smartly. Most of the starts were very competitive, and the beats were challenging all day. It looked as if the starboard end would pay with then staying on starboard for a while before tacking. However, there were plenty of exceptions to this. Paul made a couple of early port tacks pay big time, but in other races this didn’t pay for those who tried it. It also seemed to pay to come across on port at the top of the beat to avoid a flat patch beyond the windward mark. This port tack approach to the top mark made for some close calls and a few port and starboard incidents during the morning.

Paul sailed very well to win four races and just win the morning overall, more so since he missed race 7 when a main batten started to detach. Mike and John were second and third, one point behind with Mike only ahead on countback.  Fourth, fifth and sixth were Simon, Dave and Clive all within three points – Clive discovering afterwards that his mast gate had loosened clearly upsetting the boat trim.

Overall results as shown below, with thanks again to Neil for ROing and Malcolm for collating the results. Another very competitive day of 65 racing.

DF95’s

Spring has finally sprung, or at least it seemed like it for the df 95 skippers on arrival at Gautby road today. However, spring hadn’t brought much breeze with it and the morning’s races were held in very patchy conditions.

Sailing Sec. Paul’s plan to have the 95’s sailing in the morning on the first Wednesday of the month is clearly working so far, with an excellent 11 boats on the water. Neil kindly volunteered as RO, and very sensibly brought out two chairs, one for the start, one for the finish, and set the usual windward/leeward course with leeward gate.

To start with it looked like a running start, but this changed to a close port tack fetch to the top mark, sometimes with a short starboard hitch needed at the top end of the beat. Although the line seemed port end biased the wind along the left hand side was very fluky, and it paid to sail at least up the middle to keep in any pressure. Even then there were some big holes and shifts with boats literally changing tacks in a straight line.

Paul won the first race, Clive and Mike the next two, and then Paul the rest with 5 in a row to run out a clear winner. Clive beat Mike on countback for second, and racing was very close right across the fleet with 5 mid fleet boats covered by 11 points.

It was good to see Mike Mills from Wallasey Yacht Club sailing, and it was a very pleasant day to be there, even though the conditions were not ideal.

Many thanks to Neil for ROing, Dave W for the photos and Malcolm for collating the results which are shown in full below.

1. Paul Plested                     6 pts    6 wins
2. Clive Warren                  14 pts 1 win (ahead on countback)
3. Mike de St Paer             14 pts  1 win
4. Alan Watkinson            17 pts
5. Malcolm Harvey          34 pts   (ahead on countback)
6. Dave Williams              34 pts
7. Frans King                     36 pts
8. Phyl Fanning                 43 pts
9. Mike Mills                      45 pts
10. Paul Little                      64 pts
11. John Carlin                    69 pts

DF65’s

After a challenging wind in the morning for the DF95s, fingers were crossed for the breeze to settle down for the 6 skippers who turned up to race DF65s, plus Alan W who opted for his RG65 for practice ahead of the upcoming TT events later in March.  Alas, the prevailing wind remained in the SW coming over the houses with big shifts, gusts and flat calms to challenge the sailors.  Frans King kindly offered to stay to be RO after racing in the morning, which was much appreciated by all.    Dave Williams opted not to sail, but to fish the lake for golf balls!  Given that Bidston Golf Club is at least half a mile away, it was a surprise to see more than a dozen balls recovered.

Paul P started as he’d left off from the morning’s session with a win in the first race, followed closely by Alan with his RG65 and Neil W.   Clive, who had a good afternoon,  found his form in the second race, just holding off Paul in a close finish to the line.  Alan got his RG65 tuned in and went on to win race 3, after a battle with Andrew, who finished 2nd.  Race 4 also went Alan’s way, with Clive taking line honours in races 5 and 6, leaving him 2nd overall and first DF65 on the day.

1. Alan Watkinson  RG65   23       8pts  2 wins
2. Clive Warren        DF65    53      9pts  3 wins
3. Paul Plested         DF65   154   13pts  1 win
4. Andrew Potter     DF65   194  18pts
5. Neil Westbrook   DF65     03   19pts
6. Phyl Fanning       DF65    550  30pts
7. Malcolm Harvey DF65  1019  32pts

Another week on and another sunny day with a breeze that was on average down the lake from the far end, but with the typical big shifts, lulls and narrow wind bands.

This week was the turn of the DF95’s to have an afternoon of light to middle A rig sailing.  Thirteen boats had registered, but with one boat out due to a running injury (for its helm!) and two boats having gear problems (one rather catastrophic), we were down to 10 sailing.  We were once again fortunate to have Neil Westbrook turn out and act as RO, leaving us all able to concentrate on the sailing.

Racing was pretty close all afternoon, with the leader occasionally getting away from everyone after some good calls on the wind shifts.  Peter took Race 1, with Frans picking up a excellent second and John Br third.  John C then took races 2 and 3 with Peter and Martin sharing the other podium places behind him.  Peter then had another win in race 4, with John Br and Martin close behind.  John Br then found his form to take the next two races before we had a break for a drink and a bite to eat.  Whilst on the break a bit of boat fettling took place, with John Br re-rigging the head of his main in an attempt to get a better looking setup.  Being consistent could be hard as each place was keenly contested and being in the wrong place could see you suffer in the changing wind.  Dave Williams and Paul Little picked up some good places in this first session, but the majority of the fleet was always close at the finish line. It was first time out in the 95 for Noah this week and he also placed well in a number of races.

After the break, John Br took another win with a good lead, before Martin picked up the first of 3 wins in this second session. One of these saw him well in front of the fleet at the finish after rounding the spreader in a good breeze, leaving everyone else wallowing and waiting for the next gust.  Peter and John Br also picked up another win each.  Minor places in these races were taken up by these same race winners plus John Carlin and Dave Williams.

After twelve races John Br and Peter were tied on total points, with John just one point ahead after discards were taken into account, then Martin in third just two points behind Peter.  A very pleasant afternoon of close sailing, all made possible by Neil as RO and Dave Williams working out the scores.

1. John Brierley                 84   19pts   4 wins
2. Peter Baldwin              172   20pts   3 wins
3. Martin Roberts           184   22pts   3 wins
4. John Carlin                     50   32pts   2 wins
5. Dave Williams               33   50pts
6. Paul Little                       14   56pts
7. John Beech                   288  67pts
8. Noah Macintosh          49  73pts
9. Frans King                     59   76pts
10. Phyl Fanning              645  81pts

IOM racing again next week with a few missing, with holidays and another  DF TT.

DF65’s

A good day weather wise, the sun was out and a slight breeze over the houses from the top corner with A+ being the appropriate rig. The regular course was sailed with the start at the Clubhouse end.

Sailing started promptly at 11:00 with ten sailors and then joined by two more for the rest of the morning.

John Beech took the first race easily while the rest of the fleet were trying to decide the correct place to be. Mike dap then joined us and took the next three races, he was not having it easy though and was involved in several close finishes. Mike then lost his touch, with the next three races going to Simon, Dave W and Clive before taking the last two.

Sailing was very close thoughout the fleet with the Windward mark becoming very congested. As the morning progressed so did the wind strength with most boats imitating submarines on the run and the beating boats flattened so after nine races it was decided to call it a day. It was good to see Simon and James back with us their results showing they are still ones to watch.  Thanks to everyone for taking their turn as RO and to Dave Williams for the photos taken at the start of racing.

1. Mike De St Paer   8pts 5wins
2. Clive Warren      14pts 1win
3. James Douglas   18pts
4. Alan Watkinson 23pts
5. Simon Bates       26pts 1 win
6. Dave Williams    29pts 1win
7. Frans King           39pts
8. Paul Little            40pts
9. John Beech          45pts 1win
10. David Worron    60pts
11. David White       63pts
12. Phyl Fanning     72pts

DF95’s

With only 6 boats competing, the starts were self marshalled and first across the finish recorded the results. The same course as the morning was used providing a windward mark (port) spreader mark (port) to a leeward gate and back to the finish.

Racing was tight at the front and provided some excellent scraps around the circuit, Clive came out with all guns blazing using the knowledge gained from the morning, in fact the top 3 in the first race all sailed in the morning with Alan taking second place. Clive continued his winning streak in race 2 with Dave (guest from Gresford) second having his best result of the afternoon and the improving John C  who was ‘learning  the lake’  taking third. Race 3 and the improving John continued the trend with win and saw Alan moving up the fleet in third. Race 4 and 5 and this time it was Alan who continued his improvement taking 2 wins as the wind continued to increase. Race 6 and only 3 made the start line with honours going to John.

Summary

1. Clive Warren                            8pts    2 wins
2. John Carlin                              11pts    2 wins
3. Alan Watkinson                    12pts    2 wins
4. Dave Worron                          15pts
5. Martin Withington Jones  26pts
6. Phyll Fanning                         29pts