DF65’s
A good turnout of eleven skippers, including two newcomers with Noah Macintosh (first time out with his 65) and a prospective new member, Duncan Neale, joining in the racing. The breeze, for most of the morning was Westerly with swings to the NW at times, which combined with the persistent algae growth, made for interesting sailing. Paul Plested donned the waders (where’s Peter Baldwin when you need him?) and set the start line. Robbie Macintosh offered to be RO, which enabled all to race the standard windward/leeward one lap course.
For the early races a quick tack on to port after the start for a long drag race up the lake was the way to go. After two races, to make the beat less one sided, the course was switched to a starboard rounding of the windward and spreader mark. Mike De St Paer seemed to have the conditions and start sorted, and managed to cross the finish line 1st in three of these races. Clive Warren also got going quickly with a 2nd and a 1st early on. Paul Plested, despite being in the lead at times, didn’t manage to cross the line first until later on in the day, but was in the top three in all of the first four races. Duncan, who is new to the sport, showed his potential, with a 3rd and a 4th. Alan Watkinson was also in the mix with a 2nd and a 3rd at this point.
Given the conditions, and despite the presence of algae being frustrating at times, it was, overall, an enjoyable morning of racing. Well done to Mike with an impressive run of results and thanks to Robbie for running the show and providing the photos.
There is an Album of all photos and a short video available here
DF95’s
Seven skippers stayed on from the mornings sailing to take part in the DF95 racing including potential new member Duncan Neale and Noah McIntosh, along with 95 sailors Steve Miller and Martin Wittingham Jones, there was a healthy fleet of nine boats on the start line.
The wind was similar to the morning, perhaps not quite as strong but just as shifty with various holes and large shifts along the length of the lake as the direction generally south westerly swinging to the north at times as it passed through the houses. A standard course was set similar to the morning, with the odd tweak during racing to try to keep up with the shifts, a forlorn task for our RO Robbie Mac, who kept us in check on the start line on more than one occasion during the 8 races sailed.
From the get go, racing was tight throughout the fleet with 4 different winners and eight different skippers sharing the podium positions.
Race 1 – Clive was quickly out of the blocks chased all the way by Paul, Duncan and Guy. Race 2 – it was Phyll’s turn to eventually run out in top spot with Clive, Martin W.J and Paul chasing close behind.
Race 3 – and Paul, who had started well all day found a bit more speed out of his setup led the fleet across the finish line, but it was young Noah who was finding his feet (with a bit of rig tweaking and coaching by his father between races) who made the biggest leap up the field taking the second spot with Clive and Guy close behind. Race 4 – Noahs improvement continued and deservedly got his maiden victory which didn’t come easy with Alan, Clive and Paul in the mix right up to the finish line.
Races 5 and 6 – played out to similar conclusions with Paul finding consistency across the start line really pays off, and Noahs boat speed carrying them through to the first two spots with Clive, Guy, Martin and Duncan fighting it out for the last podium place
Races 7 and 8 – again followed a similar pattern to each other with Paul taking another pair of wins with the chasing pack of Duncan, Clive and Guy close behind
It was clear that Paul had won the afternoon with 6 wins but as for the minor places it was anyone’s guess, with the results table below courtesy of Paul.
Lovely sunshine and a decent mid to top end of ‘A’ rig wind straight down the middle from the top end of the lake.
With 7 skippers sailing 4 different designs it promised to be a good afternoons sailing and it was.
The first race was won by Graham sailing his BritPOP! but it was tight up the first beat with all the usual Birkenhead shifts to contend with, unfortunately Paul hadn’t listened carefully to what was the first windward mark was and this put him out of contention for this race.
Six races sailed before a break with some close races, Simon sailing his Alioth got a deserved 2nd in race 4, Alan in race 1 with a decent 2nd place and Ian banging in 4 3rd places but it was Peter and Graham out in front most of the time. Unfortunately we lost Paul at the break due to wiring problems on his battery connections.
The wind stayed pretty much the same for the remaining 6 races, Charles featured in a few of these races which was great to see, often picking out a great shift from both banks.
The water is still occupied by blotches of green algae that did effect boat speed in the lighter stuff, the art was to keep the momentum and stay away from the far bank.
It finished with race wins going to Peter with 2, should of been 3 and Graham with 10. Neil and David watched us all afternoon and weren’t afraid to recall any premature starters, thank you Dave and Neil. Photos courtesy of Dave and Paul.
In the first five races Paul Plested was fastest out of the blocks on four occasions. In race three Dave Williams got the shifts right and led until the leeward gate when he sailed into rather than around the right-hand buoy. This gifted 1st place to Paul making it five bullets out of five races with Charles Legg also getting promoted to 2nd. James Douglas was close throughout the opening five races scoring four 2nds and Phyl Fanning picked up a 3rd in race five.
In both races six and seven Dave got great starts and led to the finish. Paul, having been OCS is race six, pulled back up to 2nd on the last beat to the line and James picked up another 2nd in race seven.
By race eight the wind had picked up considerably and the fleet would have been much better on A or even B rigs, but as the session was close to ending the skippers agreed to carry on. With hindsight, they might have been better calling it a day then as all were getting wiped out on the run. Towards the leeward gate all five boats were broached and virtually uncontrollable. James was the first to zig-zag through the gate and then beat back up to finish, followed by Paul and then Dave.
Despite the breeze, the skippers decided to try one more race as the wind had abated slightly, for the start at least. Again, possibly not the best decision, as the race became a struggle against the conditions. James again won this battle and posted his second 1st of the day.
In summary, it was a very enjoyable morning of racing helped by negligible impact from the algae, which looks to be dissipating. Thanks go to Dave and Malcolm for the few DF65 photo’s
The DF95 open scheduled for today had been cancelled due to algae in the lake. However, club sailing was still on the cards and 8 skippers turned up from noon for a 1pm start and some DF95 racing, albeit with the added challenge of the sailing through green gloop for the afternoon.
The wind was A rig from the top of the lake for the duration of the 12 races sailed, with some reasonably regular shifts and the odd gust and softer patches to keep everyone on their toes. The standard windward mark, spreader and leeward gate with 2 laps was used throughout. As for RO, Neil Westbrook was on hand to run the show assisted by others during the afternoon such as Dave Williams, Steve Miller and Alan Watkinson.
Given the algae the trick, if you could pull it off, was to keep your boat powered up and driving, even if it meant sailing through some headers. Trying to point and looking to tack on every shift just slowed you down too much. It was clear from the 6 races before the tea-break that Paul Plested and Peter Baldwin had sussed out how to sail in the conditions, both scoring 3 firsts each. Phyl Fanning also had his boat going well with three 3rds in the first session. Martin Whittingham-Jones was also quick off the start line in several races and managed two 3rds before the break. Dave Williams scored a 2nd in race two only to have rudder servo problems again, which put paid to his day, although he did get to race later as a few skippers lent their boats out for a race or two. In race five Steve Miller kept a cool head with a cracking start hitting the line on port, crossing the whole fleet approaching on starboard. Great to see the improvement in his sailing given how new it is to him and to have him back sailing after a time away due to injury.
After a short stop for refreshments and a natter, it was more of the same with Paul and Peter hogging most of the top two spots. However, Paul had clearly had some Red Bull at the break as he bagged five of the six firsts on offer, with Peter scoring one 1st and four 2nds. Alan Watkinson, who had been mixing it at the front of the fleet in most races, scored two 3rds in this session. Phyl continued where he left off and scored another three 3rds in the post tea break slot, which gave him a very worthy 3rd overall on the day. Both Dave and Neil had a sail of Steve’s boat for a race each, both managing to finish 2nd.
Never the less, the course was set, windward mark to port straight back down to a gate and then to the finish half way back up the beat. It was decided to have a dedicated RO for each race with the skippers taking it in turn. Dave W took first duty and got us off on time.
Race 2 and James took the RO role, but it was Clive again who got a port end flyer crossing the fleet, and would remain ahead until the finish with Charles holding off Dave W to finish second. At this stage Alan who had struggled with boat setup decided enough was enough as the frustration got the better of him. As the number of skippers was diminishing it was decided to ditch the dedicated RO and the starts would be self monitored and first to finish would record the results. To make things fairer the 2 helms who had RO’d (Dave W and James) would have an average score used to complete the missing scores
Race 4 and this time James who had a bit of advice from Clive on his set up, joined Clive in crossing, what was left of the fleet. on port tack from the start. The pair had a good battle to the finish with James taking line honours. There was also a good battle going on behind with Charles getting his revenge over Dave W for third
It was decided that enough really did mean enough and we decided to retreat to the clubhouse, although the sun did start to come through the clouds. Thanks to Dave for a few photos from Race 1.
