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Author: Peter Baldwin

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 26/2/25

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

4 Skippers from the morning 65 racing stayed on to be joined by John C and Martin W J for the afternoon DF95 session. The wind was similar to the late morning and was perfect for the top end of the A rig. The direction was south westerly which in real terms it was coming from directly behind the houses so the south westerly became a westerly or southerly  with a few holes, but picking the shifts was the key. Pick a wrong one and the unsuspecting skipper would end up with his boat head to wind and dropping down the fleet.
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
Good wind strength which built through the afternoon provided some very close racing in challenging conditions. With 3 different winners each picking up 2 wins it was Clive who came out on top backing up his 2 wins with 4 seconds.
Results
  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

IOM Winter 2024/5 #4 – 22/2/25

We were promised a decent 9 or 10 mph breeze from the West by 12:00 or soon after and the day lived up to the promise with plenty of sunshine and a breeze that was close to straight down the lake, with gusts, lulls and shifts galore to make gains (and for some therefore losses) around the course.

(c) John Beech

There were 15 entries for this week after losing one entry at the last minute, which included our two Junior members going head to head again.  A course was set with a shortened windward leg for the two Juniors and the two adult beginners allowing everyone to finish much more together.  The first race saw Brad take the win from Noah (on only his second time out in an IOM club race) with Alan Bennett beating son George to take third and fourth respectively.  After this first race, George got into his stride and took wins in each of the next five races before the break.  This left space for a variety of sailors to pick up the podium positions includng two seconds and a third for Noah, a similar clutch for Brad, and then a great second for Phyl on only his second outing in the IOM.  Also taking thirds were Graham Brkett, Graham Elliott and Andrea.

(c) John Beech

After the break, the course was made a little more testing for those on a handicap with the first beat to the shorter windward mark, followed by a full length beat on the second.  Even so, young George had a great set of results counting two seconds and two thirds from the six races, with some very close finishes which could easily have meant an even better placing.  Brad had a consistent second half with three wins and a third, the other wins being taken by Peter, Graham E and the final race by Martin.  This small group also picked up the other podium places with Andrea, Robbie Mac and Graham B being in close contention.

(C) Dave Williams

Overall, a great afternoon of sailing with close to “Champagne Sailing” at Gautby Road, especially after all the recent cold weather.  Even more so, was the day fittied in between two storms on Friday and Sunday that would have proved testing for sailing with an “over the houses” close to gale force Southerly.

(c) Dave Williams

George took the afternoon after the string of firsts in the first session, with Brad close behind and Graham E, a number of points adrift in third.  The handicap course with a shorter first leg seemed to work well in keeping the fleet in closer contact for most of the race and one likely to be repeated in future weeks.  Thanks must go to our Race Team of Dave Williams, Neil Westbrook and John Beech and also for the photos from Dave and John.  A few more photos can be seen in the Gallery.

Round #5 of the IOM Winter series takes place on Saturday 8th March, starting at 12:00, just one week before the first Ranking weekend taking place on 15th & 16th March.

  1. George Bennett           BritPOP!     19pts
  2. Brad Gibson                  PostPUNK  22pts
  3. Graham Elliott            BritPOP!      40pts
  4. Peter Baldwin              BritPOP!      46pts
  5. Martin Roberts            BritPOP!     48pts
  6. Rob Macintosh            V9                  61pts
  7. Noah Macintosh         A2                  62pts
  8. Andrea Roberts           BritPOP!     63pts
  9. Phyl Fanning                Lintel          82pts  1x2nd
  10. Graham Birkett           Widget        82pts  1x3rd
  11. Alan Bennett                BritPOP!    106pts  1x3rd
  12. Alan Watkinson          Corbie 5     106pts
  13. John Berry                    Lintel           121pts
  14. Charles Legg               Kantun 2     123pts
  15. Stan Metcalf                Widget        126pts

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

DF/RG65 Winter 2024/5 #5 – 15/2/25

A great entry of 9 boats for race 5 of the club DF/RG65 Winter series, the wind started off as a mid A rig from Gautby Rd and all the RG’s sailed using swing rigs, Phil sailing his DF65 was allowed to use his A+ rig and rightly so.

We sailed 6 races before tea with Alan, sailing his rebuilt Ivy comfortably winning the first half. Alan’s boat was in an unfortunate accident (involving his car) a few weeks ago and should of been written off, but he managed to do some serious surgery to her and she was as good as new and performing extremely well.

Vernon was racing his new Ivy for only the third time and went home a very happy skipper, his best result coming 3rd in race 6, a few little tweaks on his rig and he will return for the RG TT race next month.

After race 7 the wind swung around and around and died off considerably, that much so that our PRO, Neil Westbrook decided we should shorten the course to one lap for the final 4 races.

Overall the fleet, made up of Ivy’s, Uno’s, one Electronica and one DF65, enjoyed a pleasant afternoons sailing with race wins going to Alan, Graham, Peter and Bill but there was only one winner, Alan sailed extremely well and gave us all a good hammering.

Thanks go to Neil Westbrook who started and finished us by himself for all 12 races.

  1. Alan Bennett      Ivy                  13pts
  2. Graham Elliott  Electronica  19pts
  3. Bill Culshaw       Ivy                   30pts
  4. Peter Baldwin    Uno                 31pts
  5. Vernon Appleton  Ivy               44pts
  6. Paul Plested        Uno                 55pts
  7. Dave Williams    Uno                 65pts
  8. Charles Legg       Uno                 72pts

Phyl Fanning      DF65               10pts

Summer Calendar Now Live (and the start of the Winter Series)

The Club’s summer/autumn weekend sailing programme is now live on the club website with a few changes being tried for 2025.

In addition to an enhanced IOM club sailing programme (gained by programming DF95 racing on some  mornings followed by IOM racing starting at 13:30), there are a number of class open meetings throughout the year.

The IOM class has a new Open Meeting on the 31st May, with the usual Strebor Open on the 8th November and the Xmas Open meeting on the 13th December.

Some of the DF95 Summer series will take place on Saturday mornings prior to IOM racing in the afternoon. DF classes also have open meetings planned for the year with a DF95 open on Saturday 26th July and a DF65 open meeting on Saturday 13th September.

Information on how to enter these events will be posted on the MYA website in due course.

The full programme can be viewed by selecting Calendar from the club website’s home page, or by using the following link.

https://birkenheadrspc.co.uk/calendar/

The ‘live’ events, which are currently available to register for are at the top of the page, and the complete programme can be found by scrolling down the page.

As is the norm, visitors are welcome to join in on our Saturday club racing days by registering online via the calendar link (£5 race fee applies).   Visitors are also welcome to join in with our DF social sailing/racing, which takes place each Wednesday, starting at 11:00am.

For more information please contact Paul Plested, Sailing Sec via this link:-

https://birkenheadrspc.co.uk/contact-the-sailing-secretary/

 

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 12/2/25

DF65’s

An almost non existent light wind from the North East greeted the skippers as they arrived in readiness  for the mornings sailing. It didn’t need our Commodore Dave Williams to utilise his many years of experience to volunteer for RO duty. That left 11 brave helms to hit the water and make the most of what there was, the only positive being it wasn’t raining.
By the time we were ready to start the wind had filled in a little, but was still very fickle and there were plenty of holes for everyone to fall into at some stage. A short course was set utilising half the length of the lake, 2 laps set so a shortening to one could be called if the wind died back again.
Dave got the first race away on time, as expected given the conditions a 20m lead could soon disappear and it was a bit pot luck who was in the right position at the right time as  the boats crossed the finish line after 2 laps in the first race seeing Clive followed by Alan, Paul P and John C.
For the rest of the day a longer course was set utilising virtually the whole of the lake, the pattern of one boat getting away and falling into a hole was basically the same all morning which did actually provide some very close racing all through the fleet and great frustration for others, amongst them Paul P who had gear failure in race 4. Race wins for John C, Paul P and Clive and some notable performances from Alan, Paul L and Charles who continued his greatly improved form of late with 2 x second places in the last two races.
After 6 races were completed, Dave called a halt to proceedings and I’m sure a heard a sigh of relief from all skippers!
  1. Clive Warren          9 pts      3 wins
  2. John Carlin            10 pts      2 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson   14 pts
  4. Charles Legg         20 pts
  5. Paul Little              29 pts on count back
  6. Frans King            29 pts
  7. Paul Plested         35 pts       1 win
  8. John Beech           36 pts
  9. Dave Worron       38pts (visitor from Gresford)
  10. David White         39pts
  11. Phyl Fanning       42pts
DF95 Social Sailing
The wind didnt improve for the afternoon, but a small group were joined by Mike dsP and Steve Miller but because there were only 5 boats the afternoon was devoted to “training” including rig set up and on the water tutorial. Paul led the rig set up over lunch assisted by Clive which was greatly appreciated by Phyl and Steve who are both new to DF sailing and Dave Worren who was keen to improve his speed and on the water performance.
After going through the rig settings, it was onto the water for more tutorial, including the importance of correct position on the start line, and timing of the start, mark rounding, and general boat handling. For Steve who is not only new to DF sailing but also sailing in any form, today was super challenging  given the wind direction.
6 very informal races were sailed (no race results recorded) but it was very evident that the coaching had greatly improved both boat speed and general boat handling  to such an extent these two beginners were competitive in the informal races.  Many thanks go to Paul for his time and patience and Clive for the encouragement and tips. Definitely a worthwhile exercise to be repeated at some point in the future.