c

Author: Peter Baldwin

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 8/5/24

DF65’s

A very select band of just 5 sailors raced today.  This was in part due to a number of regulars being away on holiday but may also have been due to the lack of any sort of breeze up until the normal race start time.  The time was occupied going through some tips and adjustments to A+ rig settings before there was a light WNW to NW breeze by 11:15 and racing could begin.  The marks were used in the current positions and with the small fleet size a single windward and leeward mark was opted for with a finish about a third of the way up the lake.

Clive had a cracking start and took wins in the first two races, with Peter chasing hard, but never managing to break through with Frans and Alan taking the other podium spots.  Peter then took the next three race wins with Clive having to settle for second in a couple with Richard Frans and Alan all fighting for the podium spots.  Clive then had a win in race 6 before Peter had wins in the final two.

From what looked like an unpromising start we fitted in 8 races to finish soon after 12:30 with the boats moving at all times, even though there were some holes in the breeze to catch out the unwary.

  1. Peter Baldwin           63   7pts  5 wins
  2. Clive Warren             53  10pts  3 wins
  3. Richard Walker        39  16pts
  4. Alan Watkinson    373  19pts
  5. Frans King                95  25pts

95’s

A lovely afternoon greeted the 6 skippers for the afternoon of 95 sailing, the wind remained similar to the morning predominantly from the north west, but with the normal Gautby Rd shifts and holes to catch all the helms out at some stage. A rigs were the order of the day.
The course remained the same as the morning for the first 4 races, then the finish line was moved to the end of the lake to produce a longer beat to the finish. With the small field self marshalling at the start and first over the finishing line recorded the race result and 8 races were sailed with 2 discards.
The first race saw the only blip on Peters scorecard with Clive taking the honours. Race 2 saw Alan pushing Peter all the way to the line with Frans following his 3rd place in the first race with another. Peter continued to read the shifts better than everyone else and finished with a run of 1st places. The minor places were a closely fought battle with Alan, Frans, Martin and Clive all in the mix, with Clive taking 2nd overall with a consistent set of 2nd places and Frans just piping Alan by a point for 3rd overall.
In summary and enjoyable afternoons racing in the sunshine and light breeze with plenty of tuning tips from Peter along the way.
  1. Peter Baldwin     172   6 pts   7 wins
  2. Clive Warren         93  11 pts   1 win
  3. Frans King             59  19pts
  4. Alan Watkinson   23  20pts  (only 6 races)
  5. Martin W-Jones  77  26pts
  6. Dave Howard        00  28pts

Club sucesses at the IOM Nationals

Congratulations to Brad Gibson who was crowned the 2024 IOM National Champion at the end of the 3 day (and 13 races completed) MYA National Championships hosted by Poole Radio Yacht Club.

Of the other club members participating, Graham Elliott finished in 5th, Andrea Roberts in 18th and Martin in 21st.  Well done everyone – do join us for the next IOM Club racing on Saturday 18th May for some top quality racing along with helpful advice and guidance if required.

The full results are shown below.

RG65 Summer Series 2024 #2 – 4/5/24

A turnout of only four skippers, possibly due to the very light wind forecast and others being away at the IOM Nationals. The wind from the top end of the lake was extremely light and at times non existent. All four boats with maximum A swing rig were on the start line under the keen eye of our Race Officer Neil.

Each race was to be one lap with Bill showing the way for the first race and then Alan B taking the next three. Due to the wind conditions the finishes were very close between Bill and Alan B and could have gone either way. After a coffee break Dave managed a win by just being in the right place at the right time. The next four races saw Bill and Alan B taking it in turns to gain the victory. Alan W was always in contention but often losing out downwind. While Bill and Alan B were sailing for honours Dave and Alan W were having their own race.

Many thanks to Neil for offering to be Race Officer giving us eight races and strict on the start line.

  1. Alan Bennett         Ivy      7pts 5 wins
  2. Bill Culshaw          Ivy    10pts 2 wins
  3. Dave Williams      Uno  19pts 1 win
  4. Alan Watkinson   Uno   19pts

DF65 & DF95 Social racing 2024 – 1/5/24

DF65’s

The first of May, Hurrah. Sun, blue sky, a breeze blowing straight down the lake – the DF65 fleet arriving at Gautby Road could have been forgiven for thinking that they had all magically emigrated to somewhere a long way south of Birkenhead.  As always with sailing however the devil was in the detail, and although the SE breeze seemed reasonably steady and held in all morning, there were big shifts and lulls.

Racing was very close, with some very crowded mark roundings at both the windward and gate ends of the course, and various skippers had to take turns during the morning.  Don and Richard both experienced boat problems during the morning and did well to keep going, with Don attempting to drain the lake using his boat – amazingly with no major damage – and Richard having to replace a rudder servo.

The start line proved a good compromise, with shifts meaning that both ends were favoured during the morning, and the beat also proved true, with roughly even times on both tacks, but with big variations which were difficult to spot ahead of time.

James, John and Mike were evenly matched for the first 5 races, but then James aced the next 5 with three wins and a second to run out the winner one point ahead of Mike with John third.

Another excellent days 65 racing, with thanks as always to Dave for doing the results which are shown below:

  1. James Douglas         10 pts  5 wins
  2. Mike de St Paer        11 pts  3 wins
  3. John Carlin                15 pts  2 wins
  4. Neil Westbrook       20 pts
  5. Alan Watkinson      28 pts
  6. Frans King                37 pts
  7. Dave Williams         42 pts
  8. Don MacKinnon     45 pts
  9. John Beech                47 pts
  10. Richard Walker       54 pts

DF95’s

Only six skippers made it for the afternoon session with the other contenders away on holiday or preparing for a race evening in big boats. The wind and sun were the same as the morning so the same course was ideal. The self regulated start worked well with no obvious clock beaters.

Neil had a brilliant session winning all six races but was pushed by Alan in the first two races. Unfortunately Alan then had to depart and it was now Richard Walker who then took over the challenge, taking three seconds with Frans taking the other. After six races it was decided to call it a day.

  1. Neil Westbrook    5pts 6wins
  2. Richard Walker   13 pts
  3. Frans King             18 pts
  4. Martin W-J.           19 pts
  5. John Beech            21 pts
  6. Alan Watkinson  25 pts

IOM Summer Series 2024 #1 – 27/4/24

The first IOM Summer Series had a great turnout which included a few vistors getting some pre-Nationals practice in.  A light ENE breeze with some good shifts (and holes) leading to numerous place changes in many of the races.

Neil donned the waders and set a course with a bit of help from Peter on-shore, involved moving most of the marks around, although working out well for most of the day.  This always provided some challenges as to where to start and which side of the course was favoured up the beat.

Darin started the day with a win in Race 1, before Graham showed great form by takng the next three races, with Brad, Alan Bennett, John Berry and Andrea all picking up top three places in these races.  As some of these races were rather long due to very light breezes at times we then had a break, before continuing to complete another 6 races.

After the break and a few boat tweaks, Brad had a good second session, with 3 wins in the six races (plus a couple of seconds).  The other three race wins went to Darin, Alan and Graham, with the podium places split between, Alan, Andrea, Brad, Graham, Peter and Simon.  Finishing positions were however very close throughout the fleet with Alan Watkinson, Simon and Graham Birkett always in with a chance of gaining a good result. Sometimes, it came down to the final positions being determined by who managed to get the best breeze on the final leg into the finish.  Occasionally the finish line tested the line judge with 4 or 5 boats all crossing within a few seconds.

A close tussle then between the top three boats for overall honours, with Brad coming out on top after the 10 races completed.  Thanks to our joint RO’s for the afternoon Dave Williams and Neil Westbrook who ran a tight ship all afternoon.  We also have Dave to thank for the photogtaphs below.

  1. Brad Gibson            42   Post Punk  13pts
  2. Graham Elliott       09  Britpop!      17pts
  3. Alan Bennett         180  Britpop!      24pts
  4. Darin Ballington    98  Britpop!     37pts (2 wins)
  5. Andrea Roberts       37  Britpop!     37pts
  6. Peter Baldwin          63  Britpop!     40pts
  7. Simon Fairman      471  Alioth        48pts
  8. Graham Birkett      133  Widget      55pts
  9. Bill Culshaw              21  Britpop!    61pts
  10. John Berry                 12  Viper          74pts (1x3rd)
  11. Alan Watkinson      23  Britpop!   74pts
  12. Ian Davies                  33  Britpop!   96pts
  13. Charles Legg             40  K2             105pts