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Author: Peter Baldwin

DF/RG65 Winter Series 2023 #4 – 27/1/24

There were 6 RG65 sailors today for Round 4 of the Winter Series, with a few regulars missing for a variety of reasons.  The breeze was forecast to be an 8-10mph Southerly which would have been an unpleasant and shifty wind over the top of the houses.  However, we were fortunate to have something that was more like ESE or SE, although lighter at around 3 to 6 mph with occasional 8mph gusts and so mostly down the lake from the clubhouse.

We got away a little late after Peter had moved quite a few marks around to produce a reasonable course in the conditions and with young George Bennett acting as our Race Officer.  The first race looked to be safe for Alan Bennett, until Alan Watkinson picked up a good lifting shift around the left hand final gate mark and powered across the line ahead of Alan.  Alanbennett got his revenge by winning the next 4 races before the break, giving him a commanding lead at the halfway stage, ahead of Bill Culshaw who had picked up a number of seconds.

In the second half, Bill had three wins and Alan picked up another two, with John Brierley and Peter Baldwin also taking the occasional second from the two front runners.  After 10 races, Alan was a clear winner on 10 points, five ahead of Bill, with John Brierley picking up third place.

Our thanks must go to George for acting as RO and scorer (with a bit of help from Dave Williams).

  1. Alan Bennett          Ivy  10pts  (6 x first)
  2. Bill Culshaw           Ivy  15pts  (3 x first)
  3. John Brierley        Uno  23pts
  4. Peter Baldwin       Uno  26pts
  5. Alan Watkinson   Uno  36pts  (1 x first)
  6. Dave Williams      Uno  39pts

DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 24/1/24

With people having various commitments there were only 6 x DF95 helms which was a shame as unlike the morning racing, the wind had increased in the afternoon and was a good A Rig, increasing to B rig leading to some nose diving on the run. As is normal for Gautby Rd the wind was coming through, over and round the houses leading to sufficient holes and shifts to keep all the helms on their toes.
The same course as the morning was used, and as there were only 6 boats the first across the line recorded the finishing positions.
As mentioned the wind picked up over the lunch break, but looked a safe A rig, but after 2 races and further increases it was decided to call for a rig change to B rig. There was generally close racing throughout the afternoon with all helms recording a 3rd place or better. John C, Alan and Clive were in the main the front runners with close, and in some cases too close combat taking place, especially between John and Clive both doing penalty turns at some stage. Unfortunately Alan had to leave after 6 races which skewed his results. Further down the fleet John B, Frans and Dave (first day out and about after illness) were having their own battle but also sailing well enough  give the front runners something to think about.
Results after 8 races with 2 discards
John Carlin                9  pts         (3 x 1st, 3 x 2nd)
Clive Warren          11 pts            (2 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd)
Alan Watkinson   19pts             (2 x 1st, 2nd x 3rd)
John Beech             20pts             (1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd)
Frans King             22pts             (1 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd)
Dave Howard        25pts              (1 x 3)

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 24/1/24

After waiting for a couple of weeks while the lake has been frozen, an excellent turnout of twelve DF65 skippers arrived to a chilly and quite strong and gusty Westerly blowing more or less straight down the lake.

An initial whizz on a choppy lake confirmed that it would be a C rig day, and Peter Baldwin very nobly went for a prolonged paddle to restore the course marks to the right position after going walkabout in the recent ice.

Frans volunteered as RO as he didn’t have a C rig, and got the racing started with just 12 boats. Almost immediately the wind started to ease, and after two races it was agreed to go to A rig. Frans very kindly said he would continue as RO, and John Brierley had to call it a day due to a winch problem after two seconds in the first two races.

The wind then backed around 25deg, making the line very one sided, and although in theory this made it a port tack biased beat, the wind was so erratic and full of holes that it remained a really tricky day. Charles also had to retire after his boat went awol during race three.

Peter aced the day, with five wins out of six races, with everyone else having a very frustrating day where positions could and did change significantly at any stage of a race.

After six races everyone agreed that enough was enough with the fickle wind and the final race results as below:

  1. Peter Baldwin                5 pts             5 wins
  2. Mike de St Paer           16 pts           1 win
  3. Alan Watkinson          17 pts
  4. John Carlin                   20 pts
  5. Clive Warren                21 pts
  6. Dave Williams             28 pts           (2 x 4ths)
  7. Sally Collings               28 pts           (1 x 4th)
  8. John Brierley                40 pts
  9. Paul Little                      41 pts
  10. John Beech                    44 pts
  11. Charles Legg                 51 pts

There is another opportunity for DF65 racing this Saturday (27th) with our combined RG65/DF65 racing, but with results separated out for each class.  First start is at 12:00