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Author: Peter Baldwin

DF65 Social Racing 2022 #1

14 sailors arrived to find a bright & crisp morning with a medium breeze circa 15knots blowing straight down the lake. A rigs were chosen as the order of the day.

OOD Richard Robinson set a course using the full length of the lake utilizing the top windward & Leeward gate marks and finishing midway up the second beat.

10 races were completed with the wind providing some challenging switches in direction with James Douglas leading the pack home with a tie for 2nd broken only on count back between Mike & Dave.

  1. James Douglas           73     13 pts  5x1st
  2. Mike De St Paer          35    21 pts  2x1st, 2x2nd, 3x3rd
  3. David Williams         233    21 pts  2x1st, 2x2nd, 2x3rd
  4. John Carlin                    11     24 pts  1x1st
  5. Simon Bates                 69    31 pts
  6. Neil Westbrook           03     42 pts
  7. Don MacKinnon       933     44 pts
  8. Paul Little                     45      60 pts
  9. Richard Walker           39     62 pts
  10. John Beech                    80     83 pts
  11. Malcolm Harvey      1019    83 pts
  12. Paul Whaley                  53     87 pts
  13. Charles Legg                 21     92 pts
  14. Sally Collings             829    94 pts

DF65 Social Racing #33 (29/12/21)

11 sailors turned up to race today and with A rigs chosen we had to wait for a while for the wind to decide in which direction it was going to take.

After the wind changed direction by 90 degrees a course was set by OOD Neil Westbrook using the far bank as the wind had died from the house side of the lake

A rectangular course was set using the full length of the lake and 10 races were completed in the difficult shifty winds but at least the weather was kind to us.

  1. JOHN BRIERLEY              84    9 pts
  2. RICHARD ROBINSON  901   21 pts
  3. JOHN CARLING                 11   25 pts
  4. SALLY COLLINGS        829   30 pts
  5. RICHARD WALKER        39  33 pts
  6. DON METCALFE          933   34 pts
  7. JAMES DOUGLAS            73   51 pts
  8. CHRIS WESTON            194   57 pts  1-3RD
  9. STAN METCALFE       2146  57 pts  1-6TH
  10. PAUL WHALEY                 53  63 pts

DF65 Social Racing #32 (21/12/21)

Ten intrepid sailors arrived to do battle in the coldest windiest day of the year. The biting wind from the clubhouse end was more or less straight but with heavy gusts making the boats perform several deviations.

Unfortunately several boats had minor problems but trying to fix these with very cold fingers seemed impossible with the last few races down to five starters. We have to thank Dave Williams for being OD and running the ten races.

  1. John Brierley             11 pts  5 wins
  2. Richard Robinson   16 pts  2 wins
  3. John Carlin                24 pts  1 win
  4. James Douglas         29 pts
  5. Mike de St Paer       34 pts 1 win
  6. John Beech                51 pts
  7. Sally Collings           55 pts  1 win
  8. Malcolm Harvey     64 pts
  9. Graham Birkett       67 pts
  10. Charles Legg             78 pts

IOM Xmas Race 2021

14 skippers gathered for our annual Christmas race for IOM’s on the 18th December, with a start at 10.30 to give skippers an extra 30 minutes in bed for this race.  The wind was perfect, straight down the lake from the clubhouse end, middle of top suit, shifts that could make you look like a fool or a hero, shifts that could take you from a decent top 3 to bottom 3 in a blink of an eye, the way to sail in these conditions is not to paint yourself into a corner.

15 races were completed on the day with race winners being Brad Gibson (BritPOP!) with 7 wins, Peter Baldwin (Lintel MMX) with 3 wins, Martin Roberts (Vanilla) with 2 wins and a single race win for Darin Ballington, Bill Culshaw and the hungover Paul Allen.

As normal there was no entry fee for the race but a Secret Santa (wrapped gift but no bottles) but before the gifts were handed out we had a bigger presentation, John Brierley our commodore presented Derek Priestley with the Acersail “Top Club” shield that had been residing at Birkenhead for quite a few years, as Fleetwood had pipped Birkenhead for the trophy in the 2021 season.

Many thanks to all competitors for supporting this serious but fun light hearted race and to John Brierley who gave up his sail to run the race with Bernie and Dave Williams and last but by no means least, Jack who opted to stay in the clubhouse and supply everyone with hot drinks.

Have a great Christmas and all the best for the new year.

Stay Safe

Graham Elliott All photos by Dave Williams

DF65 Social Racing 2021 #31 (15/12/21)

A very slight ripple on the lake encouraged the 12 sailors to compete. With a single lap It was vital to get a good start and to make the most of of the very tricky conditions. New member John Beech had his first introduction into competitive sailing and is hoping the conditions will be more favourable next time. Many thanks to our OD Stan Metcalf who managed to give us 8 races.

  1. Neil Westbrook             13 pts 2 wins
  2. Mike De st Paer             17 pts 3 wins
  3. James Douglas              17 pts 2 wins
  4. John Carlin                     18 pts
  5. Alan Watkinson           26 pts 1 win
  6. Richard Walker            34 pts
  7. Don MacKinnon           35 pts
  8. David Williams             36 pts
  9. Paul Little                       38 pts
  10. Charles Legg                  45 pts
  11. Malcolm Harvey           50 pts
  12. John Beech                      70 pts