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Author: Peter Baldwin

ND IOM Winter Series #1 (Rescheduled) 18/3/23

This reschedule of Event #1 in the ND Winter Series for the IOM was after Ice stopped play in December.  Looking at the forecast for today might have put off a few from attending, but we had 13 boats on the start line for Race 1 in a light 4 or 5 knot breeze almost straight down the lake.  There was a slight delay to proceedings whilst Neil moved marks around after a 180 degree wind-shift occurred whilst we were about to start the briefing as a sea breeze formed early.  The breeze held for most of the day, with it strengthening after lunch and then dying back as the rain arrived for the last few races.

Darin Ballington (Pikanto) set the early pace with a win in Race 1, followed in Race 2 by a win for Bill Culshaw (Britpop!).  Next to gain a win was Graham Elliott (Fractel) in Race 3 and then James Hadden (Britpop!) had his first win in Race 4.  Next to see the front was Brad Gibson sailing his pimped TS2 with wins in both races 5 & 6, followed by another for Bill in Race 7, when we had a break for an early lunch.  So 7 races and 5 different winners with 4 different designs.  Key to getting a good result was choosing the right place to start and staying in the pressure. At the break James was leading by one point from Brad, with Bill 10 points behind them.  In the mix at this point and close behind Bill was Rob Walsh sailing a Lintel, with a number of results in the top 3.

After a short break for lunch, another 5 races were sailed in an increasing WNW breeze and some sun.  Brad took race 8 followed by another win for Darin in race 9.  After a string of good results, James picked up another win in race 10, before Rob picked up his first win in race 11.  Obviously eager to get to a drink at the next break, Brad gained the win in Race 12.  This left the top three after 12 races as James, followed by Brad and Rob.

After a  quick refreshment break (with cake as well, thanks to Judith), we had another 4 races to reach the magic 16 and a third discard.  John Tushingham (Vision) finally got his just reward with the first win after a number of top three places earlier.  Bill then took his third win in race 14, with James and Brad coming back to win races 15 and 16.

So the top 4 and in the prizes were in first, our long distance traveller James Hadden, Brad Gibson second, Rob Walsh, third and John Tushingham fourth.  Sixteen races, 7 different winners with 6 different designs!  Just shows that you do not need the latest design to do well even in light airs, although being an ex World Champion does give you a slight edge!Many thanks to our race team of Dave Williams and Neil Westbrook who kept things moving at a good pace all day, with Bernie and Jack keeping us fed and watered in the galley.  Thanks also to Dave for the photos.

All photos can be found in our Flikr Album here

 

DF65 Social Racing 2023 (15/3/23)

10 sailors were greeted with a light wind from the Clubhouse end. The usual course was set with the windward mark and spreader leaving to port.

Mike showed his intentions and took the first three races but after his turn as RO he could not get near the top spot. John Carlin showed his skill in the light winds and took five wins. Neil, after a few bad starts had several good races managing two wins.

The most improved sailor was Frans who managed four mid fleet finishes.
10 races were held with the final race the usual two laps.

1st    John Carlin              10pts. 5 wins
2nd  Mike de St Paer      14pts. 3 wins
3rd   Neil Westbrook      20pts. 2 wins
4th   Alan Watkinson    23pts
5th   Clive Warren           25pts
6th   Dave Williams        30pts
7th   Frans King               48pts
8th   John Beech              49pts
9th   Stan Metcalf           51pts. 1 x 4th
10th Malcolm Harvey    51pts

Calendar for Summer 2023 has been posted

The Calendar for Summer 2023 has been posted and new events now exist on Saturdays.  Wednesday sailing will continue as Social racing with no entry requirements.

There is a small change to the programme for 2023 with the introduction of a short series for the DF95 on a limited number of Saturdays.  These are in addition to events for the DF/RG65 and IOM with a small number of events for the VMYG which will also operate as Open Sailing Days where members are encouraged to sail any boat on the lake in the company of others.

You may see the whole planned programme in the Calendar.

RG65 Winter Series 2022/23 #7 (11/3/23)

Cold, Cold and Cold, all with a capital C, probably one of the coldest days racing we have ever had, and all in mid March, the good points were that we had 8 RG’s and a lovely East South East wind of around 10mph gusting to 15mph. It was great to see Vernon who had made the journey up North to try his new boat out before the TT series starts in April, still some work to do on her but I am sure he will get it there soon.
All 8 opted for their B rigs, full area but lower aspect, mostly conventional rigs but 2 with swing rig, after a few races the wind did die a little (with the arrival of the rain) so Martin changed up to his full height rig, the rest of the fleet were either too cold to change up or just lazy. It was Peter Baldwin sailing his newly wrapped Uno that led the fleet home in the first 2 races but the next 5 before tea all went to Graham Elliott sailing his Electronica.
After tea, the wind did pick up again and Peter and Graham shared the wins between them, 2-3. Unfortunately we lost John for the last 4 races as he had an appointment watching the Welsh beat Italy in the rugby.
Great days sailing and well done to all who braved the elements but most of all, Bernie, who started and finished us in all 12 races and coping well with a soggy results sheet.  Photos are courtesy of photographer Dave Williams.
  1. Graham Elliott        electronica         12pts     7 wins
  2. Peter Baldwin         uno                         17pts     4 wins
  3. Martin Roberts      pocket rocket     38pts
  4. John Brierley            uno                       46pts     2 x 2nd 
  5. Alan Watkinson     uno                        46pts
  6. Neil Westbrook      uno                        52pts
  7. Dave Williams         uno                        57pts
  8. Vernon Appleton   Shadow                62pts

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2023 (8/3/23)

A chilly easterly breeze blowing down the lake from the clubhouse greeted the 13 cold blooded and intrepid DF65 sailors today. A+ rigs were ordered but a quick recce established conditions were too windy and everybody switched down to A rigs ….. apart from our new member from Southport, who had looked out his window this morning, seen no wind and had only brought his A+ rig …. a salutary lesson that conditions at the lake are never what you might expect or hope for.

Neil couldn’t resist putting on some “rubberware” (waders) and quickly jumped into the lake to move some marks while Stan suddenly found his boat battery was flat, either due to a lack of charging or using it for other tasks around the house, and therefore kindly volunteered to be RO for the day …. something he probably regretted as the morning wore on!

The best windward mark required a starboard rounding for a change, although this proved why standard Olympic courses are always set up with port rounding’s as those that chose to approach the mark on the port lay-line (which was generally favoured) had the triple problem of first seeing whether they were laying the mark, secondly avoiding boats on the starboard lay-line and then having hopefully left enough room for starboard approaching boats not being sure whether they were going to tack inside on the mark or keep going with right of way.

A spreader mark also rounded to starboard was next then downwind to a leeward gate and back up wind to the finishing line to complete the course. Most races included a downwind puff strong enough to nosedive or broach but this provided opportunities for passing if you could avoid the puff or any associated calamities

John C and John B dominated the racing winning 7 out of the 10 races between them with John C coming out on top due to one more race win and more 2nds than John B. Mike sailed consistently to come 3rd just ahead of Alan, while Andrew sailed very inconsistently to come 5th

  1. John Carlin                      13pts (4 wins)
  2. John Brierley                  16 pts (3 wins)
  3. Mike De St Paer             30pts
  4. Alan Watkinson            31pts (1 win)
  5. Andrew Potter               35pts (2 wins)
  6. Neil Westbrook              36 pts
  7. Clive Warren                   47pts
  8. James Douglas                54pts
  9. Frans King                        67pts
  10. John Beech                       73pts
  11. Malcolm Harvey            74pts
  12. Paul Little                         77pts

After a quick dinner 5 DF95’s braved the cold and managed 7 races under the watchful eye of race officer Neil before snow stopped play.

Alan Watkinson               7pts. 3 wins
Clive Warren                     8pts. 2 wins
John Carlin                        9pts. 2 wins
John Beech                      17pts
Malcolm Harvey           24pts

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2023 (1/3/23)

With the wind coming over the factory from the top end of the lake, Peter donned the waders to move the marks around setting the windward mark near the far wall, a port rounding to the spreader and then down through a gate at the Clubhouse corner of the lake and the usual finish half way up the lake.
A good turnout of fifteen sailors including new members Dave and Steve from Southport decided the rig to use was A+. Racing was to be with each competitor dropping out of a race to act as race officer. Peter took the first race with John and Andrew close behind. Many of the sailors had trouble judging the windward mark with many appointments being made at Specsavers after racing. Peter dropped out of two races to assist on the start line and finish line.  Five other skippers skippers managed to be first over the finish line but nobody managed to get the better of  Peter, who had the highest number of wins today.
Eleven races were held before lunch was called.

1st   Peter Baldwin        12.6 pts 4wins
2nd James Douglas      25.8 pts 2 wins
3rd  Andrew Potter       30 pts 2 wins
4th  Alan Watkinson    32.6 pts 1 win
5th  Neil Westbrook      37.1 pts. 1 win
6th  John Carlin              38.2 pts. 2 x 2nds
7th  Clive Warren           38.2 pts
8th  Don MacKinnon    45 pts 1 win
9th  Simon Bates            70.8 pts
10th Frans King              76.4 pts
11th Dave Williams        78.3 pts
12th Malcolm Harvey    86 pts
13th Dave Jessop            100.1 pts
14th Steve Jessop           101.2 pts
15th Stan Metcalf          108 pts

There was then a short set of races as a DF95 tune up race for the TT this weekend at Southport.

The same course was used but with two laps. Alan unfortunately had battery problems and was unable to compete with his 95, but took over Dave’s boat.
John took the first race but Peter then managed the next four, with Neil having a good sail taking two seconds and two thirds.

1st   Peter Baldwin               4 pts 4 wins
2nd John Brierley                 7 pts 1 win
3rd  Neil Westbrook           12 pts
4th  John Carlin                    16 pts
5th  Clive Warren                  17 pts
6th  Williams/Watkinson  19pts

Many thanks to Dave for working out the scores, which had to include averaging for most of the fleet with 2 sailors who didn’t do a duty.