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Author: Peter Baldwin

DF65 Social Racing 2021 #5 28/4/21

A big thanks to Charles Legg, who acted as Race Officer for this weeks racing, as part of the new system of rotating RO duties.

A light ESE breeze and sunshine saw a full turnout of 15 sailors, with A+ rigs being the choice.  As ever, the wind filled in as the day progressed and the course was altered more than once to reflect the conditions.  As the results show, competition was stiff with new faces and new members sailing in this class are making sure of that!

It really is great to see “New Blood” in the fleet and on the water.  Looking forward to more enjoyable competition, then we suggest getting your name on the race list.

  1. Andrew Peter              919   22pts
  2. Richard Robinson        01   23pts
  3. Neil Westbrook           03   28pts
  4. Mike de St Paer             35   34pts
  5. John Carlin                      11   37pts
  6. David Williams           233   39pts
  7. James Douglas              73   50pts
  8. Paul Little                      45   54pts
  9. Richard Walker           39   58pts
  10. Simon Bates                 69   68pts
  11. Sally Collings             829  68pts
  12. Andrew Potter            194  90pts
  13. Stan Metcalfe               46  90pts
  14. Alan Watkinson         373  93pts
  15. Malcolm Harvey      1019  99pts

10 races sailed.

RG/DF65 Club Racing 2021 #2 25/4/21

A beautiful sunny day with the wind blowing from the SE with some serious shifts and gusts to keep you on your toes.
Peter Baldwin once again got the waders on and set a great course with quite some bias on both the start line and the leeward gate, the DF65’s started with the fleet but went to there own windward mark and if this is set correctly the leading RG’s and DF’s will finish together, as they did today.
We had 8 RG65’s that included 5 Pocket Rockets (Dave Creed) 1 Uno (Ceccarelli), 1 Argon (Graham Bantock) and an Electronica (Brad Gibson) plus 2 DF65’s, a mixture of rigs were used for the first few races with some in a lower aspect ‘A’ rig and some in there full height rig, the 2 DF’s both choosing the A+ rig.
It was Graham Elliott reunited with his Electronica that showed the early pace, winning the first 5 races, John Brierley taking the 6th race. The DF’s sharing wins in the first 4 races but Mike then taking the final 2 races before we called a lunch break. After the break, all RG’s now had there tallest rigs on with the edge going out of the gusts and another 6 races sailed to wrap up the day.
It was great to see a rare appearance from Andrea Roberts sailing an RG for the first time and I am sure she will now be hooked after todays decent set of results even if she does now have to do the washing up for the week after losing a side bet with Martin. Many thanks to Bernie for once again starting and finishing us.
  1. Graham Elliot            9       electronica            9pts   8 wins
  2. John Brierley           84       uno                        24pts   3wins
  3. Martin Roberts      184      pocket rocket    24pts   1 wins
  4. Peter Baldwin          63       pocket rocket    39pts
  5. Andrea Roberts       55       argon                    42pts
  6. Neil Westbrook       03       pocket rocket    52pts
  7. Matt Stephenson   08       pocket rocket    72pts
  8. Dave Williams         33        pocket rocket    73pts
DF65’s
Mike De St Paer      35       10pts        10 wins
John Carlin               11         18pts         2 wins
after 12 races

DF65 Social Racing 2021 #4 21/4/21

With a steady ESE breeze from the Clubhouse end of the lake, RO Neil Westbrook decided that A rigs were the order of the day for everyone.  Ably assisted by Dave Williams, a course was set using the full length of the lake.  Ten races were completed, with the final race over two laps.

  1. RICHARD ROBINSON    01   12 pts
  2. MIKE DE ST PAER          35   20 pts
  3. ANDREW PETER           919   29 pts
  4. ALAN WATKINSON      373   31 pts
  5. JOHN CARLIN                    11    33 pts
  6. DEREK MATTHEWS       57   41 pts
  7. PAUL WHITE                     45   45 pts
  8.  RICHARD WALKER        39   56 pts
  9. CHARLES LEGG                21    58 pts
  10. SIMON BATES                   69   67 pts[ 1 X 2nd ]
  11. SALLY COLLINGS          829   67 pts
  12. DON MACKINNON        933   74 pts
  13. BARRY BOUGH                  147       RTD

IOM Club Racing 2021 #2 17/04/2021

A sunny day greeted the 8 IOM sailors for the 2nd Club Racing afternoon series race. Just in time for racing, the wind settled in from the NW but judging the shifts ensured all sailors were kept on their toes all afternoon.

Twelve races were held, with the boats coming of the water for a break at 14:45 so that the assembled members could observe the National one minute silence for the funeral of HRH Prince Philip at 15:00. With silence around the lake, only the gentle flapping of sails in the background, was to be our tribute to HRH, Patron of the MYA.
Racing was extremely close with all sailors showing towards the front of the fleet at some point.  Martin, sailing a new Slimtel was to win 6 races, but the consistency of John gave him a narrow 1 point win. Third and only 1 point behind Martin was Bill.  The scores do not do justice to how close the racing and in particular the finishes were.
Bernie and Jack, kept us all well organised and thanks, as usual, go to them enabling us all to have another great day on the water at Birkenhead.
  1. John Brierley          Britpop    20 points (2 wins)
  2. Martin Roberts      Slimtel     21 points. (6 wins)
  3. Bill Culshaw            Britpop    22 points (2 wins)
  4. Graham Birkett     Widget     41 points (2 wins)
  5. Tre Joinville            Lintel       52 points (1x2nd)
  6. Alan Watkinson    Britpop    52 points
  7. Andrew Peter         V9               55 points
  8. Neil Westbrook     Widget      56 points
12 races sailed. Photos courtesy of Dave Williams.

DF65 Social Racing 2021 #3 14/4/21

Yet another sunny but chilly spring day at Birkenhead, with a very light breeze hardly rippling the water for the first race.  RO Andrew Peter set a single lap ¾ length course, with the breeze filling in slightly from the NW. as the morning progressed.  Some new faces were welcomed into the DF65 racing fleet, and the competition was very keen throughout, as the closeness of the final points indicates.

A slightly longer course was set for the last two races as the breeze picked up gaving ideal sailing for A+ rigs. 8 races were completed.  One ‘no-show’ in the bookings fortunately gave our stand-by sailor the chance to compete, and two ‘guests’ arrived to spectate, Martin Roberts and potential new member Mike Hilton.

As has been the case for the last 3 DF65 Wednesday races, the breeze has filled in towards the end of each session, with ideal steady wind conditions just as we are finishing the days racing.  Would a move to a later start time, of say 12.00 noon, perhaps be considered sensible. If you have any thoughts on this subject, please talk to Andrew Peter when you next see him or email him through his details on the Contact page.

  1. Neil Westbrook        03   11 pts   4 x 1st
  2. Richard Robinson   01   11 pts    1 x 1st
  3. David Williams      233   20 pts
  4. Alan Watkinson     373   22 pts
  5. Mike De St Paer        35   23 pts
  6. James Douglas          73   30 pts
  7. Paul Little                   45   33 pts
  8. Sally Collings          829   41 pts
  9. Don Mackinnon     933   45 pts
  10. Charles Legg              21   54 pts
  11. Stan Metcalfe           46   60 pts
  12. Malcolm Harvey  1019   61 pts
  13. Barry Bough             147  62 pts

After 8 races sailed and two discards