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Author: Peter Baldwin

DF/RG65 Social Racing #6 3/10/20

8 skippers, 5 different designs, loads of wind and even more rain, thanks to the French named storm Alex that hit us and hit us hard. All skippers opted for the reduced height 2nd suits for the start.
Once again it was Brad Gibson that set the early pace with Graham Elliott trying his hardest to hunt him down. 6 races before a quick dry off and a change of batteries then back out for another soaking, the wind started to increase for the remaining 4 races and a few skippers opted to change down a rig, this did seem to be the correct choice, especially on the downwind legs.
In the end it was Brad Gibson who won 7 races that came out top of the pile, followed by John Brierley and Graham Elliott. 4 race winners today that included the top 3 and also David Potter.
Great to see the class expanding within the club and probably the best 5 designs available all sailing today.
Many thanks to Bernie for standing out in the pouring rain all afternoon so we could all have fun doing our sport.
  1. Brad Gibson             9      Electronica           9pts    ( 7 wins )
  2.  John Brierley        84      Uno                        20pts  ( 1 win )
  3. Graham Elliot        55     Argon                    22pts  ( 1 win )
  4. David Potter           20     Pocket Rocket   25pts  ( 1 win )
  5. Neil Westbrook     03     Pocket Rocket   40pts  1 x 2nd
  6. Peter Baldwin        63     Pocket Rocket   40pts
  7. Alan Watkinson    23     Scurry                   48pts
  8. Dave Williams       33     Pocket Rocket    71pts

After 10  soggy races

DF65 Social Racing #6 30/9/20

A dull and chilly day greeted the eleven sailors for the weekly DF65 social sail. The wind straight down the lake from the clubhouse was of sufficient strength to warrant B suit. Unfortunately Charles was having boat problems and was not able to make the start. A decision was made for each skipper to drop out of a race to monitor the start line and score the boats in at the end of the race. David P sailed  his new boat to great effect, taking four races. He did not have it all his own way with Neil and John putting up a determined fight. The results indicate how close the racing was, with the final leg of the race seeing boats lose several positions due to a poor choice of tack, ending with very close calls on the finish line. Everyone sailed 9 races with 2 discards. Thanks to all the RO’s and to Charles for his help.

  1. David Potter            10pts 4 wins
  2. Neil Westbrook      20pts. 4 wins
  3. Derek Matthews    21pts
  4. John Carlin              22pts 1 win
  5. Richard Robinson 22pts
  6. Alan Watkinson     30pts 1 win
  7. Dave Williams         33pts
  8. Mike de St Paer       45pts
  9. Richard Walker       46pts
  10. Sally Collings           48pts

IOM Social Racing #10 26/9/20

The fleet of 8 IOM’s were again treated to a breeze mostly down the lake with occasional gusts from the North side over the factory units.  Everyone opted for No 2 rigs as the breeze was mostly up at that level with occasional lulls into No 1 territory.  John Berry surprised himself  in Race 1 by getting to the windward mark first and led the fleet through to the finish.  Tre Joinville also had a great first race by finishing second in a borrowed Lintel MMX, whilst Martin Roberts prepared his loan Widget for the day.  Martin then swapped boats with Tre and proceeded to record four wins in succession, before Peter Baldwin took the final race win before a short break was taken.  A good number of other sailors had their turn at the front with second places going to Neil Westbrook, John Berry and Lawrence Drennan in this first session.  In the final four races, Martin took two further wins, Peter one and Tre the final race after a three way battle from the leeward gate against Peter and Martin.  Derek struggled with the settings on his borrowed Widget at the start of the day, but after some hasty adjustments in the break by Martin, managed to record a couple of good results in the final two races.

Martin comfortably won the afternoon, with Peter second and Lawrence putting in a consistent set of results for third.  A great afternoons sailing again and thanks to Bernie and Jack for running the racing once again. First photo from John Berry (resting after his win?) and last photo from Paul Hounslow.

  1. Martin Roberts            123    Lintel mmx      10pts    6 wins
  2. Peter Baldwin                63    Lintel mmx      17pts   2 wins
  3. Lawrence Drennan      57    britpop               27pts
  4. Tre Joinville                   55     Widget               29pts  1 win
  5. Neil Westbrook             03     Widget              34pts
  6. John Berry                      112    Viper                   37pts   1 win
  7. Derek Mathews             91     Widget               43pts
  8. Charles Legg                  25     Rubix                  60pts

After 10 races

DF65 Social Racing #5 23/9/20

Light wind and rain at the start of the Wednesday race the wind from the top end of the lake. 6 sailors, but unfortunately Don had transmitter/receiver problems from the start so elected to act as RO. Due to the wind, a short course was sailed but later with the wind filling , the final few races used the full extent of the lake. 10 races were held with race wins going to Richard, John and Dave. Close finishes seem to be the order of the day with fractions of an inch (centimetres) separating the boats. The day went to Richard with his six wins.

  1. Richard Robinson   11 Pts
  2. Dave Williams          16 pts
  3. Neil Westbrook        19 pts
  4. John Carlin                25 pts
  5. Malcolm Harvey     40 pts

Thanks again to Don Mackinnon for being RO.

RG65 Social Racing #5 19/9/20

Another sunny and windy day (from the E or ENE) at Birkenhead for our latest social RG65 club race. All 7 boats opted to use there ‘B’ rigs with some big gusts arriving from some very strange directions at times. It was Brad Gibson that made the best start to the day, registering 3 wins in the first 3 races, unfortunately Graham Elliott had some early winch line problems so had to miss a few races to re-string.
After 6 races we had a quick break, this saw a slight drop in the wind and a few skippers opting to change rigs but the results did not change much with Brad Gibson dominating with 8 wins and 4 seconds.
A great days sailing with 12 races completed and all before 4.15pm and great to see John Brierley back on the water.  Many thanks to Bernie yet again for starting, finishing and scoring on the day.
  1. Brad Gibson            9    Electronica         12pts    8 wins
  2. Graham Elliott     55   Argon                    25pts    4wins
  3. John Brierley         84  Uno                        29pts
  4. Peter Baldwin       63  Pocket Rocket    36pts
  5. Alan Watkinson    23  Scurry                   46pts
  6. Neil Westbrook     03  Pocket Rocket   49pts
  7. Dave Williams       33  Pocket Rocket    58pts

After 12 races

DF65 Social Racing #4 16/9/20

6 members took part in the usual Wednesday Social race. With a very light A+ wind from the clubhouse end Sally showed her skill in mastering the conditions and took three wins but was pushed hard by Mike de St Paer. John Carlin missed the first few races drying out his transmitter after a involuntary dunking! With the wind now increasing the lead changed with John and Mike taking two wins each. The results could have been so different if Derek had not been so keen with his three recalls. Chris was consistently third and will be a sailor to watch in future. This was Barry’s first race and has now certainly got the bug thanks to Charles’s tuition.

  1. Mike de St Paer    12pts
  2. Sally Collings       17pts. 3 x 1sts
  3. Derek Matthews  17pts. 1 x 1st
  4. Chris Weston        22pts
  5. John Carlin             23pts
  6. Barry                         33pts