c

Category: dragonforce

DF95 Summer Series #7 – 19/10/24

The weather gods were kind to us today, with blue sky, sunshine and a gentle westerly breeze, which in real terms means the wind was from the top end of the lake with a bit of housing estate bias to keep things  interesting, providing enough shifts for overtaking opportunities. No arguments about the choice of rigs, ‘ A rigs’ all round. The standard course of, weather mark, spreader, gate,  with the finish line halfway up the lake was set.  Single lap races were planned to maximise the number of races. 12 races were completed with Neil Westbrook acting as RO for the day keeping the schedule moving and keeping us in check on the start line.
Racing started on time with 10 skippers making it to the start line for the first race including a guest Phil Shepherd from West Kirby. Paul P. posted his intentions early taking the first race, from John Beech who had one of his best days and showed very good boat speed especially in the morning session.
Clive took the second race, with Paul P second, Paul had an extremely consistent day posting 11 top 3 finishes, the only blotch on his record being a DNS when after lunch when he forgot to switch his boat on.  John B then took a well deserved win in race 3, with Paul P second and the Alan third who was improving his position with each race, unfortunately we lost Frans after this race, when he was not feeling well enough to continue.
Race 4 and Alans improvement continued, taking line honours pushed all the way by Paul P and John B.  Race 5 and Paul P interrupted his run of second places by adding another win, Andrew Peters notching up a second and Clive third Clive ended a consistent morning session in race 6 with a second win, Paul again second and Alan third.  Lunch was then taken.
The afternoon session started with no change to the conditions.  Race 7 saw a very popular winner in Malcom, he lead early on and held off Clive and Paul L to take line honours.  The remaining races were all closely contested and followed similar results to the morning session with Paul P, Clive, Alan. and Andrew taking the lions share of the podium places.
In summary:  A really enjoyable afternoons racing, in good conditions with enough shifts to make it interesting. A very competitive fleet with 8 of the 9 skippers recording a top 3 finish and 5 different race winners (not including Frans who retired early)
  1. Paul Plested                                   16pts      5 wins
  2. Clive Warren                                 24pts     3 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson                           31pts      2 wins
  4. Andrew Peter                               36pts
  5. John Beech                                    47pts      1 win
  6. Paul Little                                      59pts
  7. Malcolm Harvey                          60pts      1 win
  8. Martin Whittingham-Jones   67pts
  9. Phil Shepherd                               75pts
  10. Frans King    (Retired)

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 9/10/24

Flying towards the finish

With a Northerly forecast for today, the racing was never going to be great, but we did manage to complete eight races befiore stopping ready for the pre-AGM scheduled for 13:00.

Peter donned the waders to tweak the course, moving the start line and gate to the near bank and we used the outer start line mark as the windward mark and we ready to start at 11:00 in some light rain and a light breeze from a generally Northerly direction with plenty of shifts back and forth such that keeping the boat moving was the key skill today.

Peter had a good lead in race one, but had misunderstood the course as set out by Dave, missed out the spreader and thus scored an NSC instead of a win.  This gifted Paul Plested the win, although for a long while it looked very much like Alan’s race.  Andrew Potter then aced races two and three, before Peter won four of the next 5 races, with Andrew picking up another win whilst Peter was RO.  Although not picking up wins, there were good performances across the fleet with some very close finishes, with Paul P, Alan, Paul L, John and Dave all being well placed in at least one race.

The day was characterised by some very wierd wind conditions with boats occasionally seeing the wind going around in circles, before steadying again 5 seconds later to its original direction.  The wind was also cruel to some leaders as the fleet caught up or even overtook them downwind.  We had more than one race with 5 or 6 boats all trying to fit through the gate at the same time; no contacts were made but it was a close run thing.

Thanks go to Dave Williams and Paul Plested for the photos.

  1. Peter Baldwin              63  7pts  4 wins
  2. Andrew Potter           194  8pts  3 wins
  3. Paul Plested                154 15pts  1 win
  4. Alan Watkinson        373  15pts
  5. Paul Little                      45  25pts
  6. Dave Williams              33  31pts
  7. John Carlin                     11  32pts
  8. Frans King                     95  36pts
  9. Richard Walker            39  37pts
  10. Simon Bates                  69  43pts
  11. David White                   94  48pts

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 2/10/24

DF65

North East wind at Gautby road to greet the excellent turnout of 14 DF65 sailors today. Initially the wind seemed very light, and A+ rigs were an obvious choice, but a succession of small fronts coming over – happily without any rain – also bought some punchy gusts and big shifts to add to the general disturbance caused by the trees. However, the wind stayed in, with enough force to cause the occasional nosedive later, and also some flat spots which caught nearly everyone out at some stage.

The usual course was used, with the windward and spreader mark in a very shifty area right up at the top in the corner opposite the clubhouse, and in fact the spreader was in the flat area under the trees meaning that getting clear on the run needed a touch of luck.

The line was surprisingly good, and good starts were made from just about anywhere during the morning’s racing. It initially looked better to start at the outer end either on port, or getting onto port a.s.a.p. and then trying to hold the port lifts as far as possible, but later it seemed to pay to keep over to the starboard side of the course perhaps in slightly cleaner air and more pressure.

Overall the racing was very close across the fleet, with much place changing and a few turns for various things. Mike, Clive, John and Paul all finished within six points, with other fleet positions also very close.

It was also a pleasure to welcome Phil, a Half Rater sailor from Wallasea YC who had come to take a look and tried both a 65 and 95 during the day.

Overall results as shown below with thanks as always to Dave for sorting them out.

  1.  Mike de St Paer            16pts  4wins
  2.  Clive Warren.                18pts. 2wins
  3.  John Carlin                    21pts
  4.  Paul Plested                  22pts. 3wins
  5.  Neil Westbrook           33pts
  6.  Don MacKinnon         36pts.  1win
  7.  Frans King                    49pts
  8.  Simon Bates                53pts   1x2nd
  9.  Dave Williams            53pts
  10. Sally Collings               58pts
  11. Richard Walker           59pts
  12. John Beech                    81pts
  13. John Lee                         89pts
  14. David White                  92pts

DF95

7 skippers took to the water for the start of the afternoons entertainment, which was a good turnout considering regulars Paul Little and Alan Watkinson were otherwise indisposed. It was good to see John Carlin with 95 in hand after a long absence from the afternoon sailing.

The same course as the morning 65’s was used, The wind being mainly easterly, (partially from the industrial estate) with some Northerly and Southerly thrown in for good measure depending where you were on the lake. This provided plenty of opportunity for losing places or if you were lucky, gaining a few. The breeze was reasonably steady with a few strong gusts to keep us on our toes but the 95s with A Rigs handled them with ease.
Mike very sportingly offered to share his boat with a potential new member Phil, and also had to leave before racing finished so his overall finishing result was not a true reflection. As there were only 7 boats, the normal self monitored start and first over the finishing line recording the race results. Single lap races and 7 races sailed in total after which the wind dropped off and we decided to call it a day.
Racing was very competitive with 6 of the 7 skippers finishing either first or second in at least one race, considering we only sailed 7 races, it shows how competitive the afternoon was!! In the end it was Clive who was most consistent in the tricky conditions, notching up a consistent set of results including 3 wins. He was pushed hard by Paul with 2 wins and Frans who had his best afternoon for some time finishing with 1 win and 2 seconds
In summary – A tricky afternoon with the sun shining, but very enjoyable as ever. Competitive fleet with an array of helms filling the podium places in each race.
Final Results
  1. Clive Warren         10pts         3 wins
  2. Paul Plested          14pts         2 wins
  3. Frans King             16pts         1 win
  4. John Carlin            22pts
  5. Richard Walker   28pts
  6. John Beech            31pts
  7. Mike DSP / Phil   34pts           1 win

DF65 Social racing 2024 – 25/9/24

DF65

On the water, the usual windward/leeward course was used with a spreader at the windward mark and a gate at the leeward mark. 12 races were completed in surprisingly un-Gautby Rd like conditions with a pretty consistent wind in both direction and strength

The racing at the front was dominated by Paul P, Andrew and Clive with a few short-lived cameos by others. Don got a second in race 3 and then won race 4 and then drifted back to mid fleet, although these results were good enough to get him 4th overall on countback. Richard, Dave, Paul L and Sally all had fleeting appearances near the front in various races but apart from a couple of thirds by Paul L, nobody was able to stay in the podium positions by the finish of any race. Paul P won overall, helped by some aggressive starting tactics by Clive on Andrew in race 10 which luckily didn’t deny Andrew second place overall with Clive in third.

  1. Paul Plested          16pts (5 wins)
  2. Andrew Potter     18pts (4 wins)
  3. Clive Warren        20pts (2 wins)
  4. Don McKinnon   46pts (1 win)
  5. Richard Walker  46pts
  6. Sally Collings      47pts
  7. Paul Little            49pts
  8. Dave Williams    54pts
  9. Frans King           58pts
  10. John Beech           68pts
  11. John Lee                77pts
  12. David White        78pts

John Carlin … retired with his boat to see a Relate councillor

DF95

7 Skippers got ready for the afternoon sailing, the weather was supposed to deteriorate with rain in the forecast from 2pm, fortunately this didn’t materialise and a reasonably steady mainly easterly breeze made for a good afternoons sailing. It wasn’t without its Gautby road shifts and twists especially around the windward mark area.
A rig was the preferred choice for all 7 skippers, with self monitored starts, and first over the finishing line recording the results. With the rain forecast it was decided to get as many races in as possible so single lap races were agreed and 9 Races were sailed in total.
The first race set the tone for the afternoon when all the boats were rounding the gate marks, one of the skippers noticed a lone 95 at the windward end of the lake, wallowing, when the question “who’s boat is that at the other end of the lake” was asked; to which Frans replied “must be mine, I thought I was doing rather well”, having sailed the wrong boat for the whole of the downwind without realising!!! In the meantime at the front Paul was showing good boat speed to take the honours, Clive was second with Richard 3rd.
The same 3 filled the podium spots until in race 5 Frans had a 15m lead coming through the gate only to get the wrong side of a couple of shifts and then stuck in irons for 30 secs as he watched the whole fleet sail pass, you just know when its not your day. The race finally being won by Martin.
The top 2 positions on the remaining races were shared between Paul and Clive with John Beech picking up a second and third.
In summary –  A good afternoon enjoyment, (even Frans enjoyed it) conditions were challenging at times with wind shifts all over the lake providing with close racing at the front of the pack and also at the back
  1. Paul Plested                            154            9pts                 5 wins
  2. Clive Warren                            93           11pts                 3 wins
  3. Martin Wittingham-Jones 77          28pts                1 win
  4. John Beech                               288         28pts                1 second
  5. Richard Walker                         52         28pts
  6. Frans King                                  59         32pts
  7. Paul Little                                    14         38pts

DF65/95 Social Racing 2024 – 18/9/24

DF65

The day started inauspiciously, with mist, leaden skies and little sign of breeze. By the time we arrived at the club, the skies remained dreary, but the breeze had started to fill in from the Southeast, and we found ourselves with consistent wind along the lake, allowing us to set a course from the far end start marks to the clubhouse end, with a gate at the two furthest marks at the end of the downwind leg. Rather than persuading someone to don the waders we left a fairly short start line that created challenges for many of us as we tried to time our approaches to the line without contact with other boats or the start marks. As Neil kept pointing out, this shouldn’t have been a problem as we are all good sailors.

We tried one race with the buoys closest to the clubhouse as the windward mark and spreader but, after howls of anguish went up as boats hit dead air as we approached them, the decision was made to use the two start marks at the clubhouse as a port-hand windward mark and a spreader. This allowed for some close, competitive and enjoyable racing. Each sailor acted as race officer in turn, giving us nine races in which positions changed regularly and in which many results were settled on the finish line. Our congratulations to John Carlin for his superbly consistent sailing and our thanks to Dave Williams, who turned up to open the clubhouse before returning home.

At the end of the nine races, the results were:

  1. John Carlin                  8.1*                      5 wins
  2. Neil Westbrook        15.5                         1 win
  3. Alan Watkinson       15.9                         1 win
  4. Clive Warren             25.9                         1 win
  5. Charles Legg             31.1
  6. Paul Little                  33.8
  7. Richard Walker       34.9
  8. Frans King                 49.6
  9. David White               52.6

*The decimal points are there because of the use of average ponts for races in which sailors acted as race officer

DF95

The numbers for the afternoon 95 racing, like the morning session, is still being affected by the “senior holiday season” even so 6 skippers rigged their boats. Unfortunately before getting his on the water Paul L had a phone call from home signalling the end of his fun for the day. So 5 skippers took to the water in very similar conditions as the morning although the 95’s seem to handle them better or was there a bit more wind and a few less holes to fall into? A rigs were perfect.
The same course as the morning was used, and with the limited numbers the starts were self regulated with the first home recording the results. 7 races were sailed of 1 lap each, with the final race extended to 2 laps.
It didn’t take long for our second casualty as Neil fell foul of an intermittent electrical problem during the first race, but managed to return for race 5. Although only 4 boats remained for the initial races,  the races were very competitive with extremely close all the way to the finish with the final positions, more often than not changing hands on the beat to the finish.
Neil’s return in the 5 race only added to the competitiveness, and after 8 races  4 of the 5 helms had bagged at least one first place. Success was all about picking the right wind shift to tack on or to bear away, with much ground to be gained or lost and if you hesitated more often than not you’d end up head to wind and floundering.
Final results after 8 races (2 discards)
1.    Clive Warren             9pts        3 wins
2.    Frans King                 14pts      2 wins
3.    Alan   Watkinson     17pts
4.    Richard Walker        19pts       1 win
5.    Neil Westbrook        20pts      2 wins
In Summary,  a very enjoyable afternoon spent in the sunshine with a tricky wind with a bunch of like minded friends. Unlucky for Neil, without his electrical problem Im  sure his result would have been a lot better. Well done to Clive for winning and to Frans showing some good boat speed.