Category: dragonforce

Very light wind again at the start of the racing, so a course just using half the lake was set which turned out to be quite successful.

Starting at the Clubhouse end to a windward mark just past the normal finish mark, port to a spreader, down to the gate and finish halfway. After the first two races the wind did increase and some very competitive racing took place with some very close finishes, at the end of the racing just 2 points separating the first four.

All the starts were brilliant with no call backs or general recalls. Eleven races were held with the usual two lap race to finish. Thanks to Dave for RO.

1. Neil Westbrook           24pts 3 wins
2. John Carlin                   25pts 3 wins
3. Andrew Potter             25pts 1 win
4. Alan Watkinson          26pts 2 wins
5. James Douglas             37pts 1 win
6. Richard Walker           39pts 1 win
7. Derek Matthews          41pts
8. John Beech                    68pts
9. Malcolm Harvey         72pts
10. Frans King                    87pts

6 keen sailors arrived to be greeted by a slight wind from the clubhouse end. A course was set from the middle of the lake to a starboard rounding of the windward mark, starboard around the spreader, downwind to a port rounding of the start mark to a finish by the clubhouse.

All starts were without recalls, as as to be called back would have been disastrous. The rounding of the windward mark in the light wind caught out several skippers with penalty turns in abundance. In most races the last 30 meters was the most challenging with the clear leader becoming becalmed and the chasing boats overtaking. Special mention of new member Frans King on his debut race, managing a second and third. Thanks go to RO Dave Williams who managed to run 9 races.

1. Neil Westbrook       11pts 4 wins
2. Alan Watkinson      14pts 3 wins
3. Mike de St Paer       20 pts 1 win, 2 seconds, 2 third
4. John Carlin                20pts 1 win, 2 seconds, 1 third
5. Andrew Potter          30pts
6. Frans King                 30pts

10 members arrived to be greeted by a cold top of A+ wind blowing straight down the lake. With each sailor taking turn as RO we managed 9 races! Unfortunately gear failure took Malcolm out after four races.

Our Commodore took the honours with 6 wins and John C with his consistent sailing took second just one point away from Andrew Peter. There were many close races with places gained tacking on the correct shift and keeping above the water on the downwind leg.

1. John Brierley          6 pts 6 win
2. John Carlin             12 pts 1 win
3. Andrew Peter         13 pts 1 win
4. Andrew Potter      23 pts
5. Dave Williams       24 pts 1 win
6. Neil Westbrook     28 pts
7. Alan Watkinson   30 pts
8. Paul Hounslow     39 pts 2 x 4th
9. John Beech             39 pts 0 x 4th
10. Malcolm Harvey   68 pts

Pleasant summer sailing, with a variable southerly breeze, greeted just 7 sailors for today’s DF65 Race. The usual issues with light airs from behind the clubhouse, with holes and shifts in the wind to contend with, made for interesting conditions and the need for vigilance to gain any advantage. Neil and Andrew finished on equal points but Neil took the overall win with 3 race wins over Andrew’s two. Other wins in the 8 races sailed were shared throughout the fleet.

1. Neil Westbrook     03 10 pts 3 wins
2. Andrew Peter      919  10 pts 2 wins
3. Richard Walker    39  16 pts 1 win
4. Alan Watkinson 373  20 pts 1 win
5. James Martin       813  21 pts 1 win
6. John Beech             80  30 pts
7. Graham Reeves  187 35 pts Rtd.

An eventful day off the water, with the start delayed owning to the Honorary Secretary having unwisely called an EGM for 11.00 and racing disrupted by a fishing “supporter” moving up and down the pond-side, screaming at and threatening members and their boats whilst we sailed.

Compared with that, events on the water were quite tame. What wind there was for the first race blew up the pond from the Southeast, giving us an interesting beat and a challenging run with many holes in the wind, leaving many participants wondering whether they would ever cross the finish line. As the morning progressed, the wind filled in, giving us enough breeze to sail in but still giving us with very shifty conditions. Despite the late start and the very slow first race, we managed eight races before 1pm and, after discards, the results after 2 discards were:

1. Peter Baldwin               6pts                 7 firsts
2. Derek Matthews         17pts                1 first
3. Alan Watkinson          17pts
4. Dave Williams             22pts
5. Malcolm Harvey         24pts
6. Charles Legg                28pts
7. John Beech                   36pts
8. Richard Walker          40pts

Thanks to Ian Roberts who acted as our RO

Thanks also go to our Commodore and Vice Commodore for donning the waders and clearing some lake debris, assisted by the Club Captain with a grappling hook.  Plenty of debris and lots of fishing line around marks was removed.

A grey day, that constantly threatened to rain but hardly did, but blessed us with winds blowing along the lake from the Gautby Road end and giving us a beat from the Northeast corner of the pond to the opposite Western corner. Needless to say, while the broad wind direction was consistent, the detail varied from race to race and from point to point on the pond. What was a near port fetch to the first mark in one race turned into a starboard fetch in another This was a day on which the ability to read the shifts really paid off. Nine people sailed, giving us nine races with each of us acting as race officer in turn. The results were:

1. Andrew Potter      8 pts
2. Mike De St. Paer 11 pts
3. Neil Westbrook  15 Pts
4. John Carlin           19 pts
5. Dave Williams    26 pts
6. Simon Bates        27 pts
7. Richard Walker  29 pts
8. Charles Legg       30 pts
9. John Beech           39 pts