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Category: dragonforce

DF95 Summer Series 2024 #1 – 20/4/24

A nice spring day welcomed the 12 skippers who entered the first DF95 summer season, which considering at least 5 regulars were unable to attend for various reasons. A very warm welcome to our new member Ian Davies who showed a good turn of speed throughout the afternoon.
The wind was a light breeze from the north west which swung randomly to be a northerly or westerly at random intervals, providing opportunity for all to gain or loose places all over the course.  As the far end of the lake was in calmness for most of the afternoon, a windward mark ¾ of the way up was used, taken to port with no spreader, so straight back down the lake to a gate before the finishing line half way up the lake. Our RO for the afternoon was Paul Ps better half Sharon who kept us under control. 14 races were sailed mainly single laps but with a couple of 2 lappers thrown in the mix towards the end of the day.  The racing was as always super competitive with 6 different winners and 8 helms finishing in the top 3 at some stage
The first half saw 4 different winners, first race was our new member Ian Davies, taking the honours, and showing that this was no fluke, followed this up with another in race 4. Alan took races 2 and 7, and Paul P races 3 and 5 with Frans race 6. On the heels of the leaders there were some consistent performances by John C, Neil and Clive. S o it was all to play for after the Coffee break.
The second half  saw 2 new names on the score sheet, Clive came out of the blocks with wins in race 8, 10 and 14,  and Neil in 9 and 11 with Alan adding another 2 to his collection from earlier in the day. Paul P and John C again sailing consistently behind the race leaders.
At the end of the session the results were very close as the complete results below show very clearly.


DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 17/4/24

DF65’s

North West breeze today blowing straight down the lake, or as near as, resulting in quite a popple on the water at the club end where the gate marks were situated. Quite cold on arrival and no one seemed keen to go for a wade, but the start line and the beat looked very fair, with a single windward mark but no spreader. This clearly meant that the leading pack had to navigate their way through the boats still on the beat, but this seemed to work well. In fact there were more boat to boat incidents elsewhere on the course as the some of the heavier gusts affected boat handling.

Initial thoughts of A rig changed quickly to B rig which proved to be the right choice over the morning. As always there were some flat spots and lulls, and the heavier gusts were just at the top end of B rig conditions but quite manageable.

Malcolm Harvey very kindly offered to RO the morning’s racing – thank you Malcolm – and Dave Williams stormed away to win the first race, followed by Mike who won the next two and Simon who won race 4.

Once again racing was much closer than the end results might suggest, with some big gains to be made – or lost – coming up from the gate to the finish depending on which gate mark was taken. Despite the strength of the breeze there were some significant shifts all through the mornings sailing making it a day to keep your competitors covered.

Mike was able to win 4 of the next 5 races to win overall, with Clive and Sally also winning races in another very competitive 10 races for the 65 fleet.

Thanks again to Malcolm for ROing, and to Malcolm and Dave for sorting out the results which were as follows:

  1. Mike de St Paer    10 pts         6 wins
  2. Simon Bates          37 pts         1 win
  3. Clive Warren         38 pts         1 win
  4. Andrew Potter      38.5 pts
  5. Dave Williams      45 pts         1 win
  6. Neil Westbrook    47 pts
  7. Alan Watkinson   48 pts
  8. John Beech             50 pts
  9. Dave Howard         51.5 pts
  10. Sally Collings         52 pts 1 win
  11. Paul Plested            53 pts
  12. Frans King               60 pts

DF95’s

11 skippers were treated to a great afternoon sail, the sun shone and took the edge off the north westerly breeze blowing down the lake from the non clubhouse end with a bit of bias from the industrial estate.

The choice of rig was B rig which turned out to be the right choice although it was top end and touching a C rig in some of the gusts. The wind was fairly steady but there were a few gusts that could catch the unaware helm out downwind, matched with a few shifts (not as many as usual) and it was a fabulous afternoon for 95 sailing.

The course was similar to the morning but the first mark was slightly further up the lake to make the course slightly longer. A mixture of 1 and 2 lap races were sailed with a total of 8 races completed. Normal afternoon format applied with self monitoring starts and first to finish taking note of the finishing positions.

Racing was as competitive as ever in the 95 fleet with 7 helms recording a top 3 place. Paul Little had an afternoon to forget with various boat and rig issues limiting him to only 2 finishes.  John C took the honours in the opening race after a close tussle with Clive and Paul P, and the second race was more of the same with the finishing order reversed. Clive then took the next two with John B notching up a 3rd place in what was a consistent set of results hovering just outside the top 3. Paul P then got his second win, before Mike dSP finally got the hang of his new B rig finishing 1,2,1 in the last 3 races. Overall a great afternoon sailing in near perfect conditions for a B rig.

Final results

  1. Clive Warren          9pts  3 wins
  2. Paul Plested          15pts   1 win
  3. Mike De St Paer   18 pts  2 wins
  4. John Carlin            21pts    1 win
  5. John Beech            24pts
  6. Alan Watkinson  27pts
  7. Frans King            34pts
  8. Dave Howard       35pts
  9. Neil Westbrok      41pts
  10. Malcolm Harvey 50pts
  11. Paul Little              68pts

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 10/4/24

DF65’s

Spring has (allegedly) sprung, but there wasn’t much evidence of it at Gautby road this morning, where arriving sailors were greeted by a rising S.Easterly breeze, persistent rain and a temperature of around 7deg C. Not a great Spring day.

On the up side there was a bit of breeze, and early launchers returned to say that A+ should actually be A, and even then there were some chunky gusts at the top end of A rig. The resident fishermen started to pack up straight away and were no problem at all.

The usual course was used, other than that one of the gate marks was missing and it was agreed simply to do a port hand leeward mark rounding. Strangely no one seemed keen to go for a paddle and replace the mark.

There were 11 skippers to start – a good turnout given the unpromising conditions – and after a small delay while everyone changed rigs Dave Williams got the racing started.

The first three races had three different winners, and the final beat up from the bottom mark proved tricky to get right. The starting line looked port end biased from the lake edge but proved to be a good compromise. Mike and John then shared the remaining 5 races between them with Mike just running out the winner.

Sally had boat trouble after only two races but very kindly stayed on to RO the rest of the morning. Thank you!

Clive managed three races, but then after sorting out what looked like a rudder servo problem returned to race; unfortunately with the hatch not completely sealed. His boat partially sank, but was fortunately close to the bank and nudged ashore safely, which ended his day. Dave Howard arrived late and only completed one race before having to fix a rigging issue. All in all an eventful mornings racing.

Racing was closer than the results might suggest, with places being swapped right up to the line. Final results as shown below with thanks to Dave and Malcolm for sorting them out, and thanks again to Sally.

  1. Mike de St Paer          7.2pts      4 wins
  2. John Carlin                 10 pts        3 wins
  3. Neil Westbrook         17 pts
  4. Paul Plested               22 pts
  5. Dave Williams          30 pts         1 win
  6. Frans King                 30 pts
  7. Richard Walker        32 pts
  8. Malcolm Harvey     46 pts
  9. Clive Warren             50 pts         3 races
  10. Sally Collings            63 pts         2 races
  11. Dave Howard            64 pts         1 race

DF95’s

Following a morning of wetness with a chilly wind only 4 brave skippers got their boats rigged for the afternoon, the weather forecast and Easter holidays putting a lot of people off. As it turned out, the afternoon weather forecast didn’t materialise and the rain stayed away. The wind eased slightly from the morning making the A rig a perfect choice, the generally South Easterly direction remained similar to the morning, with the normal shifts and holes associated with Gautby Rd to keep the helms on their toes, it was very easy to pick a bad shift and end up head to wind, loosing meters.
Paul martialled the start line and the first home recorded the scores.
8 races were sailed, a mixture of one and two lap, Paul started as he meant to go on taking the first 2 races, before Clive stepped up to take the 3rd. Meanwhile after taking a second in the first race Dave managed to tune his boat to a standstill and took time out to make some rigging adjustments in the clubhouse. Race 4 and Paul was on top again before Mike got in on the act taking race 5. Once again Paul took line honours in races 6 and seven before Mike won the final race. All races were very close between the boats with the lead changing hands regularly in most races but it was Pauls day who had his boat set up just right and mastered the conditions with 5 wins.
1,   Paul Plessed      –    5 wins
2.   Mike de St Paer  –  2 wins
3.   Clive Warren       –   1 win
4.   Dave Howard

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 3/4/24

DF65’s

Twelve DF65 sailors arrived today to be greeted by persistent drizzle and not much breeze, however the day got better as reported below.

To begin with the breeze was about southerly, with the usual flat area in the clubhouse corner. Dave and Mike replaced all the marks which had been removed from the lake for the 36 vane event, and Dave had the foresight to lay a start and gate at both ends of the lake.

Racing started in this very light and patchy breeze, with four winners (Andrew / Mike / Alan / James) in the first four races, and just as everyone was wishing for some breeze there was a 180deg shift and everything started again from the clubhouse end in a very gradually increasing N.W. breeze. Dave’s south end start line worked well as it was tricky to decide a sweet spot on the line, but James once again aced the next races to win four in a row, and after 8 races ran out a comfortable winner.

Dave sailed very consistently to come second ahead of Mike who had a couple of wins but was less consistent and had to take a couple of self-inflicted penalties after hitting marks.

Another day of tight racing in tricky conditions. Well done James and thanks as usual to Dave for the results which ended as follows:

  1. James Douglas               7pts     4 wins
  2. Dave Williams              16 pts
  3. Mike de St Paer            18 pts    2 wins
  4. Sally Collings               21 pts
  5. Paul Plested                  24 pts
  6. Alan Watkinson          25 pts     1 win
  7. John Carlin                    27 pts
  8. Neil Westbrook           30 pts
  9. Andrew Potter             34 pts     1 win
  10. Richard Walker           40 pts
  11. John Beech                    47 pts
  12. Malcolm Harvey         51 pts

DF95’s

Just 5 boats ventured out with A rigs with the breeze proving too much after two races. So four then raced with B rigs, but after a further two races, two of these made the sensible decision to call it a day. The final pair then struggled on for 2 more races, before packing up as they should probably have dropped to C rigs.                   #Breezyafternoon

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 27/3/24

DF65’s

All the signs were there for a good morning of A rig racing for the 14 helms, with the breeze straight down the lake from the clubhouse as we arrived and even as most boats went on the water a few minutes before the start.  Then, a heavy rain squall flattened the boats and soaked the competitors for a couple of minutes before the clock went on.  The rain thankfully stopped, but took most of the wind with it and made it veer through at least 45 degrees, so that by the time we started, the key skill (or was it luck?) was to work out where the most breeze might be on the course to take you to the windward mark the quickest (and it was often not the shortest route).

The conditions were not to the liking of Mike dsp and John C and they both dropped out after a few races along with Paul Little who had things to attend to.  This was a pity for them, as the breeze during the later races was probably the best of the morning.  During the seven races completed, the wins were shared between 4 helms.  The winner sometimes being decided on the final beat into the finish when the leader at the gate could be becalmed in the middle of the lake heading nicely for the finish, whilst a later boat in the fleet sailed up the far bank and got a very nice breeze into the finish.

Peter Baldwin gained 3 wins, James Douglas two, with Neil Westbrook and Andrew Potter taking one each.  The morning however went to James with a very consistent set of results, just one point ahead of Peter, with Neil eight points adrift in third place.

  1. James Douglas              73   12pts
  2. Peter Baldwin               63   13pts
  3. Neil Westbrook            03   21pts
  4. Andrew Potter             194  22pts
  5. Clive Warren                  53   27pts
  6. Paul Plested                   54   28pts
  7. Alan Watkinson          373   33pts
  8. Simon Bates                   69   37pts
  9. Dave Williams                33   46pts
  10. Frans King                       95   51pts
  11. John Carlin                       11   58pts
  12. John Beech                       80  62pts
  13. Mike De St Paer              35  67pts
  14. Paul Little                         45  76pts

DF95’s

After the frustrations of racing the DF65 in the morning, unfortunately only 4 skippers turned out for the afternoon, partly due to the morning experience but other commitments also took their toll on the normal fleet.
For those that did stay there was a very pleasant surprise in store for them.  The very fluky southerly wind from the morning, was replaced with SE which was just enough of a shift to straighten the direction to not quite down the middle of the lake but took out a lot of the dead spots that were seen in the morning. Added to this it was strengthening throughout the afternoon and with some added sun it was a very enjoyable sail.
It was a good A rig wind at the start of the afternoon with a few shifts but no real holes to fall into. As is normal with Gautby Rd picking the right shift to tack on was imperative to stay in contention, and if you picked a wrong one and got headed you were suddenly tail end Charlie. The same course as the morning was used, with one lap sprints to maximise the number of races. With only 4 boats although racing  was very light hearted, and more social than racing, but most enjoyable. Unfortunately Alan had to leave after 5 races for a prior commitment  after taking 4 wins and a 3rd..  The remainder continued to enjoy themselves in the freshening wind that would have been good for a B rig in the later stages but we all stayed on A’s. After 11 races grey clouds started to threaten so we call it a day.
Final results didnt really matter but Alan had the bragging rights with 4 wins, John B 3 wins, with Clive and Dave both on 2.

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 13/3/24

DF65’s

The forecast strong SW breeze didn’t really reach Gautby Rd lake and, as it was blowing right over the houses, gave very fluky conditions even by the standards of the venue.

Another excellent turnout of 17 skippers arrived although, as reported below, this reduced for various reasons during the morning’s racing.

Dave Williams very kindly offered to RO the racing, and then as the first race ended John Brierley had to leave followed closely by Simon who had come with only an A rig having been led astray by the forecast. Charles and Sally also departed a bit later leaving the remaining helms to enjoy the conditions which varied from real knockdown gusts to complete flat spots,

There was initially a bit of debate about which end to start, but the decision to start at the far end of the lake turned out to be the right one. The usual course was used with a line which looked very starboard end biased, but once again enabled good starts to be made pretty much anywhere.

Despite the tricky conditions there was good racing, although after 8 races (and a couple of rain showers) all agreed that this was enough for the morning.

Thanks to Dave for running the racing and for untangling the results which ended as follows;

  1. Mike de St Paer     8pts           4 wins
  2. James Douglas     12 pts         2 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson   13 pts         2 wins
  4. Clive Warren        24 pts
  5. John Carlin            27 pts
  6. Dave Howard       40 pts
  7. Richard Walker   41 pts
  8. Neil Westbrook   44 pts
  9. Paul Little              45 pts
  10. Sally Collings       49 pts (sailed 5 races)
  11. Don Mackinnon  53 pts (sailing an A rig)
  12. John Beech            58 pts
  13. Malcolm Harvey 67 pts
  14. Charles Legg         74 pts    (sailed 4 races)
  15. Simon Bates          90 pts    (A rig & ret’d during race 1)

DF95’s

The highlight of the afternoon was the turnout of skippers, 8 in total which given the wind and weather forecast was a great turnout especially considering regulars, Frans King, John Carlin, Tony Sedgewick weren’t racing. Double figure starters are just around the corner!!!!
The lowlight of the afternoon was the wind, no change from the morning conditions with a S SW breeze directly over and through the houses which provided wind from all points of the compass at regular intervals. Added to this were some strong gusts from any direction. it was a tricky day to sail for sure!! Having said this the DF95s handled the conditions better than the 65s in the morning and racing was as competitive as ever.
5 Races with one discard were sailed after a slightly extended lunch, when technical help was being handed out. With normal 95 racing protocol in place with self managed starts and with the winner recording the results (now we have a reasonable fleet we may need to change to dedicated ROs). We were ready for racing using the same course as the morning, providing a beat, reach and run on each leg.
Mike on his maiden voyage in the 95s showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with once he masters the subtle differences in the big boats to the 65’s, leading for most of the way round to take the first win of the afternoon, followed home by Alan in 2nd and Richard in 3rd. Dave took the second race showing his steady improvement before with Alan 2nd and Mike sailing very consistently 3rd. Alan then stepped up a gear and took the next 2 wins with Mike and Clive taking the 2nd places with Dave and Mike picking up the 3rds. The final race saw Clive take the win with Dave finishing 2nd and John 3rd
Final Results
1     Alan Watkinson        6 pts,     2 wins
2     Mike de St Paer         9pts      1 win
3     Dave Howard            13 pts  1 win
4     Clive Warren            15pts     1 win
5     Richard Walker       16pts
6     John Beech                17pts
7     Malcolm Harvey     20pts
8     Paul Little                  28pts