Category: dragonforce

DF65 Racing

13 DF 65 sailors arrived for this week’s club racing. Thirteen proved unlucky for ex Commodore John, who had to retire after a couple of races with a rudder servo problem having been at the front of the fleet.

The course was the usual windward leeward with a windward mark spreader and leeward gate. The start line at the far end of the lake looked biased, but actually worked quite well, and in any case the conditions were such that anything could and did happen out on the track.  The wind was basically over the houses, but a succession of small fronts during the mornings sailing provided flat spots, some punchy gusts, and the odd shower of rain.

Conditions made for a fair bit of unintentional boat to boat contact, and in particular the run to the spreader mark with the fleet bunched made the spreader approach and rounding tricky to judge.

John Beech won the first race, and James and Clive also got away well with each having a string of good results and some wins. Racing was once again close right across the fleet, but eventually Mike dsp just managed to win on points as shown below.

Thanks once again to Dave for doing the results, including average points as the race management duties were shared.

Final Positions were:

1. Mike de St Paer          13.7 pts        4 wins
2. James Douglas           14.8 pts        2 wins
3. Clive Warren               19.4pts         3 wins
4. Alan Watkinson         26.3 pts
5. John Carlin                   32 pts
6. Richard Walker          52.5 pts
7. Andrew Potter            56 pts
8. John Beech                   57pts            1 win
9. Paul Little                     59.4 pts
10. Dave Williams             61.7 pts
11. Tony Sedgwick           69 pts (6 races only)
12. John Whitehead         70 pts (6 races only)
13. Dave Howard              76.7pts

DF95 Racing

Paul Little volunteered to be the race officer for the 6 skippers who started the afternoon session and hopefully picked up some useful tips for his own 95 which is on order. Thanks Paul for keeping us in line.

The course was the same as the morning session, but the wind had swung round even further west and it was a toss up which end of the lake to start  from. After a short discussion we started at the far end.  ‘A’ rig was the choice for the afternoon and just as the morning there were fronts coming through providing plenty of opportunity for passing and losing places. Beats turned Into runs the back to beats, and the helms had to keep on their toes to try to keep the boats moving.

Alan started off as he meant to go on by winning the first, Clive was second, and Richard third. The conditions got to John C and he withdrew at the start of the second race.

The next 2 races saw Clive taking the wins with Alan picking up 2 seconds and Richard and John B picking up 1 third place each.

Race 4 saw John B taking the win, Alan again picking up a second, and third to Dave Howard, leaving Clive hooked up on the gate mark whilst in the leading pack.

Race 5 found Richard taking the win, Alan continuing his consistent run of second places, with John B third.

Final race, Unfortunately Alan had to leave , family duties calling, The race was intended to be 2 laps, at the windward mark it was a close thing with Clive just ahead of Richard, with Dave H and John B close behind, As they approached the spreader, a squall hit the 2 leaders who both broached and ended up tangled together and had to wait until they drifted to the bank to be separated, whilst the other 2 sailed past, giving Dave his first victory with his 95 and John B second and Clive a distant third.

Despite the very tricky wind a very enjoyable afternoon sailing these great boats, with all helms recording at least 1 win each,  just how competitive the sailing was!!

Final standings

1. Alan Watkinson      9pts   1 win
2. Clive Warren          12pts  2 wins
3. John Beech             14pts  1 win
4. Richard Walker      15pts  1 win
5. Dave Howard         18pts   1 win
6. John Carlin (only 1 race sailed)

Day 2 dawned with sun, but sadly no wind.  A postponement was called by the RO and we waited for the breeze to fill in.  By 11:00 there was  gentle SSW breeze sufficient to allow racing to start by 11:10.  After a few had decided not to attend or leave early only 16 boats took to the water in a light and patchy 2 to 5 knots.  We completed an additional 4 races before breaking for lunch, with a breeze that was at times nearly straight down the lake, perhaps helped by a bit of sea breeze adding to the gradient.  John and Peter continued their tussle for the overall lead, with John getting the upper hand in this first session, winning two races to Peters one, with one race tie as the finish judge was unable to split the pair as they crossed the finish line.

After lunch, a further 4 races were completed, although the breeze could shut off at any point and one race was abandoned and break taken before racing continued.  John continued to dominate this final session, with 3 wins, and Tony Sedgwick getting a win in the final race, having had some other excellent results over the weekend, but previously missing out on a win.

This gave a podium of John Tushingham in first, Peter Baldwin in second, with Dave Burke in third.  We had a great weekend of A+ sailing, and thanks go to the Race Officer John Brierley assisted by Dave Williams (Sat), Neil Westbrook, Malcolm Harvey and Judith all helping to run the racing, plus Jocelyn and Chris in the galley keeping everyone fed and watered throughout both days from early in the morning to the end of racing.

Final Results are:

The day started with little or no wind, but a light breeze picked up after RO John Brierley had given his briefing and so Race 1 got underway soon after 10:00.  However, the breeze dropped during the race and the fleet was well spread by the time the leaders finished and the RO called a temporary halt and we restarted after about an hour when the breeze had picked up to a nice WNW breeze of about 5 knots.  We managed 5 races before taking lunch, with John Tushingham taking three wins, plus John Carlin and Peter Baldwin one each.  After lunch, a total of 11 further races were completed (with one break) before the cut-off time of 17:30. In this session there were five different race winners.  Peter took the lions share of seven race wins, with Dave Burke, Alan Watkinson, Simon Fairman and John Tushingham with one each.  Special mention to newcomer to the sport, Tony Sedgwick, who was unlucky to lose out in one race ending up second to Peter on the final leg into the finish having led for a good part of the race.

Results at the end of day 1 are as follows: