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Category: dragonforce

DF65 Social Racing 2023 – 29/3/23

A dry day with varying wind strength from the Clubhouse end. The fifteen keen sailors opted to use the A+ rig even though it was near the limit. Peter donned the waders and moved the marks to give an even start and a decent beat & run. Racing was very close at the sharp end with four wins a piece for Peter and John C with Clive and Andrew taking one each. The strong gusts felt on the downwind leg caused most boats to bury bows and to pirouette, probably losing many places trying to regain control. Ten races were completed with the final being the usual two laps.

  1. Peter Baldwin          11.4 pts 4 wins
  2. John Carlin               16 pts 4 wins
  3. James Douglas        26 pts
  4. Andrew Peter          26.2 pts 1 win
  5. Neil Westbrook      35.4 pts
  6. Richard Walker       49 pts
  7. Dave Williams         49.1 pts
  8. Paul Little                 58.2 pts
  9. Alan Watkinson     61.7 pts
  10. Stan Metcalf            67.4 pts
  11. Clive Warren            69.7 pts 1 win
  12. Simon Bates             81 pts
  13. Frans King                81.1 pts
  14. Charles Legg            84 pts
  15. John Beech                88 pts

Average scores had to be used due to five members not being able to be RO.

DF65 Social Racing 2023 – 22/3/23

A slightly depleted entry of 9 DF65 sailors arrived to what seemed like an A+ rig day, despite forecasts for some much heftier wind strengths. Shortly before the first race it became clear that A rig would be the order of the day so a quick change was required.

John Carlin then started Race 1 on a course which turned out to be pretty much of a Starboard tack close fetch and a reach / beat / fetch back to the leeward gate. Flat spots and some powerful gusts caught almost everyone out at some point, resulting in quite a bit of contact, both bumper to bumper and doorhandle to doorhandle.

During race 1 Dave Williams’ winch failed and he very kindly stayed to RO the rest of the racing which was comfortably won by Alan Watkinson who dealt with the tricky conditions much better than the rest of the fleet.
Mike St Paer and Clive Warren followed, separated by only two points, and then by Andrew Potter and John Carlin who finished only one point apart.
Paul Little and Don Mackinnon also finished only one point apart, and John Beech and Frans King also finished within three points so racing was tight right across the fleet on a typically shifty gusty Gautby road day.

Final Positions were:
1. Alan Watkinson      10 pts 4 wins
2. Mike de St Paer      15 pts 3 wins
3. Clive Warren           17 pts 2 wins
4. Andrew Potter        29 pts
5. John Carlin              30.3 pts
6. Paul Little                35 pts
7. Don Mackinnon     36 pts
8. John Beech               52 pts
9. Frans King                55 pts

DF65 Social Racing 2023 (15/3/23)

10 sailors were greeted with a light wind from the Clubhouse end. The usual course was set with the windward mark and spreader leaving to port.

Mike showed his intentions and took the first three races but after his turn as RO he could not get near the top spot. John Carlin showed his skill in the light winds and took five wins. Neil, after a few bad starts had several good races managing two wins.

The most improved sailor was Frans who managed four mid fleet finishes.
10 races were held with the final race the usual two laps.

1st    John Carlin              10pts. 5 wins
2nd  Mike de St Paer      14pts. 3 wins
3rd   Neil Westbrook      20pts. 2 wins
4th   Alan Watkinson    23pts
5th   Clive Warren           25pts
6th   Dave Williams        30pts
7th   Frans King               48pts
8th   John Beech              49pts
9th   Stan Metcalf           51pts. 1 x 4th
10th Malcolm Harvey    51pts

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2023 (8/3/23)

A chilly easterly breeze blowing down the lake from the clubhouse greeted the 13 cold blooded and intrepid DF65 sailors today. A+ rigs were ordered but a quick recce established conditions were too windy and everybody switched down to A rigs ….. apart from our new member from Southport, who had looked out his window this morning, seen no wind and had only brought his A+ rig …. a salutary lesson that conditions at the lake are never what you might expect or hope for.

Neil couldn’t resist putting on some “rubberware” (waders) and quickly jumped into the lake to move some marks while Stan suddenly found his boat battery was flat, either due to a lack of charging or using it for other tasks around the house, and therefore kindly volunteered to be RO for the day …. something he probably regretted as the morning wore on!

The best windward mark required a starboard rounding for a change, although this proved why standard Olympic courses are always set up with port rounding’s as those that chose to approach the mark on the port lay-line (which was generally favoured) had the triple problem of first seeing whether they were laying the mark, secondly avoiding boats on the starboard lay-line and then having hopefully left enough room for starboard approaching boats not being sure whether they were going to tack inside on the mark or keep going with right of way.

A spreader mark also rounded to starboard was next then downwind to a leeward gate and back up wind to the finishing line to complete the course. Most races included a downwind puff strong enough to nosedive or broach but this provided opportunities for passing if you could avoid the puff or any associated calamities

John C and John B dominated the racing winning 7 out of the 10 races between them with John C coming out on top due to one more race win and more 2nds than John B. Mike sailed consistently to come 3rd just ahead of Alan, while Andrew sailed very inconsistently to come 5th

  1. John Carlin                      13pts (4 wins)
  2. John Brierley                  16 pts (3 wins)
  3. Mike De St Paer             30pts
  4. Alan Watkinson            31pts (1 win)
  5. Andrew Potter               35pts (2 wins)
  6. Neil Westbrook              36 pts
  7. Clive Warren                   47pts
  8. James Douglas                54pts
  9. Frans King                        67pts
  10. John Beech                       73pts
  11. Malcolm Harvey            74pts
  12. Paul Little                         77pts

After a quick dinner 5 DF95’s braved the cold and managed 7 races under the watchful eye of race officer Neil before snow stopped play.

Alan Watkinson               7pts. 3 wins
Clive Warren                     8pts. 2 wins
John Carlin                        9pts. 2 wins
John Beech                      17pts
Malcolm Harvey           24pts

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2023 (1/3/23)

With the wind coming over the factory from the top end of the lake, Peter donned the waders to move the marks around setting the windward mark near the far wall, a port rounding to the spreader and then down through a gate at the Clubhouse corner of the lake and the usual finish half way up the lake.
A good turnout of fifteen sailors including new members Dave and Steve from Southport decided the rig to use was A+. Racing was to be with each competitor dropping out of a race to act as race officer. Peter took the first race with John and Andrew close behind. Many of the sailors had trouble judging the windward mark with many appointments being made at Specsavers after racing. Peter dropped out of two races to assist on the start line and finish line.  Five other skippers skippers managed to be first over the finish line but nobody managed to get the better of  Peter, who had the highest number of wins today.
Eleven races were held before lunch was called.

1st   Peter Baldwin        12.6 pts 4wins
2nd James Douglas      25.8 pts 2 wins
3rd  Andrew Potter       30 pts 2 wins
4th  Alan Watkinson    32.6 pts 1 win
5th  Neil Westbrook      37.1 pts. 1 win
6th  John Carlin              38.2 pts. 2 x 2nds
7th  Clive Warren           38.2 pts
8th  Don MacKinnon    45 pts 1 win
9th  Simon Bates            70.8 pts
10th Frans King              76.4 pts
11th Dave Williams        78.3 pts
12th Malcolm Harvey    86 pts
13th Dave Jessop            100.1 pts
14th Steve Jessop           101.2 pts
15th Stan Metcalf          108 pts

There was then a short set of races as a DF95 tune up race for the TT this weekend at Southport.

The same course was used but with two laps. Alan unfortunately had battery problems and was unable to compete with his 95, but took over Dave’s boat.
John took the first race but Peter then managed the next four, with Neil having a good sail taking two seconds and two thirds.

1st   Peter Baldwin               4 pts 4 wins
2nd John Brierley                 7 pts 1 win
3rd  Neil Westbrook           12 pts
4th  John Carlin                    16 pts
5th  Clive Warren                  17 pts
6th  Williams/Watkinson  19pts

Many thanks to Dave for working out the scores, which had to include averaging for most of the fleet with 2 sailors who didn’t do a duty.

DF65 Social Racing 2023 (22/2/23)

A 15-20kt north-westerly breeze blowing straight down the lake encouraged a good turnout of 15 boats to put their A rigs to the test today. By Birkenhead standards the wind was reasonably stable in direction, but with enough bends and shifts to allow the lucky/clever to pick up places or the unlucky to lose them quickly. At the start, the A rig choice appeared a bit optimistic but once racing started the wind moderated slightly and there were only a couple of significant gusts that caused minor mayhem on the downwind legs

The standard course of beat followed by port rounding of the windward and spreader marks, downwind through the gate and back to the finishing line, was used for all races

John C got off to a flyer winning the first 3 races and then fatally fiddled with something for the next 2. He won 2 more races which gave him an overall win on countback despite a bit of inconsistency due to further fiddling

John B showed greater consistency never being out of the top 4 after discards but placed 2nd overall with 3 wins

Mike also showed great consistency to come 3rd with all top 4 finishes after discards, only a point behind the first 2 and with 1 race win

  1. John Carlin            19pts (5 wins)
  2. John Brierley        19pts (3 wins)
  3. Mike St Paer.        20pts ((1 win)
  4. Neil Westbrook   28pts (1 win)
  5. Andrew Peter       35pts
  6. Alan Watkinson   41pts
  7. James Douglas     51pts
  8. Paul Little              59pts
  9. Malcolm Harvey 61pts
  10. Richard Walker   62pts
  11. Dave Williams     75pts
  12. Charles Legg        80pts
  13. Stan Metcalf       101pts
  14. John Beech          111pts