A very wet and millpond conditions met the 4 RG65s and 6 DF65s for a joint afternoons racing at Birkenhead. The wind barely got above a zephyr all afternoon but in the end 8 races were completed with the wind generally from the NW.
Category: dragonforce
DragonForce Autumn Series #4 23/10/19
A light breeze from the SE with a few tasty gusts gave the 14 competitors sporting A+ rigs some interesting moments this week. As the wind was changing in strength and shifting quite rapidly, judging your approach to the starting line could be tricky and there were several general recalls this week, usually when a strong lifting gust came unexpectedly.
Wins from the 10 races were spread between six helms, with relative newcomers to the DF65 fleet, Richard and Bernie each taking a win this week. However, it was the consistency of John Brierley that gave him the win over Peter Baldwin in 2nd and Andrew Peter in 3rd.
- John Brierley 84 15 pts
- Peter Baldwin 63 17 pts
- Andrew Peter 19 29 pts
- Alan Watkinson 373 34 pts
- Bernie McNulty 81 36 pts
- David Williams 233 39 pts
- Derek Mathews 57 51 pts
- Colin Deakin 93 53 pts
- Dave Pickup 86 57 pts
- Richard Robinson 01 58 pts
- Sally Collings 829 71 pts
- John Carling 11 76 pts
- David Halstead 855 98 pts
- Chris Weston 194 104 pts
Many thanks to Ernie and Neil for running the racing and for giving some helpful tips to those at the back of the fleet.
This Saturday (26th October), there is racing for the DF65 and RG65 starting at 12:00.
DragonForce Autumn Series #3 16/10/19
After a bumper turnout last week, only 8 sailors made it to the start line this week for a host of reasons including last minute gear failure. There was a good Westerly breeze for an A rig sail and the races were turned around quickly by Race Officer Ernie ably assisted by Neil who also helped with boat tuning as he was unable to sail himself.
Peter took the overall win with six firsts, with Kris second (two firsts and a clutch of seconds) and Alan third. Colin and Derek had the other two wins from the 10 races sailed.
- Peter Baldwin 63 11pts
- Kris Morrow 94 15pts
- Alan Watkinson 373 26pts
- Derek Matthews 57 29pts
- Dave Williams 233 34pts
- Colin Deakin 93 36pts
- Sally Collings 829 46pts
- John Carling 11 62pts
Please note that there will be an RG65/DF65 Winter Race on Saturday 26th October, Start time of 12:00. Visitors very welcome in either class.
DragonForce Autumn Series #2 9/10/19
A gusty WSW breeze of 3 to 12 knots with some stronger gusts made for a tricky set of races for the 15 skippers this week. Key to getting a good result was having a clear lane off the start line and keeping the boat moving during the large shifts. John mastered the conditions better than most and gained the lions share of the wins with 5 under his belt. The remaining 5 were shared evenly between Alan, Andrew, Dave W, Neil and Peter. After ten races, John came out on top, with Neil second and Peter in third.
It was good to see so many racing this week and very useful to have the consistent eye of Ernie watching over the starts. Thanks once again Ernie.
- John Brierley 84 13pts
- Neil Westbrook 03 25pts
- Peter Baldwin 63 26pts
- Alan Watkinson 373 33pts
- Dave Williams 233 39pts
- Bernie McNulty 81 43pts
- Andrew Peter 919 44pts
- Derek Matthews 57 62pts (2x4th)
- Sally Collings 829 62pts (0x4th)
- Dave Pickup 86 67pts
- Richard Robinson 01 70pts
- Zoe Matthews 19 79pts
- Colin Deakin 93 82pts
- John Carling 11 99pts
- David Halstead 855 105pts
Winter Series 2019/2020 for IOM and RG65/DF65
The dates for this years Winter Series have now been published in the 2019 Calendar.
This year there will be a series of 8 afternoons of racing for IOM’s starting on the 9th November. This follows the Strebor IOM meeting which takes place on the 26th October (Start time 10:00). In addition, there is also the Xmas Race on 14th December which will this year again be raced in the IOM class (Start Time 10:30)
Due to the success of the RG65/DF65 race days over the Summer, it has been decided that there will also be some events for these classes. The first of these will take place on Saturday 26th October.
With the reduced light conditions during the Winter, each race day will start at 12:00 rather than the summer time of 13:00, in the hope that this will allow a good number of races to be run before the light goes. No race will start after 16:00.
As a final reminder, the last two afternoons in the Summer Series of IOM racing take place on Saturday the 5th and 19th October. The last in the series has been changed from 12th October due to a clash with other events.
DragonForce Autumn Series #1 2/10/19
Yet another extremely light wind day. This started off with tea and coffee while we waited for the promised wind to arrive.
We welcomed Sally back to sail after her long layoff due to injury, unfortunately she was only able to stay for a few races due to a prior arrangement.
Ernie set a shortened course at the top end of the lake and kept a sharp eye on the start line with a few boats being called over. The racing was tight at the top with John and Kris sharing first and seconds throughout with Andrew and Neil managing a race win a piece.
10 races were held with eleven skippers taking part.
- John Brierley 12pts
- Kris Morrow 13pts
- Andrew Peter 31 pts
- Bernie McNulty 35 pts
- Neil Westbrook 36 pts
- Dave Williams 37pts
- Richard Robinson 46 pts
- Richard Walker 51 pts
- Colin Deakin 69 pts
- Dave Halstead 77 pts
- Sally Collings 82 pts
