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Category: dragonforce

RG65 Social Racing #4 29/8/20

Another ‘Marathon’ Session, starting at 11.00am, with 16 races completed by the 4.00pm finish.  5 x RG65 and 2 x DF 65’s competed, in a moderate but shifty Northerly force 3- 4 breeze, with some tricky gusts and swirls firing down through the gaps in the buildings. ( Bring back the trees ?! )

Derek Matthews had to leave early, and Brad Gibson arrived late, so the results may be slightly skewed, but Graham Elliott took the overall win for the day, with 9 x 1sts, Brad with 7 x 1st’s took 2nd overall, with Peter Baldwin definitely ‘off-form’ , taking 3rd overall with no wins but 6 x 2nd’s.

The RG’s won the day on pure speed, but the DF65’s, sailing a slightly shorter course, were not far behind, with Andrew Peter taking 4 x 3rds and 5th overall, proving that DF’s can compete successfully on these mixed RG / DF Race days (with the help of a slightly shorter course).

Very enjoyable sailing, with cakes very kindly provided at break times by Alan Watkinsons’ wife Jocelyn , and thanks once again to RO Bernie doing us proud, as ever.

  1. Graham Elliott    55     Argon                     17pts      9 wins
  2. Brad Gibson           9     Electronica          31pts       7 wins
  3. Peter Baldwin      63    Pocket Rocket    35pts
  4. Alan Watkinson   23    Scurry                   43pts
  5. Andrew Peter      919   DF65                      52pts
  6. Dave Williams      33    Pocket Rocket    63pts
  7. Derek Mathews    57   DF65                       88pts

Start times will now revert to the normal 13.00hrs for all future Saturday racing with room for plenty more sailors to compete.  A booking system will be created to allow online booking.  More details will be published soon.

We return to IOM racing for the next two weeks.  If you wish to join us and have a go, boats are available to loan for anyone wanting to sail. – contact Andrew Peter (see contacts pages)

DF65 Social Racing #1 26/8/20

Ten sailors gathered today for the first DF65 social racing day when results were taken. Charles Legg very kindly offered to record finishing results after finding that he was missing a keel boat when assembling his boat. All but one of the fleet opted to use the A Rig as the breeze was a gusty 10 to 15 knot breeze straight down the lake. Peter Baldwin took the first four races before Mike de St Paer took his first of two wins in Races 5 and then another in 10, followed by Alan Watkinson in Races 6 and 7. Peter had another win in Race 8 and was just beaten across the finish by Dave Williams in Race 9. After 10 races, the final results had some very close points finishes and four race winners were:

  1. Peter Baldwin 63 12pts 5 wins
  2. Mike de St Paer 35 23pts 2 wins and 3x2nd
  3. Alan Watkinson 373 23pts 2 wins and 2x2nd
  4. Neil Westbrook 03 28pts
  5. Dave Williams 233 36pts 1 win
  6. Andrew Peter 19 47pts
  7. Derek Matthews 57 48pts
  8. Richard Walker 39 49pts
  9. Sally Collings 129 52pts
  10. Chris Weston 194 68pts

Racing will take place again next Wednesday with a race limit of 13 boats.

There is also racing for DF and RG65 on Saturday 29th starting at 11:00.

RG65 & DF65 Winter Series #4 15/02/20

Another week on and another storm in the form of Dennis threatened to batter the boats at this, the last of the RG65/DF65 Winter series.  As it turned out, the club happened to be in a fortunate location with manageable winds and very little rain.  The average direction at the start was SSE and so diagonally across the lake from the clubhouse to the far corner.

Four RG’s and three DF’s were on the start line for the first race after John Brierleys journey from North Wales was blocked by floods and fallen trees and other visitors decided that Dennis was going to cause problems for their journey.  The three DF’s opted for their B rig due to the expected gusts whilst in the RG’s there was a mix of B swings and low aspect A conventional rigs.

Key to getting a good result was keeping the boat moving and being on the right tack for the rapid shifts that occurred.  Boats could be overpowered in a gust one second and sat waiting for the wind the next.  Seven races were completed before tea with some strong gusts causing problems downwind for most boats.  At the break Neil had three wins, with Alan and Peter two apiece in the RG fleet.  Andrew took the lions share of 6 wins in the DF fleet with Richard one, having taken the first.

After the break, the wind initially seemed to have moderated due to the light rain now falling, but the rain soon stopped and the gusts started again, some of which were from a S or SSW direction.  After completing 11 races, the RG wins were shared between Neil (conventional A) with 5, Peter (swing B) with 4 and Alan (conventional A) taking 2 wins. Peter took the day by two points from Neil who had an unfortunate sinking feeling during the last race, with Alan in third.  Andrew comfortably took the overall win in the DF fleet with 10 wins, with John Carlin second after Richard dropped out at race 6.

RG result

  1. Peter Baldwin            63            14pts       4 wins
  2. Neil Westbrook         03            16pts       5 wins
  3. Alan Wilkinson          23            22pts      2 wins
  4. Dave Williams            33            30pts

DF result

  1. Andrew Peter             19             9pts        10 wins
  2. John Carlin                  11            20pts
  3. Richard Robinson     01           26pts         1 win

Next week (22nd February) is round 6 of the IOM Winter series.

DragonForce Winter Series #5 5/2/20

A beautiful sunny morning greeted the 10 DF65s to Birkenhead with A+ rigs the order of the day.  Racing was moved to the east bank by Race Officer Ernie, to give a windward / leeward course, but with the recent high winds there was a lot of debris along the bank and competitors that took the right hand gate kept clear of obstructions, whilst the left hand gate was the favoured one to gain the lift of the bank but the risk of picking up twigs was high.
There were four race winners and Don gained his first win with Neil having the most wins with 4.  Again it was the consistency of John to take the win, with Richard rapidly improving and take second place.  John C also had a very good day with a steady performance.  Thanks once again to Ernie for running the racing.
  1. John Brierley                 84      14pts
  2. Richard Robinson        01      17pts
  3. Neil Westbrook             03     24pts
  4. John Carlin                      11      33pts
  5. Alan Watkinson          373     38pts
  6. Don MacKinnon         983     40pts
  7. Dave Pickup                   86      41pts
  8. Mike St Paer                   35      50pts.   1x3rd
  9. Richard Walker             39      50pts   0x3rd
  10. Chris Weston               194      67pts.
10 races sailed

RG65 & DF65 Winter Series #3 Report & Results

After last weeks IOM racing all of the marks needed repositioning to get a decent course for this weeks racing with a decent A rig (RG65) and A+ rig breeze from the WNW.  Racing started very soon after 12:00 with the four RG65’s sailing 10 metres further up the lake than the seven DF65’s (including four visitors from Gresford).

In the RG65 fleet of Pocket Rockets, Alan Watkinson used his tall A conventional rig to good effect and took wins in the first two races.  Peter Baldwin then got into a groove and won the next 5, before a break for lunch and a hot drink.  Suitably refreshed after lunch, Neil Westbrook took 2 wins from the next three races and Alan had a further win, before Peter took the final two races, with the wind by now easing a few knots as the sun went down.

Andrew Peter had a commanding day in the DF65 fleet, winning eleven out of the twelve races.  Only John Carlin managed to keep him from the podium, before he had to retire with some winch troubles.  David Bradley and Bob Andrews from Gresford both came close to beating Andrew in a number of races, with the result only being decided in the last few metres to the line.

An excellent day of 12 races with close racing in both fleets.  Thanks once again to Jack and Bernie for running our racing and making drinks at lunchtime. Our visitors from Gresford enjoyed the “Birkenhead Experience” and have promised to return for the final event in this Winter series, which takes place on Saturday 15th February.

RG65’s

  1. Peter Baldwin             63             13pts   7 wins
  2. Neil Westbrook           03             19pts   2 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson          23             26pts    3 wins
  4. Dave Williams             33             31pts

DF65’s

  1. Andrew Peter              919            10pts    11wins
  2. David Bradley               98            23pts
  3. Rob Andrews               835            35pts
  4. Charles Legg                   13            41pts
  5. Keith Pizzey                   517          44pts
  6. Russell Owens              903          55pts
  7. John Carlin                       11            60pts     1 win

12 races sailed

DragonForce Winter Series #1 8/1/20

A new year, the start of a new series and a new look to Birkenhead’s lake, for the 10 DF65s today.  Warm and overcast with light winds was the order of the day, with some very close racing, which was reflected in the final scores.
The battle at the pointy end of the fleet was one between John, Neil, Alan and Richard.
John and Neil tied on 16 points with John breaking the tie with 5 firsts to Neil’s 3.  The third and fourth places were even closer with both Alan and Richard tied with one first each and requiring the number of seconds to split the tie in Alan’s favour.  Dave Williams, after using his discards with servo damage, then put some solid races together to finish 5th.  These One Design boats are certainly providing close racing!
With ALL the trees now removed from around the lake, the club starts a new season with enhanced sailing conditions.

  1. John Brierley              16pts     5 x 1sts
  2. Neil Westbrook          16pts     3 x 1sts
  3. Alan Watkinson         29pts     1 x 1st, 3 x 2nds
  4. Richard Robinson     29pts     1 x 1st, 1 x 2nds
  5. Dave Williams            36pts
  6. Mike St Paer                41pts
  7. John Carling                45pts
  8. Dave Pickup                 49pts
  9. Richard Walker          54pts
  10. Chris Weston               69pts

10 races sailed.
Once again big thanks to Ernie for keeping us all in check.

Next Saturday is the third of the IOM winter series, start time 12:00. Wind looks to be from the Gautby Road End, so do come and see how the conditions have improved with the trees no longer there.