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Category: dragonforce

DF65 Social Racing 2025 – 30/4/25

A bright sunny day welcomed the skippers to Gautby Rd, the wind was a light breeze coming generally from the East but with a few twists and turns to keep the skippers on their toes. Eight boats turned up, however only 7 made it to the start line with Dave Williams having ongoing transmitter problems forcing him to drop out. His loss was our gain, as he volunteered to be our RO for the morning.
No discussion required as A+ rigs were the order for the day. Dave set the course, start at the far end of the lake, windward mark at the clubhouse end  (the first one, as the the top of the lake was in wind shadow), back to a gate and a beat to the finish half way back up the lake. Racing started  on time at 11:00 and 8 races sailed
Race 1, – Paul and Clive  had a close battle at the front, Clive led at the first mark and dropped into a hole on the run and Paul passed him.  These 2 were clear of the rest of the field which was headed by Alan and Richard in hot pursuit. Paul took line honours with Clive 2nd and Alan 3rd.
Race 2, – This time Paul was called back for an early start providing the rest of the field with a head start. Alan took advantage at the front of the race, Paul had other ideas and a close battle until the finish with Paul taking his second win, with Alan just losing out in the last few metres finishing 2nd and Clive 3rd with the minor places being hotly contested with Malcolm sneaking in ahead of Don.  Race 3 and a slight change to  the course, the finishing line was moved further up the lake to provide a longer second beat. The same 3 broke away from the pack, with Alan leading round the first mark, from Paul followed by Clive. At the gate Paul took the port one while the other 2 took the starboard one.  Paul soon realised that he had a senior moment and forgotten the new finish line, allowing Alan to cross the line first followed by Clive. The race for the minor places was a tight as ever with Don coming out on top.
Race 4,  Clive got a great start and split from the rest of the pack staying on starboard tack whilst the others tacked onto port, this paid off with a good lead at the first mark, behind him the usual suspects of Alan and Paul were joined by Richard in a battle for the minor places. The positions didn’t change until halfway up the final beat as Clive snagged some debris which stopped him in his tracks and alllowed the majority of the fleet to pass him. Line honours agin going to Paul, Alan 2nd, Richard 3rd and Clive finishing in 5th.  Race 5 and 6, – followed a similar pattern to the previous races, with Paul, taking two more wins, Alan two 2nd and Clive two 3rds. Don had found some consistency and added 2 more 4th places to make it 4 in a row.
Race 7 – This time Paul, Clive and Alan were joined by Richard to battle for line honours, whilst behind the overall minor placings only separated by a couple of placings so there were private battles throughout the fleet. Clive notched up his first win with Paul 2nd and the inconsistent Richard 3rd  It was Davids turn to take the honours in the minor places.  Finally to Race 8, Richard was first at the windward mark followed closely by Clive, Paul and Alan, at the gate there was nothing in it and anybody’s race. Richard and Clive opted for the port gate whist Paul took the Starboard mark and sailed into an unfavourable windshift. Clive managed to pass Richard on the beat back up the lake to take his second win, Richard holding on to 2nd with Alan also passing Paul for 3rd. Further down the oeder David took his second 5th place on the trot.
Summary
Good  mornings sailing with a steadyish breeze, a few windshifts and a couple of holes to catch the unawary out. Close racing at the front with Paul the clear winner but not having it all his own  way. The lower order also highly competitive with very close racing.  A big thank you to Dave  Williams for standing in for RO allowing maximum sailing time for all the others, and also for the photos.
  1. Paul Plested            7pts        5 wins
  2. Clive Warren         12pts        2 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson   13pts        1 win
  4. Richard Walker    24pts
  5. Don McKinnon     27pts
  6. David White           33pts
  7. Malcolm Harvey  35pts

DF95 Summer 2025 #1 – 26/4/25

Stock photo – no photographer available today

Nine skippers made the effort to get down to the club early for the first of several double class days over the coming months, with the DF95s starting at 10:15 (followed at 13:30 by IOMs).  After some shifting of buoys the racing got going just after the designated time, with a standard 2 lap windward/leeward course with a beat up towards the clubhouse end in a 7/8 mph A rig breeze.

First to bag a bullet was John Carlin who sailed a perfect race despite the efforts of both Peter Baldwin and Paul Plested to overhaul him.  Then it was Peter’s turn to cross the line first, followed by Paul and then Alan Watkinson, who showed some good speed throughout the morning.   After 2 seconds, Paul P managed to post a 1st in race 3 closely followed by Peter and Alan.
For the next 3 races in was the Peter show, with 3 straight bullets, with Paul P, Alan and John C scoring 2nds and 3rds, although both Martin Whittingham-Jones and Paul Little had both been well placed throughout those races, both scoring 4ths just behind the leaders.
Paul P did manage to break Peter’s winning streak in race 7 with Alan coming in 2nd again.  Race 8 and Paul L showed the fleet a clean pair of heels from the off to cross the line first, followed by Paul P then Peter.
Race 9 was Peter’s from start to finish and it looked like Malcolm Harvey and Alan would be scrapping for 2nd as they rounded the final gate marks, but a coming together stopped both of them in their tracks, gifting Paul P another 2nd and Phyl Fanning, who is definitely getting quicker around the course, a 3rd.
Whether or not the collision in the previous race spurred him on, but Alan was away from the start and never looked back bagging a well deserved first place and a strong performance all morning.  Paul L also sailed well picking up his third 4th place of the day to go with his 1st.  Whilst not having it all his own way, Peter came out the clear winner on the day, followed by Paul P, then Alan.

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2025 – 23/4/25

DF65’s

St George’s Day welcomed a relatively small turnout of eight DF65 racers for what turned out to be a very pleasant morning on the water. The forecasted easterly winds actually had a bit of south in them meaning the 4-8kt breeze was straight down the lake from the clubhouse end. There was no discussion on rigs …. A+ were fitted and proved the right choice. No buoys needed to be moved and the standard course of windward and then spreader marks followed by a run through the gate and back up to the finishing line could be used for the 10 races sailed.

Once on the water, as is usually the case at Gautby Rd, it was not all plain sailing. 20 degree shifts, bends, gusts and holes with the wind all ensured there was always jeopardy or opportunity to make or break a decent race.

Andrew Potter dominated the results with 7 wins helped by good starts, good boatspeed and reading the shifts well. Neil Westbrook put down a strong challenge with 3 wins and 4 second places for second overall. Alan, Paul and Richard then had a close battle for 3rd with Alan just edging it and Richard being let down by some severe inconsistency!

Many thanks to Dave Williams who acted as Race Officer (and photographer)  for the whole morning after having transmitter problems.

  1. Andrew Potter           9pts (7 wins)
  2. Neil Westbrook.      14pts (3 wins)
  3. Alan Watkinson.     28pts
  4. Paul Little.                 30pts
  5. Richard Walker.       31pts
  6. Phyl Fanning.           48pts
  7. David White.             50pts
  8. Malcolm Harvey.    52pts

DF95’s

Seven skippers were at the clubhouse for todays DF95 racing session although they did not all race.

The wind was straight up the lake from the clubhouse end so the familiar course with the start at the far end of the lake going down to a spreader setting of marks at the clubhouse and a run back up the lake to a gate at the far end with a turn to the finish half way up the lake.

Neil Westbrook acted as RO for the first 2 races and Malcolm Harvey for the remaining 6.

The wind speed was falling all the way through the session but there was some very close racing through the small fleet with Alan Watkinson and Martin Wittingham-Jones showing in the first 4 races although Neil beat Martin on the line with a final tack catching the wind to carry him over the line in race 3

For the remaining 4 races Neil was the dominant skipper winning all the races with the rest of the fleet having some very close racing with Martin and Phyl Fanning who seem to have come to terms with sailing the DF95 keeping Neil on his toes.

As Neil had been RO for the first 2 races he was allocated an average score for these and as a result of his dominance of the remaining races this gave an average of 1 for those races although they were actually won by Martin and Alan.

Overall on the day Martin won 1 race, Alan won 2 races and Neil five.

DF65 Social Racing 2025 – 16/4/25

A very cold, wet and light wind day at Gautby Rd. Only six keen sailors arrived willing to take part. The start was delayed whilst many hands assisted Neil in rebuilding his boat after having to replace various components.

The usual start at the top of the lake down to the port rounding of the windward mark spreader to port and then a run to the gate and then a beat to the finish mark. As we were sailing with only six, the start line was self monitored with out problems.

Neil felt he had to show his gratitude for the help he received and promptly took the first two races! Those two races looked as though we had two separate fleets with Neil, Clive and Alan half a lake a way from David, Charles and Dave.

Then with the wind increasing and the shifts becoming more obvious the fleet closed up and brought David and Charles into the reckoning with a win and two wins respectively. Neil then unfortunately had battery problems and was out of the next three races and then Alan’s rudder failed on the last race. The racing was so close at times the finish line almost needed a camera to spot the first to cross. Due to his consistency the days honours went to Clive with his four seconds and two firsts.

  1. Clive Warren             10pts 2wins
  2. Neil Westbrook       15pts 3 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson      15pts
  4. Charles Legg            18pts 2wins
  5. David White             23pts  1win
  6. Dave Williams        26pts

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 9/4/25

DF65’s

9 DF65 skippers were greeted to clear blue skies and a light SE breeze, which proved to have plenty of holes and big shifts in it for most of the day.  A standard windward/leeward course was set, with a beat towards the clubhouse end of the lake.
John Brierley got away in the first race only to become becalmed near the end of the downwind leg.  He was then swallowed up at the leeward gate by the fleet coming down in breeze and, to add insult to injury, he was taken out by another boat, which pushed him down the fleet.  Paul Plested seemed to have benefited the most from this, but he lost out to both Andrew Potter and Charles Legg who sailed around him just before the finish, with Phyl Fanning finishing with a creditable 4th.
Race two and John led the fleet home followed by Paul and then Andrew, with Clive just off the podium in 4th.  Race saw our 4th different skipper coming home first, with Dave Williams taking line honours, followed closely by Clive and then Andrew.
For the remaining 5 races the same two boats, which seemed to have more boat speed than the rest of the fleet, took the top two spots, with Paul just edging out Andrew into second in all 5 to take the day with a decent haul of first places, helped by Andrew in one race as he was OCS for one of the starts. Clive scored several thirds to put him 3rd overall and John was fourth, although John missed the last two races as he needed to get away early.
Dave W had a good day overall and his points tally was close to those above him, and Charles also finished well in several races, but not quite consistent enough to push him up the table.

Finally thanks must go the Neil Westbrook who acted as Race Officer for the day.

DF95’s

The afternoons sailing conditions were very similar to the morning with blue sky and a wind that was nominally easterly (from the industrial estate) but did whatever it wanted! Creating large shifts and holes for all the skippers to fall foul of.
A rigs all round for the 5 boats that were on the start line, being Easter, holidays, child minding took its toll, so with such a small fleet the starts were self managed and first to finish recorded the results. Sailing got underway on time at 1.30pm and 8 races were sailed
Considering the conditions and the spread of experience the sailing was very close, Steve Miller, very new to both sailing and RC sailing (about 6 weeks) shows consistent improvements and  managed a 3rd position which 15ft from the line looked a certain 2nd before he got headed by a wind shift and Clive took the opportunity to nip ahead. Paul ran out the clear winner with 7 wins, his only loss being race 5 when he had a loss of steering issue for about 10secs (or did he?) and Clive took line honours. Martin had a very consistent day and was pushing the front 2 in most of the races and finally got his reward with a 2nd place in race 7to go with his five 3rds.
With such tricky conditions, and they were tricky with beats turning into reaches and at some stages even runs, and holes in the wind when the boats sat going nowhere , the skippers all did very well and results in some races were extremely close. It all provided an enjoyable if challenging afternoons sailing.
Results  8 races (2 discards)
  1. Paul Plested                              6 pts      7 wins
  2. Clive Warren                           12 pts      1 win
  3. Martin Withington Jones  17 pts
  4. Phyl Fanning                          25 pts
  5. Steve Miller                             26 pts

DF95 & DF65 Social Racing 2025 – 2/4/25

DF95’s

Nine skippers turned out for the DF95 morning racing to be greeted by a lovely sailing day by Gautby Rd standards.  A top end A rig wind and blue sky with sun, there was a chill provided by the easterly breeze, which in practical terms was straight down the lake with a touch of industrial estate thrown in to make things interesting.  Neil Westbrook offered to be our RO for the morning, and our thanks go out to him. The course was set utilising the full length of the lake with a windward mark,  spreader and a gate then back to the finish half way down the lake.
Neil got us underway on time, and straight away was brought into action with a general recall. Lessons learnt, and for the rest of the morning the skippers behaved themselves. Racing was competitive, with plenty of private battles throughout the fleet.
The first race saw Clive lead the way from start to finish with John B chasing him in second and Alan third.  Race 2 and 3 and John after tweaking his set up John B got into his stride to record 2 straight wins followed by a much improved performance by Dave W taking 2 second places, Alan and Martin filling up the top 3.  Race 4 and Richard lead round the final mark with John right behind, it looked like Richard was going to take the win until 10m from the line John overtook him. But in true style Gautby Rd had its own plan, and John  B then got in trouble and let John C through to take the win with Clive second and Phyl third.  john B and Richard finally finishing in fourth and fifth respectively. Unfortunately Dave W lost his rudder servo during this race and had to retire from the rest of the morning.
Races 5, and 6  and Clive and John B shared the top spots with one win each and one second each, leaving John C and Phyl to share the third places. Alan decided that the wind had build sufficiently to change down to a B  rig after race 5 so missed out on race 6, 7 and 8, and true to form John and Clive had one win and one second each with John C and Alan with his B rig taking the third spots
It was a great sail and enjoyed by all on the bank, thanks again to Neil for being RO allowing the sailors to make the most of the conditions and Dave Williams for yet more photos.
RESULTS   after 8 races  and 2 discards
  1. John Brierley                               8pts       4 wins
  2. Clive Warren                               9pts       3 wins
  3. John Carlin                                20pts        1 win
  4. Alan Watkinson                       21pts
  5. Phyl Fanning                            29pts        2  x 3rd
  6. Martin Wittingham Jones   29pts       1 x 3rd
  7. Richard Walker                        34pts
  8. Steve Miller                                47pts
  9. Dave Williams                           53pts

DF65’s

 
Only 4 boats took to the water for the afternoon session of DF65 sailing, which was a shame given the glorious sailing conditions. The conditions were very similar to those in the morning but the wind had strengthened a little, meaning B rig was the choice, which proved to be the right one although there was a little nose diving in some of the gusts.
Club member Dave Howard turned up to spectate but was soon roped into being the RO.  Dave was on his way back from the dentist after having an extraction so talking / understanding him was difficult.
The sailing was very enjoyable with Clive taking the 7 of wins and Sally picking up 1 win. Both Clive and Sally shared their boats with Dave as he hadn’t sailed since last summer, and he hadn’t lost his touch taking a  2 x seconds and was very unfortunate to when leading round the last mark to pick up a large bag on the keel  which put him firmly last. Hopefully its wetted his appetite again and we look forward to seeing him next month. Meanwhile, Dave W and Phyl were having their own private battle with David taking 3rd place overall by a single point
Results      8 races 2 discards
  1. Clive Warren          6pts        6 wins
  2. Sally Collings       11pts        1 win
  3. Phyl Fanning        18pts
  4. David White          19pts
  5. Dave Howard       23pts    (3  x races and 3 x dns)