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Category: Fleets

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 20/11/24

With a cold NE/NNE breeze today it seemed a few sailors may have opted to stay in the warm and not venture out, leaving us with just 11 sailors.  At least the sun was out and there was a reasonable (could not call it decent) breeze which did blow down the lake at times and the sun was out.  We started on time after Peter had moved the gate into the corner and shifted the start line.

Paul Plested started the day well with a win in Race 1, Peter then took Race 2 and John Brierley Race 3.  These three then won the next three races (but not in the same order), with the front of the fleet very close and picking when to tack onto port was the key to getting a good result.  False shifts could often see you going back the way you came if you timed it wrong or worse still ending up in irons!

There was a new winner in Race 7 with Dave Williams’ boat taking the win with guest skipper Robbie Mac on the helm.  Peter took Race 8 before Paul had his third win in the final Race 9.

A morning of close racing but not (as one skipper mentioned) really champagne sailing even though the sun was out.  Paul took the morning with a very consistent set of results and a decent number of wins.  John was second, four points adrift and Peter third after a rather inconsistent morning.  There was some very close racing though with John Carlin, Mike De St Paer, Clive Warren and James Douglas also vying for the podium in some races, very often leading to close finishes.

Thanks to Dave W for running more than his fair share of the racing and working out the final scores along with Paul P and Dave for the photos.

  1. Paul Plested      154  10pts
  2. John Brierley      84  14pts
  3. Peter Baldwin     63  16pts
  4. John Carlin           11   27pts
  5. Clive Warren        53  37pts
  6. Dave Williams     33  41pts
  7. Mike De St Paer  35  42pts
  8. James DSouglas  73  44pts
  9. Richard Walker   39  44pts
  10. Frans King             95  46pts
  11. Charles Legg         21  58pts

IOM Winter 2024 #1 – 16/11/24

Well, when we arrived it looked like it may be 2nd suit, gusts looked menacing for sure but in the end all 12 skippers opted for top suit.
Probably the best wind we have had all year and the IOM fleet in the club has definitely gone up a notch or two this year with Paul P, Alan, Guy and the return of big Robbie Mc and of course due to it being the Winter series we get Graham B back with his trusted Widget, how fast is that boat, he managed 2 third places today.
With this shifting top end of A rig wind, the best tactic was to get into clear air as soon as possible, even if it meant starting a few seconds late as was proven by Brad’s, Martin’s and Grahams starts, nearly always all 3 of them were the first to tack over onto port after the start.
12 races completed and all under the watchful eye of our starter, finisher and scorer, Sharon. Many thanks go to her efforts and tenacity, not afraid to call the premature starters and to have time to take these great photos as well.
Race winners today were Brad with 7, Graham with 3 and Martin on 2. Mention must also be made of Alan W sailing his homebuilt Corbie, Graham Birkett with a brace of 3rds and Robbie Mc with his overall position of 6th.
  1. Brad Gibson                 42  Post Punk      13pts
  2. Graham Elliott            09  Britpop!         25pts
  3. Martin Roberts          127  Britpop!         33pts
  4. Alan Bennett                78  Britpop!         35pts
  5. Robbie Mcintosh       66  V9                     49pts
  6. Graham Birkett          133  Widget           57pts
  7. Paul Plested                  35  Britpop!         63pts
  8. Bill Culshaw                 78  Britpop!          74pts
  9. Alan Watkinson          23  Corbie 5          74pts
  10. John Berry                   180  Britpop!         78pts
  11. Ian Davies                     33   Britpop!         92pts
  12. Guy Cowper                  16  Lintel MMX  115pts

DF65 Social Racing – 13/11/24

Another excellent turnout of thirteen df65s for today’s racing, with a distinctly autumnal feel to the day. The wind was forecast as more or less west, but by the time it had reached Gautby road the weather gods had smiled and a reasonable little N. Westerly breeze was blowing fairly straight down the lake from the far end – a relief after some of the recent “dead slow and stop” conditions we have seen.

Paul adjusted the course and racing got away promptly with a first race win for James. The next three races had different winners, but then John won race 5 to make it two in a row.

Lucky thirteenth for some, but unlucky for others. Clive had a rudder servo fail early on and missed the first three races while he changed it, Andrew’s boat came to a halt soon after the start in race 4 having hit an underwater object (which turned out to be a submerged doggy poo bag. Always something new at Gautby Road) and Mike had to call it a day after Race 4 also with rudder servo failure.

RO duties had initially been shared, but Charles very kindly took over the second half of the day.

Although the breeze seemed quite steady initially there were some big shifts and holes as well. Paul, John and Clive sailed very well to win 2 races each, with John and Paul ending up tied on points after eight races, and Paul winning on countback. James and Alan were third and fourth respectively, with Clive making an excellent climb back to fifth after his technical issues.

Results are shown in full below, thanks to Dave and Malcolm for the results, Paul and Dave for the photos, Paul for going wading to adjust the course and Charles for picking up the ROing.

  1. Paul Plested.                 11.3 pts  2 wins ahead on countback
  2. John Carlin                    11.3 pts  2 wins
  3. James Douglas             16.9 pts  1 win
  4. Alan Watkinson          20.3 pts
  5. Clive Warren                29   pts    2 wins
  6. Richard Robinson      30   pts.   ahead on countback
  7. Richard Walker.          30   pts
  8. Andrew Potter             33   pts
  9. Mike de St Paer           37.1 pts    1 win
  10. Dave Williams             41   pts
  11. David White                 52   pts
  12. Malcolm Harvey        56  pts     ahead on countback
  13. Frans King                   56   pts

DF65&DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 6/11/24

DF65’s

Wind from the South East today pretty much as forecast with an Autumnal nip to the air to welcome 13 DF65 sailors – another excellent turnout.

The usual course of windward / spreader and a leeward gate was used, and after some detail attention by Paul proved to be a good course with a line allowing good starts from various places along it.

Paul started with a couple of bullets straight away, but the next three races had three new and different winners as an indication of how shifty it was.

First to the windward mark was made at different stages by a long starboard tack almost into the top corner, or a starboard start then a port hike across about half way up, or again a series of tacks up the starboard side of the lake. There was also a very shifty area just at the top mark by the clubhouse which caught out a few front runners and changed the order of play several times.

Paul emerged the deserving winner from all of this with 20pts with Richard a very close second on 20.9, Clive third with two wins and Neil only slightly adrift in fourth with no wins but some very consistent sailing

There was close racing all down the fleet with 6 different winners during the day. RO duties were shared, and thanks to Dave and Malcolm for organising the results which were as shown below.  Thanks also to Dave for the photos of the morning’s racing.

  1. Paul Plested.                     20   pts   3 wins
  2. Richard Robinson          20.9 pts   1 win
  3. Clive Warren                    23.1 pts   2 wins
  4. Neil Westbrook               26.4 pts
  5. Mike de St Paer               27.5 pts    2 wins
  6. Andrew Potter                29.7 pts.  1 win
  7. Richard Walker.             37.4 pts    1 win
  8. Dave Williams                 44    pts
  9. Don McKinnon               53.9 pts
  10. Charles Legg                   59.4 pts
  11. John Beech                      71   pts
  12. Malcolm Harvey           78.1pts
  13. David White.                   82   pts

DF95’s

A small, but perfectly formed group of six 95 sailors enjoyed eight close races in the lightish SE breeze, which allowed a windward/leeward course the length of the lake.  As is customary with a small social fleet the starts were self-governed and the first across the line scored the results.
John C and Clive both scored three firsts each, with Paul, who was a tad off their pace at times, scoring two firsts.  There were strong showings from all across the races.  Martin scored a 2nd in one race, and John B raced well scoring four 3rds on the day.
John C took the day with Clive a close 2nd, who may well regret trying to take a start line photo, which saw the fleet disappear up the lake before he got his boat going again.
  1. John Carlin                                    50          9pts  3 wins
  2. Clive Warren                                 93        10pts  3 wins
  3. Paul Plested                                 154        12pts  2 wins
  4. John Beech                                   288       20pts  3x3rd
  5. Martin Whittingham-Jones    77      28pts  1x2nd
  6. Malcolm Harvey                        1019     30pts

Thanks to Clive for the photo’s from the afternoon.

Good luck to the seven club members off to West Lancs YC at the weekend for the DF95 Nationals.

Strebor IOM Open 2024

Although there was only the hint of a breeze on the lake as the club was opened up at 8:00, by the time the first boats went on the water for practice, there was a good mid top suit ESE/SE breeze pretty well straight down the lake.

After a short welcome and briefing, the first race got underway soon after 10:00, but not before three general recalls and a start under I Flag.  Brad Gibson took wins in the first four races before a short break, with Peter Baldwin, Rob Walsh, Simon Fairman and Rob Radbourne all making it onto the podium. After race 1 Martin extended the start line for more room and most starts then got away cleanly on the first attempt.

Fortified after the break and with the breeze holding up in strength and direction, Rob W won three of the next four races, with Brad picking up the other one.  Podium spots this time were taken by Brad, Rob W, Robbie Mac, Roger Crates and John Brierley.

Racing was close all morning though with tight windward mark roundings on the first time around.  The breeze did however have shifts and holes producing a variety of snakes and ladders for the fleet, affecting most but seemingly not everyone, when you review the full results.

Post lunch and the breeze looked set fair another couple of races, but then started to veer more towards the South and reduce in strength.  You sometimes needed a good lead when in the front, as the fleet could bear down on you from behind on the next gust.  This led to some interesting roundings at the gate with 6 or 8 boats trying to fit through a relatively narrow gap.  Brad dominated the next four races winning each of them, one by such a margin it seemed as if he had been given a 30 second head start on everyone else!  Martin Roberts had a better session with a couple of podium places along with John Brierley, Paul Middleton, Rob Radbourne, Rob W and Simon Fairman.

With the breeze seeming to fade and races taking longer, the intended break after Race 12 was shelved and we continued on in an attempt to complete 16 races by 15:30.  In this final session the breeze did increase slightly and saw two more wins for Rob W plus one each for Martin and Brad.  Podium spots were shared between Brad, John Brierley, Rob W and Robbie Mac.

Brad won the event with ten race wins (discarding two seconds and a third) from Rob W with five wins.  This pair were well clear of Martin Roberts in third (36 points behind) and Peter Baldwin in fourth.

A great days racing, with many thanks to the race team of Sharon Plested, Judith Baldwin and Neil Westbrook and to Neil for running the galley for us.

The IOM Winter Open Series starts with the first event on Saturday 16th November followed by the Xmas Open on Saturday 14th December.  Club racing during the Winter Series starts at 12:00, with the Xmas Open starting at around 10:15 (NoR to be issued shortly).  Entry for all club events via the links “Upcoming Events”.