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Category: Fleets

RG65 TT Round 9 – 27/10/24

Once again the breeze hardly failed to materialise all day and when it did it was never stable in direction for more than 30 seconds.  Primarily from over the houses, it proved troublesome to decide on an appropriate course to setup, with the Southern Bank in the Lee of the houses.  We therefore ended up with courses that were often a fetch followed by a reach back, although that could be a run followed in quick succession by another fetch.

As is usually the case, the cream rose to the top with Graham Elliott (Electronica) winning five races, Tobi Laux and Alan Bennett two each and John Brierley one.  After Graham, the next four boats were all Ivy designs followed by two Uno’s.

At the prizegiving, Graham thanked everyone for coming and the Race Team of Paul and Sharon Plested, Malcolm Harvey and Neil Westbrook along with Chris having another stint in the galley.

The photos from Malcolm don’t seem to show much wind, but there was some at times, but perhaps in the excitement and being absorbed in the racing Malcolm forgot to take photos with wind!

RG65 TT Round 8 – 26/10/24

The day started with little or no breeze as competitors arrived along with some mist drifting across the water.  However, by the time of the first start, a light breeze had filled in from the clubhouse end.

Tobi Laux stamped his mark from the start with two early wins, before Peter Baldwin managed to catch the right shifts and take the win in Race 3.  Martin Roberts then was the winner in Race 4 before a break was taken in racing.

After the break, another 3 races were sailed before lunch, with wins for John Brierley, Graham Elliott and another for Martin.  Lunch was earlier than expected at this point as the breeze seemed to be swinging more towards the West but had also dropped.

As is often the case, the breeze confounded us and after lunch we had another three races using the original course before another drinks break and allow for the course to be reset.  Winners in this session were Graham, followed by Dorian Crease and then Tobi with his third win.

We were then into the final session, with a revised course starting at the clubhouse end.  The wind was primarily from the SW, but could easily come from the West or South at any time along with big lulls.  The winners in this final session were Martin (twice) and John Tushingham.

So the final results saw Tobi with a good win by 10 points from Graham and then Martin picking up third place.

Thanks to our RO John Carlin assisted by Malcolm Harvey and Neil Westbrook and for Chris who kept us “fed and watered” in the galley.

Round9 takes place tomorrow.

 

 

IOM World Championships

The IOM World Championships 2024 started in Gladstone Australia yesterday (22/10/24) and continues until next Monday.  For the Results and a Free Live Stream (via Youtube) please head to the event page

https://www.iomworlds.com/

After each day of racing streamed live, a video of the racing with commentary is posted that can be reviewed at your leisure.

Do enjoy when you have some time.

DF65 Social Racing – 23/10/24

There was only the merest hint of a breeze arriving at 10am, but by 10:30 it was shaping up to be a decent breeze down the length of the lake from the clubhouse end.  Peter donned the waders and shifted a few marks to provide a decent windward leg for the first couple of races.

The fleet of 12 boats started in a light A+ rig breeze with the usual Gautby Rd holes and shifts to catch people out and pose the usual “shall I tack or not” question.  Andrew Potter started well and led for most of the first race, until Peter covered him on the run and overtook at the gate to take the win.  Race 2 and Peter made some new friends at the back of the fleet with a jib sheeting problem, leaving Paul Plested and Mike De St Paer to battle out for line honours, which went to Paul in this instance.

Race 3 was won by Peter after a battle with Clive and Richard Robinson who made a welcome return to Wednesday mornings.  Clive made a great start in Race 4 and led for a good part of the race and through the final gate.  However, Gautby Road decided not to favour him with the win and allowed both Peter and Paul to creep up the bank leaving him stranded in the middle of the lake with or no wind and a resultant third.

By now the wind was definitely across the lake, with starts being sometimes a beat and at other times a broad reach.  The main requirement was to keep your boat moving both off the line and continue to the windward mark.  Peter, Andrew and Clive were all vying for top spot all the way to the finish of Race 5, with a nail biting win for Peter as the other pair got a gust from behind.  In the final race Clive finally managed the win that he had been so close to achieving all morning.

A slightly early finish was called with tidying work to do in readiness for the RG65 TT weekend, although nobody complained with the wind being less than perfect.  Thanks must go to Liz Potter and Sharon Plested for acting as our Race Committee this morning and Paul Plested for the quick photo whilst we were temporarily parked up.

  1. Peter Baldwin           63   6pts  4 wins
  2. Clive Warren             53  12pts  1 win
  3. Paul Plested             154  15pts 1 win
  4. Mike De St Paer        35  19pts
  5. Andrew Potter         194  20pts
  6. Richard Robinson  901  24pts
  7. Richard Walker        39  31pts
  8. Dave Williams          33  36pts
  9. David White              94  42pts
  10. Sally Collings         829  49pts
  11. Charles Legg              21  50pts
  12. Malcolm Harvey  1019  59pts

DF95 Summer Series #7 – 19/10/24

The weather gods were kind to us today, with blue sky, sunshine and a gentle westerly breeze, which in real terms means the wind was from the top end of the lake with a bit of housing estate bias to keep things  interesting, providing enough shifts for overtaking opportunities. No arguments about the choice of rigs, ‘ A rigs’ all round. The standard course of, weather mark, spreader, gate,  with the finish line halfway up the lake was set.  Single lap races were planned to maximise the number of races. 12 races were completed with Neil Westbrook acting as RO for the day keeping the schedule moving and keeping us in check on the start line.
Racing started on time with 10 skippers making it to the start line for the first race including a guest Phil Shepherd from West Kirby. Paul P. posted his intentions early taking the first race, from John Beech who had one of his best days and showed very good boat speed especially in the morning session.
Clive took the second race, with Paul P second, Paul had an extremely consistent day posting 11 top 3 finishes, the only blotch on his record being a DNS when after lunch when he forgot to switch his boat on.  John B then took a well deserved win in race 3, with Paul P second and the Alan third who was improving his position with each race, unfortunately we lost Frans after this race, when he was not feeling well enough to continue.
Race 4 and Alans improvement continued, taking line honours pushed all the way by Paul P and John B.  Race 5 and Paul P interrupted his run of second places by adding another win, Andrew Peters notching up a second and Clive third Clive ended a consistent morning session in race 6 with a second win, Paul again second and Alan third.  Lunch was then taken.
The afternoon session started with no change to the conditions.  Race 7 saw a very popular winner in Malcom, he lead early on and held off Clive and Paul L to take line honours.  The remaining races were all closely contested and followed similar results to the morning session with Paul P, Clive, Alan. and Andrew taking the lions share of the podium places.
In summary:  A really enjoyable afternoons racing, in good conditions with enough shifts to make it interesting. A very competitive fleet with 8 of the 9 skippers recording a top 3 finish and 5 different race winners (not including Frans who retired early)
  1. Paul Plested                                   16pts      5 wins
  2. Clive Warren                                 24pts     3 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson                           31pts      2 wins
  4. Andrew Peter                               36pts
  5. John Beech                                    47pts      1 win
  6. Paul Little                                      59pts
  7. Malcolm Harvey                          60pts      1 win
  8. Martin Whittingham-Jones   67pts
  9. Phil Shepherd                               75pts
  10. Frans King    (Retired)