Birkenhead Radio Sailing & Power Club
A light wind from the top end of the lake greeted seven sailors when they arrived on Wednesday for the DF-65 Racing and it was agreed that an A+ sail was the choice for the morning.
However once racing began it became apparent that the breeze was alternating from light to nothing on a fairly frequent schedule and after 3 difficult races the skippers decided to abandon racing for the day. Some however did remain to assist Andrew with lake clearing work.
A fine sunny day at Gautby Road, nine DF 95 sailors keen to race but a horrendous wind kept them guessing as to the best way to tackle the usual two lap course starting from the Clubhouse end. The wind varied from overpowering to moments of nothing. 
It was imperative to anticipate the wind, to gain the start advantage. John Brierley always pushing did fall foul of the start line judge but generally no recalls. Up to tea break it was John or Alan taking the wins between them although after the break it was John who dominated. Andrew was unable to come to grips with his 95 so after the mainsail collapsed he retired to the Clubhouse to sort it, then returned to put in four good races. Clive had consistent races to gain third place.
A good afternoon sailing with twelve races and very close scoring. Photos courtesy of Dave Williams.
There was a reduced number of sailors today for racing, starting with 9, one had to drop out as he was not feeling well and that left a select group of 8, who sailed a single lap windward leeward for 6 races and then two final races with two laps.
It was an A+ day of 2 to 5 or 6 knots from the West and generally better than the forecast looked. Racing was in many cases close throughout the fleet with a missed shift or lack of pressure in your area of the lake leading to a few places quickly lost.
Clive started well, winning the first two races, before managed a win in race 3. Peter then took wins in the next four, before Clive rounded off with a win in Race 8. There were some good performances elsewhere in the fleet with seconds for John and Richard, leading to only 1 point between 4th and 6th. Overall, Peter had the edge with Clive coming in second and Neil in third.
Five Sailors stayed on for an afternoon of DF95 social sailing, slightly down on our normal numbers due mainly to holidays. The sailors continued to enjoy the bright sunshine and were ready to do battle with the light and shifty wind which continued from the morning racing. A rigs were the order of the day. The same course as the morning was used with a windward buoy taken to port, spreader buoy to port then downwind (most of the time) to the leeward gate. 2 laps per race.
6 Races were completed and generally were closely fought contests with the sailor picking the right wind shift to tack on or being in the right place at the right time benefitting most. Three different race winners indicates just how close the racing was. Neil mastered the conditions best of all and ended up with 3 wins, Clive with 2 and John C with 1 (despite main sheet trouble). Frans and John B enjoyed some good racing but despite showing glimpses of good boat speed didn’t quite have the consistency to trouble the front runners.
Good Old British Weather?
Storm Antoni decided not to visit Gautby Road lake, but three very keen IOM sailors arrived expecting the worst. The very light wind “appeared” to come from the Clubhouse end so a course was set from the top end of the lake to the windward mark at the clubhouse then to a spreader both to port back through a gate, two laps and a finish at the middle mark as usual. The racing for the first three races was such that it was impossible to guess who would come out on top with all three boats taking turn to lead. Bill scored two wins with Alan the third. 
At this point the wind finally disappeared and an early tea break was called (see pic above). After about twenty minutes it started to rain quite heavily then we had wind but from the opposite direction. Course then changed and racing recommenced. This new course and wind suited Alan who took the next seven races with seconds and thirds shared between Bill and John. 
Considering it was supposed to be mid summer, ten races in the cold and wet was deemed enough and RO Dave Williams called it a day. Many thanks to Dave for turning out and running the racing and keeping scores and taking the few photos today.
There was a light but fickle breeze from the clubhouse end and so we set off for two races using a start line at the far end and approximately a windward leg (and occasionally a fetch) to the far end. The wind then decided to switch direction mid race for a while and we ended up having a running start for a couple of races before our volunteer RO Dave Williams (our heavy weather sailor) switched start lines to sail from the clubhouse end.
Peter had a good start to the day in the light conditions and took the first two races by a fair margin, such that Dave was thinking of giving him a starting penalty and the rest of the fleet a chance. However, with some rig setup advice for some sailors, and improvements across the fleet, racing became a little closer with Neil and Andrew Potter each taking a win before Peter took the final two races.
The light conditions meant that only 6 races were sailed with nobody pushing to do a longer two lap race to finish the morning off. This also allowed an earlier start to the working party for the seven that remained behind. Many thanks to Dave for running the morning yet again.
Many thanks to Dave Williams for running the day and keeping us all in line.
