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Category: Fleets

RG65 TT2 2025 – 23/3/25

Another day and a different breeze – one that was difficult to find as it kept itself well hidden for most of the morning.  Our RO and chief wader Paul Plested was kept busy moving marks around in an attempt to create a course that allowed for some racing without it being a procession.  We started sailing from the clubhouse end, then the wind had other ideas and we sailed the opposite way around for a short while before returning to something like the original course.  How long should the course be was the key question today as at times, race duration extended to 20 minutes for two laps and so had to be shortened and then lengthened again when the breeze picked up towards the end of racing.  Paul did a sterling job in both trying to keep racing going whilst also rescuing boats that seem to wrap themselves on the mark tubes with insufficient brreze to remove themselves.  The breeze did pick up and straighten to come from the far end for the last three races, but after the earlier difficult sessions racing was finished after 12 races.

Onto the racing; today it was John Tushinghams’ turn to be leader of the pack with five wins from the 12 races sailed and take the overall win.  Next in terms of race wins was Tobias Laux with 4 wins, but relegated to third place by Alan Bennett with just two (all sailing Ivy’s) and Peter Baldwin (Uno) with one. Bill Culshaw sailed consistently all day and took the fourth place overall, leaving a clutch of four Ivy’s at the top of the leader board.  Peter Baldwin and Robert Macintosh were both sailing Uno’s and picked up fifth and sixth spots.

We should have had fifteen boats racing today, but unfortunately one boat had terminal arm winch failure before we started sailing.  Another couple of boats had issues which put paid to their event and an early homeward journey.  Chris Elliott was one of these, which was unfortunate as he had shown good boat speed in a number of races, but unfortunately was having issues for most of the day, which had stopped him from performing well overall.

Special mention to our Junior member George, who stuck at it, with what can only be described as very tricky wind conditions finishing 11th overall with a number of eight and ninth places and a prize for being first junior.

Thanks go once again to Paul Plested and wife Sharon for running the racing assisted today by Malcolm Harvey carrying out the scoring and for Joss managing the galley once again as well as bringing yet more cookies after we had eaten most of yesterdays batch.  Paul also found time when not in the waders to take more photos.

The next RG65 TT’s are at Fleetwood over the weekend of 12/13th April, with an NoR promised soon.

RG65 TT1 & RG65 Winter 2024/5 #6 – 22/3/25

As sailors and the event team started to arrive, there was already a nice ESE breeze straight down the lake from the clubhouse end.  Our RO, Paul Plested soon donned the waders and worked with the Commodore to set out a windward leeward course starting at the far end of the lake.  Setting a good start line proved to be a bit tricky as the wind was having difficulty on deciding whether it was from the top left or right corner.

After a short briefing, the fleet of 17 RG65’s got started on time in a decent mid to top suit A swing rig breeze, with just a couple of boats using a full sized conventional rig.  The day was sailed at a decent but steady pace of 4 races followed by a break for a drink or lunch, with 16 races completed by the time the wind shut down (well actually reversed direction!) at around 16:00.

The day belonged to Alan Bennett sailing an Ivy with 7 wins, followed by Tobi Laux (another Ivy) with four, Graham Elliott (Electronica) with three, then Martin Roberts (Uno) and Bill Culshaw (Ivy) with one each.  Aside from these race winners, a number of boats had some good results and even had the lead at some point, but unfortunately never quite made that elusive first place.  Chris Elliott had a  number of seconds after a difficult start to the day missing the first two races with gear problems. Peter Baldwin also had a good day, but never managed to capitalise on some decent positions mid race.Vernon Appleton and Roger Hopper were also going well  with Vernon picking up a second and third during the day and based upon his speed later in the day, may well be better placed tomorrow.

As the full results sheet below will show, Alan Bennett not surprisingly won the day on 25 points, with Tobias Laux second on 32 points and then Graham Elliott in third on 41.  It was close for fourth to seventh place with only 6 points separating these 4 boats.

Out thanks go to our RO Paul Plested and his assitant wife Sharon, Joss in the galley for making drinks and some great cookies and also to Paul for some cracking photos.

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 19/3/25

DF65’s

Another excellent 65 fleet turnout today, with twelve skippers ready to race. Lovely blue sky and – slightly unusually for Gautby road – lovely blue water as well but with a cold South Easterly breeze which had various folks looking for extra layers of insulation. The usual course with the start at the far end and a nice wide line allowing a really good choice of start position.

Paul was fast straight away with wins in races one and two and maintained a slight but significant boatspeed edge the whole day. James won race three, and then it was business as usual again for Paul in race four. Very close racing meant there had now been four different second place boats in four races, Clive, Mike, Paul and James. James then sailed very consistently to score seconds in races five and six, while Clive and Mike counted some rather variable results by comparison.

The final three races were a slight variation with Mike scoring one, one, three against Paul’s two, two, and one point two as RO, however by this stage Paul was long gone leaving James, Clive and Mike to fight it out for second. Clive was unlucky to have to count a seventh in the last race with Mike just making it to second in front of James by half a point.

As well as sailing consistently well Paul was visibly the quickest boat on the track, and although he was pushed at various stages ran out a clear winner. Very competitive racing again with a few OCS calls and turns. It was great to see Neil racing again after a bit of a layoff and he was unlucky to get tagged and suffer a broken mainsheet which meant he missed the last two races.

Thanks to Dave for getting us out and started on time and for the photos once again, and to Malcolm for collating the results which are shown below using the Afleet software.

DF95’s

The afternoon conditions were very similar to the morning with the wind from the east, and whilst this looked a steady breeze basically straight down the lake the reality had some large windshifts which switched the prominent tack from port to starboard along the length of the lake coupled with a few smaller shifts to keep helms on their toes.  The sun shone and it was a good A rig setup, an extended final beat was set to provide a full length beat.  6 boats were ready to start on time at 13-30. A self monitored start and first to finish recorded the final  positions.
Race 1 and it didnt take long to lose our first casualty,  when rounding the gate mark in third place Paul suffered control issues which kept him out for the rest of the afternoon, a shame as he sailed so well in the morning. Martin sailing his new hull for the first time showed good race speed finishing second behind Clive with Alan third.  Race 2 and this set the tone for the next 2 races with Clive taking the win and Alan getting ever quicker in second, with close battles for third, Malcolm taking it in the 2nd race and Martin in the 3rd.  Race 4 and 5 and Alan continued his improvement and took the race wins, with Clive second and John finally getting his boat performing taking two third spots.
Race 6 and It was Clives turn to return to winning ways, with John making further improvent taking second, Alan would have finished third but a lapse in concentration saw him heading for the windward mark and missing the finishing line, gifting third spot to Malcolm.  Race 7 Unfortunately Alan had to leave, Clive handed himself a starting Handicap, starting at the leeward gate marks whilst the rest used the standard start line. This worked well
and provided a tight finish, althoough Clive finally caught them up 3/4 of the way up the final beat with Malcolm second and Martin third.  Race 8 with a similar starting arrangement, this time the fleet, held Clive off agin until very close to the finish line and although he caught  Malcolm and Martin due to a coming together he couldnt catch John who took line honours.
Summary
Good social racing in the sunshine with a decent breeze. Competition through the fleet was split in 2 with Clive and Alan at the front and the others having their own very tight battle with a different outcome each race.
Thanks to Paul who stayed behind to RO a couple of races and take the photos and to Malcolm for tabling results in A Fleet

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 12/3/25

Cold North N West wind as forecast for the DF65 crew today. It wasn’t blowing quite straight down the lake which had consequences as covered below.

Dave W set the usual course using the top set of windward marks and a nice wide line. The line looked to be starboard end biased, and was actually so, but no one fancied going paddling in the cold to adjust it.

The wind had enough north in it for the far side of the lake to have flat patches where the wind was chewed up by the trees and buildings and this meant that the breeze in the prestart park zone was variable to say the least, and caught a few people out. In one case the breeze simply disappeared for a minute or two, and in other cases there were heavy gusts in the last few seconds before the start resulting in the odd OCS.

Neil (“I like a good discard”) very kindly offered to RO and got the racing through very smartly. Most of the starts were very competitive, and the beats were challenging all day. It looked as if the starboard end would pay with then staying on starboard for a while before tacking. However, there were plenty of exceptions to this. Paul made a couple of early port tacks pay big time, but in other races this didn’t pay for those who tried it. It also seemed to pay to come across on port at the top of the beat to avoid a flat patch beyond the windward mark. This port tack approach to the top mark made for some close calls and a few port and starboard incidents during the morning.

Paul sailed very well to win four races and just win the morning overall, more so since he missed race 7 when a main batten started to detach. Mike and John were second and third, one point behind with Mike only ahead on countback.  Fourth, fifth and sixth were Simon, Dave and Clive all within three points – Clive discovering afterwards that his mast gate had loosened clearly upsetting the boat trim.

Overall results as shown below, with thanks again to Neil for ROing and Malcolm for collating the results. Another very competitive day of 65 racing.

IOM Winter 2024/5 #5 – 8/3/25

Glorious sun and wind at Gautby Road for our 12 skippers. Great to see a few guests travelling to join in.
The wind was quite an unusual one for Birkenhead, predominantly down Gautby Road but with some cruel shifts if you got on the wrong side of them but hero shifts if you got on the correct side of them, nice top end of A rig with some nosediving in the first 6 races before tea.
It was Brad that showed early pace, taking out the first two races and Alan also showing us some great speed in these races with a third and fourth, unfortunately Josh, sailing Pop, missed the first race with a temperamental knob, on his transmitter which was quickly fixed with a bit of fiddling.
Race positions throughout the day switched very quickly due to the shifts but it was Brad who stayed consistently in front, winning 8 in the end. Martin had a better last 6 races that included a string of seconds, probably due to him growing into his new sailing glasses. Andrea should have won race 10, but in the excitement and concentration she unfortunately forgot to finish but still managed a third.
There was also a great battle all afternoon between Andy, Phil and John, I am sure they enjoyed their afternoons sailing.
Race winners included, Brad, Rob, Graham, Simon and Josh.
Many thanks to Neil and Dave (who also took the photos) for starting and finishing us and good luck to all Birkenhead skippers at next week’s ranking weekend in Scarborough.
  1. Brad Gibson          42   Post PUNK    13pts
  2. Graham Elliott     09   BritPOP!        31pts
  3. Martin Roberts   168  BritPOP!        35pts
  4. Simon Fairman    71   Alioth             40pts
  5. Andrea Roberts   127  BritPOP!       43pts
  6. Josh King                 26  POP!               46pts
  7. Rob Macintosh      66  V9                   50pts
  8. Alan Watkinson    23  Corbie 5         77pts 1x3rd
  9. Graham Birkett   133  Widget           77pts
  10. Andy Backhouse 142  Widget           97pts
  11. Phyl Fanning         37   Lintel           106pts
  12. John Beech           139   Gadget         109pts

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 5/3/25

DF95’s

Spring has finally sprung, or at least it seemed like it for the df 95 skippers on arrival at Gautby road today. However, spring hadn’t brought much breeze with it and the morning’s races were held in very patchy conditions.

Sailing Sec. Paul’s plan to have the 95’s sailing in the morning on the first Wednesday of the month is clearly working so far, with an excellent 11 boats on the water. Neil kindly volunteered as RO, and very sensibly brought out two chairs, one for the start, one for the finish, and set the usual windward/leeward course with leeward gate.

To start with it looked like a running start, but this changed to a close port tack fetch to the top mark, sometimes with a short starboard hitch needed at the top end of the beat. Although the line seemed port end biased the wind along the left hand side was very fluky, and it paid to sail at least up the middle to keep in any pressure. Even then there were some big holes and shifts with boats literally changing tacks in a straight line.

Paul won the first race, Clive and Mike the next two, and then Paul the rest with 5 in a row to run out a clear winner. Clive beat Mike on countback for second, and racing was very close right across the fleet with 5 mid fleet boats covered by 11 points.

It was good to see Mike Mills from Wallasey Yacht Club sailing, and it was a very pleasant day to be there, even though the conditions were not ideal.

Many thanks to Neil for ROing, Dave W for the photos and Malcolm for collating the results which are shown in full below.

  1. Paul Plested                     6 pts    6 wins
  2. Clive Warren                  14 pts 1 win (ahead on countback)
  3. Mike de St Paer             14 pts  1 win
  4. Alan Watkinson            17 pts
  5. Malcolm Harvey          34 pts   (ahead on countback)
  6. Dave Williams              34 pts
  7. Frans King                     36 pts
  8. Phyl Fanning                 43 pts
  9. Mike Mills                      45 pts
  10. Paul Little                      64 pts
  11. John Carlin                    69 pts

DF65’s

After a challenging wind in the morning for the DF95s, fingers were crossed for the breeze to settle down for the 6 skippers who turned up to race DF65s, plus Alan W who opted for his RG65 for practice ahead of the upcoming TT events later in March.  Alas, the prevailing wind remained in the SW coming over the houses with big shifts, gusts and flat calms to challenge the sailors.  Frans King kindly offered to stay to be RO after racing in the morning, which was much appreciated by all.    Dave Williams opted not to sail, but to fish the lake for golf balls!  Given that Bidston Golf Club is at least half a mile away, it was a surprise to see more than a dozen balls recovered.
Paul P started as he’d left off from the morning’s session with a win in the first race, followed closely by Alan with his RG65 and Neil W.   Clive, who had a good afternoon,  found his form in the second race, just holding off Paul in a close finish to the line.  Alan got his RG65 tuned in and went on to win race 3, after a battle with Andrew, who finished 2nd.  Race 4 also went Alan’s way, with Clive taking line honours in races 5 and 6, leaving him 2nd overall and first DF65 on the day.
  1. Alan Watkinson  RG65   23       8pts  2 wins
  2. Clive Warren        DF65    53      9pts  3 wins
  3. Paul Plested         DF65   154   13pts  1 win
  4. Andrew Potter     DF65   194  18pts
  5. Neil Westbrook   DF65     03   19pts
  6. Phyl Fanning       DF65    550  30pts
  7. Malcolm Harvey DF65  1019  32pts