A very wet and millpond conditions met the 4 RG65s and 6 DF65s for a joint afternoons racing at Birkenhead. The wind barely got above a zephyr all afternoon but in the end 8 races were completed with the wind generally from the NW.
Category: rg65
Winter Series 2019/2020 for IOM and RG65/DF65
The dates for this years Winter Series have now been published in the 2019 Calendar.
This year there will be a series of 8 afternoons of racing for IOM’s starting on the 9th November. This follows the Strebor IOM meeting which takes place on the 26th October (Start time 10:00). In addition, there is also the Xmas Race on 14th December which will this year again be raced in the IOM class (Start Time 10:30)
Due to the success of the RG65/DF65 race days over the Summer, it has been decided that there will also be some events for these classes. The first of these will take place on Saturday 26th October.
With the reduced light conditions during the Winter, each race day will start at 12:00 rather than the summer time of 13:00, in the hope that this will allow a good number of races to be run before the light goes. No race will start after 16:00.
As a final reminder, the last two afternoons in the Summer Series of IOM racing take place on Saturday the 5th and 19th October. The last in the series has been changed from 12th October due to a clash with other events.
RG65/DF65 Race #5 28/9/19
A wet and windy day greeted competitors for the last RG65 series race. Four Pocket Rockets and one DF65 sailed the same course this week with the wind coming out of the Top left hand corner. Seven races were completed by the tea break with everyone in B Rigs, when Neil had to leave early and then 3 more were sailed after tea in A Rigs to complete the day.
Racing was very close with Dave showing good speed to register 3 wins with John taking out the other races. Alan with a new conventional A rig he has made,was also showing good speed on the race course.
With the 10 races completed an extended final race was held for a bit of fun, with the only DF 65 sailed by Andrew leading for most of the race only to be pipped at the post by the RG65 of John.
Thanks go again to Bernie and Jack for running the races on such a wet afternoon.
RG
1st John Brierley 9pts
2nd Dave Williams 15pts
3rd Alan Watkinson 20pts
4th Neil Westbrook 29pts
DF
Andrew Peter 27pts
Series results are available on the Current Standings page
RG65/DF65 Race #4 31/8/19
A torrential downpour greeted seven (six RG and one DF) sailors as they arrived or rigged their boats. Thank goodness for the shelter of the clubhouse. Fortunately the rain did not last for long and it was on a weather front that rapidly changed the wind from Southerly to Westerly within 45 minutes. This enabled a good windward/leeward course to be set down the lake using the marks as set. With no additional competition arriving the one DF sailor decided not to sail and so left six RG65’s to start the day.
After the first four races, Peter and John Brierley shared the honours with two wins and two seconds each. With the wind at 10 knots and gusting easily 15, both had opted for a low aspect A rig which helped in the gusty conditions. After a short break and the arrival of Graham Elliott, John B managed two further wins, before John Tushingham found his groove and posted his first win in Race 7 and the two of them shared the wins through until Race 16, with Graham taking a number of seconds. At the end of 16 races completed by 16:30, John B was the winner, John T second and Graham third. Three designs shared the podium, with rig selection and setup for the conditions in each race a determining factor on the end result. Thanks to Bernie and Ernie for running the races.
- John Brierley Pocket Rocket 19 pts
- John Tushingham Scurry 26 pts
- Graham Elliott Electronica 37 pts
- Peter Baldwin Pocket Rocket 42 pts
- Neil Westbrook Pocket Rocket 55 pts
- Alan Watkinson Pocket Rocket 68 pts
- Dave Williamson Pocket Rocket 77 pts
Next and final event in the series is on Saturday 28th September with a later start time of 13:00.
RG65/DF65 Race #3 17/8/19
Six RG65 and three DF65 sailors turned out to sail this week, including two welcome DF65 visitors from Gresford. There was a good breeze down the lake from the WNW, leading to plenty of discussion about whether it was an A or B breeze for the RG65 (or perhaps an A or A- depending on your rig wardrobe). All of the DF65’s opted for an A rig to start with. John Brierley had a good start with a 1,2,1 in the first three races until Graham Elliott found his form and won the next four races until there was a break for lunch and a change of batteries for everyone. Andrew Peter had the best morning from the DF65 sailors with visitors Rob Andrew and David Bradley taking a few wins between them. Andrew gave some setup tips to both visitors and racing was very close between them later in the morning.
Having started with a good sailing breeze straight down the lake at the start of the day, it had changed to be well across the lake by the second session, giving a delay whilst the course was angled diagonally across the lake to provide the chance of a windward leg. Graham carried on his winning form from the morning, gaining six wins from the next 8 races sailed, narrowly missing out to Peter Baldwin in those two. Andrew also had the lions share of wins in the DF65 fleet during the afternoon.
Thanks go to Bernie for scoring during the day assisted by Neil after problems forced his early retirement.
The next RG65/DF65 racing day is on Saturday 31st August starting at 11am.
- Graham Elliott Electronica 9 16pts
- Peter Baldwin Pocket Rocket 63 26pts
- John Brierley Pocket Rocket 84 38pts
- Dave Williams Pocket Rocket 33 52pts
- Alan Watkinson Pocket Rocket 23 53pts
- Neil Westbrook Pocket Rocket 103 82pts
DF65
- Andrew Peter 919 15pts
- David Bradley 98 23pts
- Rob Andrews 835 40pts
RG65/DF65 Race #2 22/6/19
Sunny conditions, wind from the clubhouse end and a fair degree of shiftiness in that wind , met the competitors for the RG/DF day at Birkenhead on Saturday.
5 RG65s and 3 DF65s started at 1100 with the DFs starting one minute ahead of the RGs with this format ensuring all the boats finishing together.
With 7 races before lunch, the racing was very close and a battle in the RGs between Graham Elliott and John Brierley developed with Graham leading at the break.Neil Westbrook, Dave Williams and Alan Watkinson were also swapping places constantly showing how competitive all of these boats are.
The DFs were also having close racing and a welcome return to Birkenhead of Roger Lincoln showing he had not lost any knowledge of the lake. Peter Baldwin and Andrew Peters were also having their moments in the shifting conditions that prevailed all day.
After lunch both fleets were reduced as both Graham and Peter had to withdraw due to family commitments and the remaining fleet had 6 more races.
Thanks as usual go to Bernie and Jack for running the days racing and making drinks for everyone at break times.
12 races sailed.
Results
RG65
1st John Brierley 13pts
2nd Neil Westbrook 28pts
3rd Graham Elliott 33 pts
4th Dave Williams 34pts
5th Alan Watkinson 56pts (broken winch at lunchtime)
DF65
1st Roger Lincoln 16pts
2nd Andrew Peters 26pts
3rd Peter Baldwin 32pts
