It was a tough cold morning at the lake for DF65 Racing. The fleet lost Dave first thing due to a bad cold, so seeking some warmth and then a few boats succombed to the B Rig conditions and had to call it a day, leaving just 7 to fight it out for overall honours.
Just six races completed before the sailors decided to call it a day. John Carlin came out on top, followed by Guy Cowper starting to get to grips with the ’65, with James Douglas and Simon Bates very close behind.
Racing for the DF95 in the afternoon consisted of just three boats, so mostly fun and practice with a B rigs and no results recorded.
With a ridge of high pressure offering a brief respite from the continuously rainy month of February, it was a sparkling sunny scene that welcomed the seven skippers to Gautby Road. Great to welcome Phillip Barnes of Budworth SC for his first time racing his new 95. Philip and Graham Birkett of Budworth SC have done an amazing job at enthusing 16 of their members to buy DF95’s from a standing start only a few weeks ago and we wish them great success with their fleet.
Racing commenced in a light WSW breeze of about 5 knots max down the lake. A slight port bias was accepted on the line with clean starts and overall a good standard of rule compliance, following the excellent racing rules talk given by Clive and Paul the previous Wednesday.
Race one was a close battle of the “dynamic duo “of Clive and Guy with Clive taking the bullet. Phillip had some minor transmitter set up niggles on race 1, but with help of a tweak from Clive soon picked up the pace to take a well deserved second overall on the day.
Clive decided in race two to park on a yellow mark, which was not part of the course and several boats attempted to free him but to no avail. In assisting him Guy damaged his rig slightly, which caused him a few issues down the line scuppering his chances of a podium finish.
Eventually it was time to get the waders out to rescue Clive who by now had been stuck for ten minutes. Guy elected to wade out and got to within three feet of Clive’s boat when it miraculously freed itself! Was this another classic Clive wind up on Guy, or just Sods Law in operation?!! Either way racing could now recommence.
Neil Westbrook had a good day with great pace in the light airs often choosing to break away from the pack onto port into clear air and gain some good lifts. Dave Williams and Stuart Mearns both had a mixed bag of ups and down finishes, as did Charles Legg who looked strong in the early races.
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With a number of skippers away in Southport representing the club at other events, it was a small but keen group that fronted for Round 4 of the IOM Winter series.
Racing got underway in a steady 5 – 8 knot south easterly wind that gave us a windward return course over the full length of the lake.
Brad took the first 2 races pushed hard by Alan, Robbie and Guy who is fast coming to grips with his new boat. After a delayed start, Martin was fired up and was never headed in races 3 and 4.
Our visitiors John Tideswell (Keighley) and Andrew Backhouse (Birmingham) were fast in coming to grips with the streaky shifts and benefitting from some tuning tips from the lead group. The proof was in a number of races leading up to and following tea break where all boats were finishing within 30 seconds of the leaders.
With tea taken, Alan, Martin and Brad took wins with both Robbie and Graham scoring top 3 places. Races went down to the wire with a duff tack or missed puff being the difference.
Another grey day with a real chill in the air, but dry and with an A+ S.E. Breeze blowing straight (or at least as straight as it ever does) down the lake from the clubhouse end. Even better the marks were in an almost perfect position with a good start line and gate, and as there were only five takers for the mornings 65 racing it was agreed to us a single windward mark with no spreader.
Alan was Mr Consistency with four wins and two seconds to finish on 15 points, well clear of Guy on 19 – who also won three races – in second. Mike followed one point later, with Clive on 22 and Dave on 25 with the detailed results shown below.
The full length of the lake was used with a standard windward mark, spreader and gate set, 1 lap races in order to fit more races in. Malcolm Harvey volunteered to keep us in check and be the RO for the afternoon, and unfortunately we lost commodore Dave before the first race with a main winch servo issue.
As seems to be the case recently, the racing was very competitive with 6 of the remaining 10 helms recording at least 1 win. Paul was fast out of the blocks posting back to back wins with Ian second. Clive was next to post a win with Guy second. Stuart T sailed a brilliant fourth race and build a 20m lead at the first mark which he held to the finish, Stuart M. posted his best result of the day taking second. Unfortunately we lost Paul in race 4 with a burnt out rudder servo. Race 5 and our fourth different winner, this time it was Ian’s turn who had been knocking on the door in a couple of the previous races but made it to the line this time.
Clive then switched on his motor and took 4 bullets from the last 6 races with Alan and Andy each picking a deserved win. The minor places were split between Ian, Alan, Guy and visitor for the day Matt Pritchard from Great Orme MYC.
At the end of 11 races, the light was beginning to fade and we decided to finish. Because the racing had been so competitive nobody knew who would walk away with the overall win. It had been a very closely fought taxing afternoon of sailing, with some big wind shifts and plenty of passing opportunities, and also plenty of opportunity to lose out by picking a wrong shift or by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Thanks to Malcolm for the results, being our RO and getting some photos of the action as well.
An “all persons bulletin” was distributed among the WhatsApp group of DF sailors polling for an early 09:30 Saturday session prior to the DF/RG 65 racing in the afternoon.
Five Skippers braved the rather dank and blustery morning at Gautby Road, with a fresh south easterly looking promising for some exciting sailing.
Starts were self monitored and to a good standard. Guy had to bail a few starts at the last minute, as Clive hounded him until his nerve cracked!
On a day with some huge shifts near the weather mark throughout the eleven races sailed, it was a masterclass by Clive drawing no less than seven “bullets” from his holster to win the day on 11 points. In second place was Neil Westbrook, sailing consistently well and only 6 points behind Clive. Guy seemed to fade a little mid morning but enjoyed some good tussles with the top three. Phyll Fanning finished the day with a well earned fourth having finally had a bit more luck with some wicked wind shifts.
