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Category: news

DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 31/1/24

Following on from the DF65 morning racing the wind remained from the south west but strengthened throughout the session. 8 helms including Olly Murry were on the  start line for the commencement of the races. The wind was the talk of the day coming from the houses which caused some 180 degree shifts along the length of the course as well as strong gusts and holes to catch even the experienced skippers out.
The same course as the morning was used starting at the clubhouse end, taking a windward mark and spreader to port, back down the lake to a gate and the finish half way back up the lake. It was decided to keep all 8 boats on the water and the first over the line would record the results.
The racing was well contested with a lot of lead changing especially around the windward spreader marks which if you were lucky a close fetch or if unlucky could take 4 or 5 tacks.  Despite the difficult conditions the racing was generally very close with a couple of photo finishes. Top 3 finishes for Neil Westbrook, Alan Watkinson, Olly Murray, Dave Howard, Tony Sedgewick and Clive Warren shows how close the racing was.
Unfortunately after 5 races a strong squall came down the lake and took the result sheet with it, depositing it in the water, so no results are available. Racing continued for another 3 races to establish bragging rights. A fun day was had by most with a touch of frustration thrown in, and a steep learning curve for Olly who doesn’t get to sample such tricky conditions at Fleetwood, but he still left with a smile on his face.

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 31/1/24

A little bit of a surprise with the results today, such that the author and scorer had to treble check!

Today was a day when you think “I should have stayed in bed”, but thirteen keen sailors arrived, including a visitor (Olly) from Fleetwood sampling our tricky conditions. The wind was coming over the houses but not consistently, at times A+ was not enough then a long strong gust would appear and flatten the boats.

The usual course was sailed, starting at the Club house up to a port rounding of the windward mark, port around the spreader down through the gate to the finish halfway up the lake. Planning a good start was difficult with many boats caught out due to the sudden light wind patches. Those that planned it right were more or less able to make the windward mark on one tack due to some very good lifts. The final leg from the gate to the finish was the most difficult part of the course with many good finishing positions suddenly disappearing.

Twelve races were held with each skipper managing a RO. The racing was very close throughout the fleet no more than on the finish line with boats within centimetres of each other.

  1. Dave Williams              13pts 4wins
  2. Neil Westbrook            16pts 3wins
  3. John Carlin                     19pts 1win
  4. Clive Warren                 21pts 2wins
  5. Alan Watkinson           25pts
  6. Olly Murray                   36pts
  7. Don MacKinnon          46pts
  8. Simon Bates                  48pts
  9. Sally Collings                61pts
  10. Paul Little                      64pts
  11. John Beech                    72pts
  12. Frans King                     73pts
  13. Paul Plested                  92pts

DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 24/1/24

With people having various commitments there were only 6 x DF95 helms which was a shame as unlike the morning racing, the wind had increased in the afternoon and was a good A Rig, increasing to B rig leading to some nose diving on the run. As is normal for Gautby Rd the wind was coming through, over and round the houses leading to sufficient holes and shifts to keep all the helms on their toes.
The same course as the morning was used, and as there were only 6 boats the first across the line recorded the finishing positions.
As mentioned the wind picked up over the lunch break, but looked a safe A rig, but after 2 races and further increases it was decided to call for a rig change to B rig. There was generally close racing throughout the afternoon with all helms recording a 3rd place or better. John C, Alan and Clive were in the main the front runners with close, and in some cases too close combat taking place, especially between John and Clive both doing penalty turns at some stage. Unfortunately Alan had to leave after 6 races which skewed his results. Further down the fleet John B, Frans and Dave (first day out and about after illness) were having their own battle but also sailing well enough  give the front runners something to think about.
Results after 8 races with 2 discards
John Carlin                9  pts         (3 x 1st, 3 x 2nd)
Clive Warren          11 pts            (2 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd)
Alan Watkinson   19pts             (2 x 1st, 2nd x 3rd)
John Beech             20pts             (1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd)
Frans King             22pts             (1 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd)
Dave Howard        25pts              (1 x 3)

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 24/1/24

After waiting for a couple of weeks while the lake has been frozen, an excellent turnout of twelve DF65 skippers arrived to a chilly and quite strong and gusty Westerly blowing more or less straight down the lake.

An initial whizz on a choppy lake confirmed that it would be a C rig day, and Peter Baldwin very nobly went for a prolonged paddle to restore the course marks to the right position after going walkabout in the recent ice.

Frans volunteered as RO as he didn’t have a C rig, and got the racing started with just 12 boats. Almost immediately the wind started to ease, and after two races it was agreed to go to A rig. Frans very kindly said he would continue as RO, and John Brierley had to call it a day due to a winch problem after two seconds in the first two races.

The wind then backed around 25deg, making the line very one sided, and although in theory this made it a port tack biased beat, the wind was so erratic and full of holes that it remained a really tricky day. Charles also had to retire after his boat went awol during race three.

Peter aced the day, with five wins out of six races, with everyone else having a very frustrating day where positions could and did change significantly at any stage of a race.

After six races everyone agreed that enough was enough with the fickle wind and the final race results as below:

  1. Peter Baldwin                5 pts             5 wins
  2. Mike de St Paer           16 pts           1 win
  3. Alan Watkinson          17 pts
  4. John Carlin                   20 pts
  5. Clive Warren                21 pts
  6. Dave Williams             28 pts           (2 x 4ths)
  7. Sally Collings               28 pts           (1 x 4th)
  8. John Brierley                40 pts
  9. Paul Little                      41 pts
  10. John Beech                    44 pts
  11. Charles Legg                 51 pts

There is another opportunity for DF65 racing this Saturday (27th) with our combined RG65/DF65 racing, but with results separated out for each class.  First start is at 12:00