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Category: news

DF/RG65 Summer Series 2022 #7 (20/8/22)

Nine sailors turned out this week for a gusty afternoons racing with a wind forecast to be WSW and so diagonally down the lake from the far end.  Peter donned the waders to move marks around to form a course for the forecast wind, but the gusts could shift the wind by up to 40 degrees and back again within seconds making the beat a fetch or even close reach at times.  B or low aspect A rigs were favoured today, with those on “A’s” hoping to survive the gusts whilst gaining in the lulls.

In the end, only 7 sailors made it through the day, with gear failure or difficulties coping with the gusts causing a couple of dropouts.

After establishing a good lead in Race 1, Peter lost his jib tie down on the last beat and narrowly lost the win to John.  John then went onto win the next three races as well, until Graham won his first race followed by a good start to end win for Alan in Race 6 and a short break for refreshments.

After the break, Alan had another win, before Peter had a run of three consecutive race wins, with Graham taking the final, Race 11 win.  During the day, everyone struggled for consistency in the gusty conditions, with places won and lost depending on whether you were in the right place to make the best of any gust and associated shift.  The conditions did, however, allow most of the fleet time at the front and vie for the win.  The last race being one where the first 5 boats all crossed the finish line within about 5 seconds.

John took the day with his 4 wins, Peter was second on three and Graham just pipped Martin to take third on countback based upon his two wins.  Thanks go to Dave, Bill and John Carlin for helping to run the races over the afternoon.

  1. John Brierley        Uno                         84  19pts (4 wins)
  2. Peter Baldwin      Uno                         63  22pts (3 wins)
  3. Graham Elliott    Argon                     09  25pts (2 wins)
  4. Martin Roberts   Pocket Rocket   133   25pts
  5. Alan Watkinson  Uno                         23    34pts
  6. Neil Westbrook   Uno                         03    41pts
  7. Dave Williams     Uno                         33    59pts

DF65 Social Racing 2022 #33 (17/8/22)

A chilly but dry day with a light wind from the Clubhouse end. Eight skippers contested the nine races using A+ sails. the starts without a RO were very honest which gave very close racing up to the first mark, from then on the course taken on the run to the wide gate determined your final position.

With John Brierley and John Carlin taking 8 races between them, they could not stop Alan from taking the other one. The close racing amongst the fleet gave for a very pleasant mornings sailing.

  1. John Brierley           8pts 6wins
  2. John Carlin             14pts 2wins
  3. Neil Westbrook    22pts
  4. Alan Watkinson   25pts 1win
  5. Richard Walker    29pts
  6. Dave Williams      30pts
  7.  Malcolm Harvey 45pts
  8. John Beech             51pts

IOM Summer Series 2022 #7 (13/8/22)

It was already hot when sailors started to arrive this week, the clear sun in a blue sky and temperature approaching 30C, but at least there was a light, middle of top suit breeze blowing down the lake from the clubhouse.  After the marks were moved around a little, sailing for the 7 particpants got underway soon after 1pm under the watchful eye of Dave Williams as RO.

Race 1 belonged to Alan Bennett (Viper) who started well and had a good lead at the first mark and was never challenged throughout, leaving the rest to a close fight for the other positions.  Peter Baldwin (Britpop!) then managed to take the next 4 race wins, before Alan took the win in Race 6 and a short break for a drink and snack. Martin Roberts (Vanilla) must have been well refreshed as he took Races 7, 10 and 11 after the break, with Peter picking up three more in Races 8, 9 and 12.  The top part of the fleet was always very close though with gains (and losses) to be made right up to the finish, in the shifty and patchy wind.

The breeze held as an ESE up until Race 10, when it became more light and patchy with some movement Northerly and be across the lake.  By the start of Race 11, the breeze had switched to be WNW (probably a late sea breeze) and that race ended up as a running start and a windward gate as the course was totally inverted.  For the final race the course was switched round and the first leg was once again a beat.

Peter took the day with his 7 wins, with Martin second and Alan close behind in third.  Thanks once again to Dave for getting the 12 races in at a steady  pace and Jack for manning the galley and keeping us refreshed – a very important role on such a hot day.

  1. Peter Baldwin            Britpop!   63   14pts
  2. Martin Roberts          Vanilla      22   21pts
  3. Alan Bennett               Viper         33   22pts
  4. John Berry                    Viper         12   32pts
  5. Charles Legg                K2              25   52pts
  6. Ken Jones                       Pitprop   71   60pts
  7. Alan Watkinson          Britpop!  23   66ptsNext week it is back to the DF and RG65 for Saturday racing.

DF65 Social racing #32 (10/8/22)

Seven sailors turned up, more in hope than expectation of enough wind in which to sail. They were rewarded with a light but useable wind mainly running the length of the pond from the Gautby Road end. Most races were conducted with a start-line at the Northwest end of the pond, two port-hand turning marks at the bottom and a single turning mark at the far Northwest. As the wind died in the Northwest corner, the final race was run with the start-line as a gate. With fickle winds, positions changed regularly throughout each race and several people scored firsts. Nevertheless, consistency won out, with Andrew Potter coming a well-deserved overall first. The results were:

DF/RG65 Summer 2022 #6 (6/8/22)

7 RG 65’s made it to the start line for todays race, 5 UNO’s, 1 ARGON and 1 ELECTRONICA. A lovely top suit wind from the top end with plenty of gusts and shifts, with all choosing there maximum sail area rigs, mostly swing rigs but 2 conventional rigs.
The wind did gradually build through the day and there was plenty of downwind diving on either side of tea break.
The day belonged to Bill Culshaw sailing a chartered Electronica, who achieved a very impressive set of scores, top 3 finishes in all but one race and this was with 3 recalls for him through the day. Peter Baldwin was not far behind on the overall scores in second place sailing his Uno followed by Graham Elliott sailing his Argon.
Race winners were. Bill Culshaw (6), Peter Baldwin (4), John Brierley (1), Graham Elliott (1)
Many thanks must go to Paul Hounslow for starting and finishing us and Jack for making the tea.
  1. Bill Culshaw            Electronica      14pts
  2. Peter Baldwin         Uno                     20pts
  3. Graham Elliott       Argon                 27pts
  4. John Brierley           Uno                     28pts
  5. Alan Watkinson     Uno                     45pts
  6. Charles Legg           Uno                     57pts
  7. Dave Williams        Uno                     64pts

Club Members in action at the DF95 Nationals 2022

The DF95 Nationals were held at Two Islands RSC (Milton Keynes) over the last weekend (30th/31st July).  Club members John Brierley, David Potter and Peter Baldwin were representing the club in what proved to be a rather trying weekend of sailing with floating weed making an unusual appearance at this lake during the Summer, perhaps as a consequence of extended period with no rain and low water levels.  The club did what they could to try and mitigate the problem (which seemed to get worse during the days sailing) and allow the event to continue. We had a couple of people standing in the water for a good part of each day ready to lift out a boat and remove any weed before sending it on its way.

Starting with 4 heats and ending with 3, only 9 races were completed. A heavy rain shower mid afternoon on Sunday killed the wind and a resultant wind shift left insufficient time to completely rearrange the course and ensure that we could get a further race completed. Full results are available on the home page of the DFRacing website https://dfracinguk.com/ but the key results from the club’s perspective were Peter in 2nd and David Potter in 11th.

The next DF TT that members may be interested in entering is at Fleetwood on the 24th (DF65) and 25th (DF95) September.  For those with a DF95, Fleetwood have an Open on Bank Holiday Sunday, with 3 members already entered.