A strange day weather wise at Gautby Rd. The 14 skippers including 4 visitors were greeted with an almost algae free lake and a very light breeze that would swing between westerly and northerly at different parts of the lake. The threatened rain thankfully didn’t materialise until late morning.
Peter moved a few marks around to provide a windward gate and spreader and leeward gate course, 2 laps and finish line halfway up the lake. Dave Williams very kindly offered to be our RO for the day got the racing underway on time at 10.15. Eight Races were sailed providing 2 discards.
Racing was very tight across the whole fleet with private battles going on from top to bottom. At the top end of the fleet there were 5 different winners from the 8 races sailed, showing just how tight it was.
Peter was the most consistent to tak ethe win, posting 1sts and 2nds with Ollie Murray pushing him all the way usually posting podium places and taking more wins. Six points covered the next 4 boats, with Duncan Neale, Simon Fairman, Clive Warren and Ian Davies all battling it out for the minor places.
An enjoyable mornings racing for the most, just a shame there wasn’t a bit more wind but the racing was keen and closely fought in a friendly atmosphere. Many thanks to Dave Williams for acting as RO and managing to take a few photos. Thanks also to the four visitors who helped create a great turnout despite a few regular 95 sailors being away.
Results
- Peter Baldwin 10pts 2 wins
- Ollie Murray (Fleetwood) 11pts 3 wins
- Duncan Neale 21pts 1 win
- Simon Fairman (Manor Park) 24pts 1 win
- Clive Warren 25 pts 1 win
- Ian Davies 28pts
- Mathew Pritchard (Great Orme) 30pts
- John Carlin 36pts
- Martin Whitingham Jones 43pts
- Guy Cowper 51pts
- Brian Cross (Great Orme) 60pts
- John Beech 65pts
- Malcolm Harvey 66pts
- Steve Miller 79pts
A slightly depleted field of six skippers arrived to sail at Gautby road to very little wind and some significant flat patches on the water. The wind direction was approximately south or even south with a bit of east, which was strange as at the coast it was a solid 20mph south south west.
Racing started using the usual course which was a reasonable fit without adjustment. As so often the line looked rather pin biased, but the very shifty conditions meant this turned out not to be too important. The racing was self monitored with the first over the line doing the scoring.
The first four races took about 40 minutes and a short adjournment was proposed by Dave as the wind showed signs of a major shift. This turned to be a good call as by 12,15 the wind had filled in from approximately North West, although was still very irregular and shifty, and the start was moved down to the club end.
Three more races were completed by 12.45 giving one discard. The conditions remained extremely tricky but just as the 65s were finishing showed signs of filling in a bit.
The wind was similar to the morning, predominantly from the SSW meaning from the housing estate which provides very shifty conditions as the wind filters through. For the majority of the time the wind was stronger than the morning and by the end of the session there was a case for changing rigs to a B. The shifts although very frustrating made the racing very interesting with, on many occasions places gained and lost right up to the finish line.
A similar windward/ leeward course was set, starting as the morning session finished with the start at the clubhouse end of the lake. With only six skippers the starts were self monitored and first to finish recorded the finishers. It was decided to go for quantity rather than quality so 1lap races were set with the final race 2 laps.
From the start Alan and Clive dominated the racing taking 10 first places between them. Behind them there was a battle royal for the minor places, Phyll started well clocking up 2 third places, whilst Guy started poorly finishing last in the first 2 races. John was more consistent and Malcolm was feeling the effects from the mornings exertions until finally stopping after 8 races. Race 3 and Guy had sorted whatever problems he had and took the second place behind Clive and followed this up with a third in race 4. It was Johns turn to shine in race 5, after leading for most of the way managed to convert it to the win from Alan, whilst Guy and Phyll couldn’t be separated on the line taking equal 4th place. As the wind strengthened John and Guy seemed to get into their stride and this culminated with Guy taking the race win in race 11, which was well deserved. After 12 races it was time to say farewell to another typical Gautby Rd day, full of frustration at what might have been, for some but enjoyed by most.
Peter moved a few marks around the lake to try and make a decent (some may differ on that description with the wind shifts we had!) windward/leeward course, starting at the far end of the lake. After a short briefing from Paul Plested we started promptly at 10:00 under the watchful eye of Sharon Plested (Our combined RO and scorer for the day).
After the break we sailed another 4 races before stopping for lunch, with Peter picking up 3 of the wins, Clive taking the other win and a clutch of seconds. Paul was still consistent with thirds and a second. Tony Broad picked up a second in Race 5 after a slow start to the day getting used to the conditions.
Other than a slight hiccup in Race 11 when Peter picked up some debris, he continued to dominate the front of the fleet, with only Paul managing to take three wins from him in the nine races after lunch. Clive was still doing well, but couldn’t quite match Paul for boat speed, especially later in the afternoon. As the breeze picked up, both Duncan Neale and Tony had some better results, picking up seconds and thirds in a number of races. Dave Williams was also finding the increase in breeze to his liking and picked up a third in Race 9.
Sadly, Neil Westbrook had a couple of issues on his boat. After sorting the first problem, he started the next race only to have a power failure during that race and so decided to have an early bath.
Five RG65’s turned out for Round 6 of the Summer Series, with two brave souls carrying on from the DF95 Social Racing in the morning. Conditions were not dissimilar to the morning session and the forecsat Westerly breeze never materialised in either strength or direction. Combined with the ever present algae it was a tricky afternoon trying to cope with the shifting wind and significant impact of the algae. Three sported Swing Rigs and two in full size conventional, with not a lot to choose between them in performance terms.
Our initial course was a single beat and run over the whole length of the lake, but as the race took so long, from race two onwards our RO of the day Neil Westbrook shortened it down to two laps using the finish mark halfway up the lake.
Garry Benson took the lions share of wins with five from the eight races. Peter managed a win in race two and Alan Watkinson took the win in Race 4, with Dave Williams picking up the win in the final Race after Garry suffered a rudder servo failure towards the end of the race. Many of the races were very close and finishes could go to anyone in the fleet, with the fickle wind suddenly bringing a back marker up to the front on a run whilst the leaders sat stationary close to the line.
Charles had a great day with four 2nds, narrowly missing out on a win in one race and ended up only one point behind Peter at the end and place a very satisfying third overall. Alan was unable to build on his win in Race 4 and even though he asissted Garry to the shore in Race 8, still picked up a third place as Peter had an intermittent electrical problem and so sat out Race 8.
Seven DF95 skippers turned up for the second extra Saturday morning social racing sessions that had been added to the sailing calendar and it would be fair to say, that most if not all, probably wished they’d found something else to do with their time. The forecast was for a stiff breeze from the SW moving to the West with boats on B rigs. Martin Wittingham-Jones even came ready to sail with his B rig with 10 minutes to the start, only to have to quickly swap up to A rig just in time to race in what was a very shifting lightish breeze coming from over the houses. This combined with the ever present algae, made it a challenge for all.
Races one and two saw Paul Plested and Peter Baldwin pull away from the pack early on, and both took the option of de-weeding on the run/reach from the the starboard rounded windward mark and spreader mark. Paul managed to hang on for two firsts, with Peter close behind in 2nd. Steve Miller, who had a good day, managed a 3rd in the first race and a 4th in the second.
As with earlier races, both Paul and Peter got away with Paul taking the win. Steve Miller bagged another 3rd just pipping Alan to the line. In race five both Phyl Fanning, who had finally got his boat going in the conditions, and Martin, who suffered with electrical problems all morning, had a good first beat and were both in contention as they approached the leeward mark, with Peter just ahead and Paul just behind. Peter took the win and Paul managed to get through to 2nd, with Martin taking 3rd.
