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DF95 Social Racing 2023 – 13/12/23

9 helms stayed behind for a competitive afternoons racing and out of those 9 helms, 7 recorded a third place or better showing just how competitive it actually was. The wind was similar to the morning DF65 session so initially the same course was used. With a relatively small fleet albeit one of our best Wednesday afternoon turnouts, we managed the start between ourselves and the first over the finish line recorded the results allowing all helms maximum sailing time.

The wind remained tricky coming over from the factories making the starboard end of the start line very biased and in one race the leaders made the first windward mark in one without having to tack. Having said that it was shifting, picking the right one to tack on was paramount, it was very easy to be headed and being in the right place at the right time helped greatly.

After 2 races the leeward gate was changed to a spreader to give the port boats reaching into the mark less of a target for the starboard close hauled boats heading back up the lake. this proved much better with fewer collisions. The tricky area was the approach to the windward mark where the directional shifts were most pronounced. It was same for all and made for interesting racing with many a place won or lost. It was great to see Dave Williams putting in an appearance, showing that he hasn’t lost his touch of the bigger boat

After 7 races, the sun was getting low and the temperature dropping, so we called it a day. Final results with 1 discard

1  Clive Warren       13pts (2 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third)
2 Dave Williams   17pts (2 seconds, 3 thirds,)
3 Alan Watkinson  18pts (1 win, 2 seconds, 1 third)
4 John Carlin           26pts (2 wins, 1 second)
5 Richard Walker   27pts (1 win)
6 Neil Westbrook   29pts (2 seconds)
7 Dave Howard        37pts
8 Paul Little              38pts (1 win)
9 Malcolm Harvey 45pts

DF65 Social Racing 2023 – 13/12/23

After a break of two weeks, the DF65 fleet were back racing this week.

A chilly Northerly breeze to start with at Gautby road for today’s DF social racing. There were some gusts in the breeze, and a large flat patch along the far side of the lake where a windward mark might have gone.

A+ rigs were agreed, and John went wading to try and get the start line a bit less biased. In the event the breeze went somewhat right at the clubhouse end making the start line very biased even after John’s adjustments, and the beat looked to be pretty much of a starboard tack fetch.

However….as always at Gautby road it wasn’t that simple.The breeze faded and went left further up the beat, and those who tried to sail high initially got caught by the edge of the flat area, but not every time, so it seemed to pay by toughing it out on Starboard and try to get across near the top of the beat.

The start line bias, and the conditions led to quite a bit of close quarters sailing with a few entanglements and the odd bit of contact.  Malcolm very kindly volunteered as RO after the mainsail tack eyelet failed on his rig – many thanks Malcolm.  Mike dsp edged ahead after all this, with the next 8 boats covered by 12 points, so racing was once again very close right across the fleet

1. Mike de St Paer  19 pts 4 wins
2. John Carlin          30 pts 2 wins
3. Andrew Potter    33 pts 1 win
4. Clive Warren       35 pts 2 wins
5. Alan Watkinson 35 pts
6. Neil Westbrook   41 pts
7. Dave Williams     42 pts
8. James Douglas    43 pts
9. Sally Collings      46 pts
10. Richard Walker 49 pts 1 win
11. Frans King           74pts
12. Paul Little            75 pts

DF95 Winter Series 2023 #1 – 25/11/23

11 Helms turned up for the first race day of the DF95 winter series which was an excellent turnout, Dave Williams was our RO for the day and the original Race Officer borrowe Dave’s boat for a 95 outing instead.  Although the sun was shining, the wind gods were having a holiday and we were greeted by a light southwesterly of sorts. However depending where you were stood along the lake this could be a northwesterly,  or northeasterly, I think you can get the picture.
First race was slightly delayed as the ultra reliable Dave Williams had watch trouble, we won’t say any more.  The course was set with the start at the far end of the lake, with a windward mark taken to port a spreader then a run, reach and beat (not necessarily in that order on this ocassion) to the gate, the finish was between 2 buoys halfway down the lake. Due to the conditions a single lap was agreed
Race 1      Everyone got away reasonably well 5 boats Alan, John Br, Neil, Clive and Frans managed to master the light airs better than the others, or were they just in the right place at the right time. The lead changed hands many times, but rounding the gate Alan lead the fleet with John Br second, Clive third, Neil fourth and Frans fifth,  but it was anyones race.
Finishing position were Clive, John Br, Neil, Frans and the unfortunate Alan, dropping from 1st to 5th
Race 2      Started with the wind dropping even more, 3 boats broke drifted clear  Neil, John Br and Dave’s borrowed boat managed to stay clear to the finish. There was then a small gap to Paul, Alan and Clive. After the first 3 finishers the RO finished the rest of the fleet in their positions on the water as the wind had all but disappeared
Lunch was taken and a good chat ensued amongst the helms, the wind disappeared completely and the rest of the day cancelled as far as sailing was concerned.

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2023 – 22/11/23

DF65’s

Today’s racing was held in an approximately North Westerly breeze, with all the usual holes and shifts with the wind coming over the houses. Turnout was again great with 15 DF65 sailors.

No one wished to go wading, and with the Port end of the line somewhat favoured the starting was all pretty close. In fact as the morning progressed it was agreed that one of the other gate marks would make a better line, although it remained so shifty this didn’t really affect the first beat much.
A rigs were chosen, and although boats were underpowered some of the time, the gusts would clearly have been difficult with A+.

Once again racing was very close, with 4 different winners, and the first two boats only one point apart after the 10 races sailed, with John Carlin the winner and results as shown below:

1. John Carlin               13.5 pts 4 wins
2. Mike de St Paer      14.6 pts 1 win
3. James Douglas       26 pts 3 wins
4. Clive Warren          29 pts 2 wins
5. Dave Williams       35.3 pts
6. Neil Westbrook     37,5 pts
7. Alan Watkinson    39.5 pts
8. Andrew Potter       42 pts
9. Malcolm Harvey  58.2 pts
10. Richard Walker  62.6 pts
11. Don Mackinnon  71pts
12. John Beech           76 pts
13. Frans King            77 pts
14. Dave Howard       80 pts
15. Paul Little             91.2 pts

DF95’s

The afternoon found 8 boats on the water for the DF95 racing, The wind remained similar to the morning racing, that being from the North West, with gusts and shifts to help or hinder depending if the helm picked the right one or not.   B rigs were chosen with the wind forecast to increase throughout the afternoon. Clive was the first casualty finding the eye on the head of the mainsail pulled out, with no spare he was left with the choice of A or C, he plumped for A and an exciting afternoon. Second to fall was Paul with his new 95 which needed the rudder reversing, the problem being nobody was used to the new FlySky transmitter and it cost Paul a start in the first race.  The same course as the morning was agreed, and the first home would record the positions of the fleet which allowed all 8 boats to compete in each race.

Alan got off to a flyer having his boat set up just right for the conditions which resulted in him winning the first 3 races, with Clive, John and Richard each sharing the second and third positions equally between them. Race 4 had Richard breaking Alans winning streak, with Alan in second. Race 5 saw Malcolm suffering forestay / jib halyard failure and was unable to finish the race, which was won saw Clive taking the honours Alan again taking the second spot. Unfortunately Alan had to leave and Malcolms breakdown left 6 boats to fight out the last 2 races, Richard won the 6th with Clive second and Dave having his best race in third. The 8th and  final race saw Clive getting his 2nd win  and John picking up his best finish of the day in second.

Once again the day was very competitive with everyone showing good boat speed at some stage.

Final Results were:

  1. Clive Warren               93       12pts   2 wins, 2 seconds
  2. Richard Walker          52       13pts    2 wins, 2 seconds
  3. Alan Watkinson         23       14pts   3 wins, 2 seconds (6 races)
  4. John Beech                288       19pts      2 seconds
  5. Dave Howard              00       26pts
  6. Frans King                   59        31pts
  7. Paul Little                     14        38pts
  8. Malcolm Harvey    2019       44pts

Although Clive won,  its fair to say that if Alan had been able to continue he would have been top of the leader board.

New Section added to Website

I have added a new section and menu Item under “Information”

“Boats for Sale or Wanted”

If you have a boat for sale or want a boat that meets the classes sailed at the club, please let me have further details and I will add it to the page.  The page outlines the process, but send me an email (if you have my email address) or a message via the contacts pages and I will confirm details with you. If you are emailing you can of course send details direct as a description and a couple of pertinent photos.  If you have more photos also state that in the advert so that any potential buyer can request them if required.

I was not planning to place contact emails or phone numbers in the advert only the sellers name.  They can then make contact directly if they know you or send me a message via the Contacts link on the page and I will pass the interest on.

Have a look at some point to become familiar with the page which may be accessed directly through this link.  The intention is to try and get more boats on the water and encourage boats to remain within the club and be used rather than sitting in a garage (or loft!) gathering dust.

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2023 – 15/11/23

DF65 Racing

A blustery day, with a strong breeze blowing along the lake from the North West, greeted the 16 sailors who started racing with B-rigs all round. Charles Legg opted to act as Race Officer, ably assisted by Malcolm Harvey who elected not to sail and our thanks go to them for running the days racing. The course was set with a wide start line at the clubhouse end, a port-hand mark with a spreader at the far end of the lake and a gate just beyond the start line. The finish was halfway up the lake between two buoys. Even with B-rigs, racing proved challenging, with positions changing place on the downwind legs as even the best sailors experienced spectacular nose dives. In the face of these conditions two sailors, Alan Watkinson and Peter Baldwin, later opted for C-rigs (with Peters an enforced one due to gear failure), each with mixed fortunes. The final results were:

  1. Peter Baldwin                 63    16pts  1 win
  2. James Douglas                73   19pts  1 win
  3. Mike de St. Paer              35    21pts  1 win
  4. John Carlin                        11    22pts  1 win
  5. Neil Westbrook               03    26pts
  6. Andrew Potter               174   38pts  2 wins
  7. Dave Williams                233   38pts  1 win
  8. Alan Watkinson            373   39pts   1 win
  9. Richard Walker              39    41pts
  10. Clive Warren                   53   46pts
  11. Don MacKinnon           933  52pts
  12. Franz King                       93   52pts
  13. John Beech                       80   55pts
  14. Sally Collings                  29   62pts
  15. Paul Little                         45   68pts
  16. Dave Howard                  00   81pts

DF95 Racing

With people having various commitments there were only 4 x 95 helms which was a shame as the wind was a good B Rig and touching C rig leading to some nose diving on the run, unusual for Gautby Rd and not to far off straight down the lake from the far end of the lake. The same course as the morning was used

With only 4 boats it was more about social racing and enjoying the good conditions with a couple of 1 lap, sighting races before half a dozen 2 lappers. No official results were recorded, but great fun was had with each of the helms recording at least 1 win each the racing was also very closely contested.

Thanks to John Beech, Dave Howard, John Carlin and Clive Warren for participating