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DF65 Social Racing 2023 11/1/23

Another strange day weather wise, wind from top left hand corner, we all used A but we probably could have sailed with A+. 10 sailors, so the decision to drop one race to act as RO meant everyone had nine races.

Alan, finding the course to his liking took races one and two, Mike then took up the challenge and took the third and fifth race. Neil won the fourth race but Alan and Mike took the rest of the races between them. Further down the fleet there were several close battles especially with Richard who managed a good run of two seconds two thirds and two fourths.

Ten races were held the last finished just before the heavy downpour.

  1. Alan Watkinson   9pts 5 wins
  2. Mike de St Paer   11pts 4 wins
  3. Neil Westbrook   22pts 1 win
  4. Richard Walker   23pts
  5. Charles Legg         31pts
  6. Dave Williams      32pts
  7. Clive Warren         35pts
  8. Frans King             39pts
  9. Paul Little              48pts 1 x 3rd
  10. Malcolm Harvey 48pts

IOM Winter Series 2022/3 #3 (7/1/23)

The expected gales for the North West seemed to miss Gautby Road. The little wind that did appear was not consistent, initially from over the houses then veering from the clubhouse end. A course was eventually set and racing started with the 10 competing sailors on their best behaviour on the start line with very few call backs.

  1. The wind was very difficult to predict especially approaching the finish line where a few expected winners lost out. 10 races were held with the final race reduced to one lap due to failing light and the disappearance of the wind totally. The racing was very close with only one point between 1st and 2nd and two sets of tied points. 5 different makes of boat were sailed.  Many thanks to Dave Williams for running the racing today.

 

  1. Brad Gibson         17  TS2            14 pts 4 wins
  2. Paul Allen             27  Britpop!  15 pts. 4 wins
  3. Martin Roberts  55  Widget     22 pts 1 win, 3 x 2nds
  4. John Brierley       84  Britpop!  22 pts 1 win, 2 x 2nds
  5. Bill Culshaw         21  Britpop!  44 pts 1 x 3rd 1 x 4th 2 x 5th
  6. Neil Westbrook   03 widget     44 pts 1 x 3rd 1 x 4th 1 x 5th
  7. Alan Bennett       130  Britpop! 48 pts
  8. Alan Watkinson  23  Britpop!  49 pts
  9. John Berry            123  Lintel      56 pts
  10. Charles Legg          25 Kantun 2 75 pts

DF65 Social Racing 2023 4/1/23

The absence of any real breeze when the sailors turned up to race only lasted until every one of the 12 had kitted their boats with an “A” rig and started to put them on the water.

The wind from somewhere over the houses had stiffened enough to require a “B” rig which everyone adopted before racing started.  In addition, as the lake was full to overflowing racing took place on the northern side of the lake.

The stiffness of the breeze led to some challenging conditions which made sailing difficult for the first 5 of the 10 races but everyone took the bashes and bumps in good spirits and as usual the wind over the houses was a bit hit and miss.

The wind stiffened further for the last 5 races with gusts making starts difficult and controlling boats generally a challenge particularly on a beat.

John Brierley was able to cope with the conditions best of all with 8 wins from 10 starts with Mike De St Paer’s consistency giving him second place with 5 seconds and 2 thirds and John Carlin taking third, with 2 firsts and a brace of seconds.

Thanks go to Dave Williams and Malcolm Harvey shared RO duties looking after 5 races each.

DF/RG65 Winter Series 2022/3 #3

Six RG65’s made it to the start line for the final club race of 2022.
The wind was quite unlike that was forecast with a steady light breeze from Gautby Road with a few dead patches and some nice shifts.
The race was sailed in a great atmosphere with 4 separate race winners on the day, Graham sailing his Argon and John sailing his Uno had a great battle in all 8 races but certainly not having it all there own way in races 5 and 8 that were won by Neil Westbrook sailing his Pocket Rocket and Alan Watkinson sailing his Uno. Five races sailed before break and then three after break with the wind and light fading fast it was decided to make the last 2 races just one lap races. Graham took the day by two points from John in second and Alan third.
  1. Graham Elliott         Argon             89   8pts  4 wins
  2. John Brierley             Uno                 84 10pts  2 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson        Uno                23  15pts   1 win
  4. Dave Williams           Uno                33  24 pts
  5. Neil Westbrook  Pocket Rocket  03  26pts
  6. Charles Legg              Uno                26  31 pts

During the break a local landed his plane on the lake: see here

DF65 Social Racing 21/12/22

Only 8 competitors remained to sail (after a lake tidy) in this the last DF65 Social racing of 2022.

The wind was a light breeze over the houses and a Windward/Leeward course was setup by Peter, which tested the patience of most sailors during the morning.  The wind had the ability to switch direction suddenly catching some out especially when it happened on the starting line.  By the end of the session, the breeze seemed to be picking up from a more WSW direction, but there were still plenty of holes to fall into.

There were 5 different winners in the 7 races sailed.  Mike De St Paer had the most consistent day and two wins to take the morning overall.  Peter Baldwin was second with just one win and Richard Robinson taking third with two wins, but losing two races due to a battery problem.  Racing was close throughout the fleet with countback separating 3rd and 4th and also 5th and 6th.

The next Wednesday Sailing will be on the 4th January, although there is DF/RG65 racing on Saturday 31st December starting at 12:00.

After lunch a small group of 5 sailed DF95’s, with some informal racing and help with tuning setup.  The wind was as fickle as before lunch with some larger gusts which died away by 3pm, when everyone packed away.

 

IOM Winter series 2022/3 #2 (3/12/22)

Sailors arriving for the second IOM Winter Series were disappointed to find little breeze blowing and the only ripples were from the flock of Canadian Geese patrolling the lake.  However the first race started with a very light breeze generally from the NE (and so almost across the lake) but with some large shifts that could see it come from the East or North during any race.  Two boats missed the start and one pulled out early on leaving only seven to fight it out for line honours which went to Brad Gibson sailing a borrowed TS2. Race 2 again started with only 7 boats and this time it was John Brierley’s turn to take the win, which he then repeated in Race 3.  Brad then had another win in Race 4, with Martin Roberts finally getting into a groove, winning Races 5 and 6 before a break for a drink. 

After the break, Paul Allen took his first win in Race 7 and then Graham Elliott won the eighth and final race in very light winds.  As there was very little breeze, the fleet unanimously agreed to call it a day and have an early finish.  This left John  as a clear winner, with Brad in second and a consistent Alan Bennett in third.

Thanks must go to Dave Williams for running the racing today (plus taking a few photos of the “action”) and for Bernie who helped out Dave and made everyone warm drinks.

  1. John Brierley            84  Britpop!   10pts
  2. Brad Gibson              71   TS2             17pts
  3. Alan Bennett           130  Britpop!   20pts
  4. Graham Elliott         70   Fraktal    26pts  1xwin
  5. Peter Baldwin           63   Britpop!  26pts
  6. Alan Watkinson       23   Britpop!   28pts
  7. Paul Allen                   27   Britpop!   31pts
  8. Martin Roberts         22   Vanilla 2 35pts
  9. John Berry                   12   Viper        40pts
  10. Charles Legg              25   K2             48pts