DF65’s
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.
There was very close racing, despite the conditions, with apparently hopeless positions being recovered and vice-versa. Clive and Mike won three each to finish one point apart, with Phyl Fanning winning Race 5 by a hefty margin with detail results shown below.
Thanks to Dave for doing the results sheet and keeping us all organised.
- 35 Mike de St Paer 9pts 3 wins
- 53 Clive Warren 10pts 3 wins
- 33 Dave Williams 17pts
- 1019 Malcolm Harvey 20pts
- 550 Phyl Fanning 24pts 1 win
- 39 Richard Walker 34pts
DF95’s
Three skippers stayed on from the mornings sailing to take part in the DFG95 who were joined by 3 more.
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.
Results (12 races , 2 discards)
- Clive Warren 14pts 6 wins
- Alan Watkinson 16pts 4 wins
- Guy Cowper 31pts 1 win
- John Beech 33pts 1 win
- Phyl Fanning 42pts
- Malcolm Harvey 59pts
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.
Lovely sunshine and a decent mid to top end of ‘A’ rig wind straight down the middle from the top end of the lake.
With 7 skippers sailing 4 different designs it promised to be a good afternoons sailing and it was.
The first race was won by Graham sailing his BritPOP! but it was tight up the first beat with all the usual Birkenhead shifts to contend with, unfortunately Paul hadn’t listened carefully to what was the first windward mark was and this put him out of contention for this race.
Six races sailed before a break with some close races, Simon sailing his Alioth got a deserved 2nd in race 4, Alan in race 1 with a decent 2nd place and Ian banging in 4 3rd places but it was Peter and Graham out in front most of the time. Unfortunately we lost Paul at the break due to wiring problems on his battery connections.
The wind stayed pretty much the same for the remaining 6 races, Charles featured in a few of these races which was great to see, often picking out a great shift from both banks.
The water is still occupied by blotches of green algae that did effect boat speed in the lighter stuff, the art was to keep the momentum and stay away from the far bank.
It finished with race wins going to Peter with 2, should of been 3 and Graham with 10. Neil and David watched us all afternoon and weren’t afraid to recall any premature starters, thank you Dave and Neil. Photos courtesy of Dave and Paul.