Due to a lack of entries, we have taken the unfortunate decision to cancel the DF/RG65 Summer Series this Saturday (5/4/25)
IOM Winter 2024/5 #6 – 29/3/25
A reduced fleet due to National events afar presented themselves for the Midday start with a patchy SW breeze arcing across the lake.
PRO Dave Williams ably assisted by Neil Westbrook opted for a clubhouse end startline for race 1 with skippers timing their runs for an eased shhets first leg. It quickly became apparent that driving deep in gusts and trimming in for height in the lighter spots would take full concentration. Race winners up until the halfway break were Brad 3, Rob McIntosh 2 and Martin Roberts with 1, plus Andrea Roberts well in the mix with the leading pack. Alan Watkinson sadly succumbed early on to electrical issues.
After a biTE to eat and a drink, skippers returned to conditions swinging a little further to the right and a decision was taken for Race 8 to start from the far end with a more traditional windward beat forming over the course. While the leading group of 4 continued their tussle with often a struck match, or secret squall between them, others were getting to grips with the conditions. Our ‘Rookie’ Noah McIntosh was improving at a rate that saw him mixing with the lead group for extended periods, claiming a 4th place finish. Both Phyl Fanning and John Beech being new to the fleet showed continued improvement over the day to a level where latter races were finished with the full fleet on the same leg in at times top limit gusts and tricky shifts.
A good day across the board saw Brad take a closely fought win from Martin and Rob back in third. Once again, thanks to Dave and Neil for a superb effort in at time trying conditions.
Our next Race Day is on the 12th of April as the final hitout for club members and guests before the Nationals at Lincoln over the Easter Break. Entries can be made on the link below to join us for some of the UKs best IOM racing.
DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2025 – 26/3/25
DF65’s
Another light wind Wednesday morning greeted those that arrived to sail. There were occasional Westerly gusts, but they were very short lived and as the first “race” started at 11:00, there was the faintest breeze from the North (or was it NE, perhaps South or maybe SW??). A simple course set out by our RO Dave Williams, only occupied half the lake using the finish mark as a “Windward” mark, a spreader and the gate took 20 minutes for the first race. This was enough for a few, who packed up and left, leaving the others to slug it out over a total of 8 races by 12:30. To be fair, by the end of race 4, the Westerly breeze was sort of filling in and by the last three races, was a nice and reasonably steady A+ breeze and so the RO extended the course to run the whole length of the lake.
The racing today ended up being a sparring match between James and Peter, who traded wins and podium positions throughout the morning. They each ended up counting the same results, with James just gaining the upper hand by winning the last race. There were some good results from a number in the fleet with Sally Collings, Alan Watkinson, Paul Little, Mike de St Paer, Malcolm Harvey and Clive Warren featuring close to the front of the fleet at some point during the morning. Having started with 10 boats we were down to only 7 for the last two races.
Many thanks to Dave for starting and finishing the races and to Malcolm for processing the results again. Photos from Dave and Paul show the range of conditions.
DF95’s
With only 3 boats around, the DF95 session was more one of training than racing this afternoon.
Next week will be the first wednesday of April and so the DF95’s will occupy the morning slot and the DF65 the afternoon one.
RG65 TT2 2025 – 23/3/25
Another day and a different breeze – one that was difficult to find as it kept itself well hidden for most of the morning. Our RO and chief wader Paul Plested was kept busy moving marks around in an attempt to create a course that allowed for some racing without it being a procession. We started sailing from the clubhouse end, then the wind had other ideas and we sailed the opposite way around for a short while before returning to something like the original course. How long should the course be was the key question today as at times, race duration extended to 20 minutes for two laps and so had to be shortened and then lengthened again when the breeze picked up towards the end of racing. Paul did a sterling job in both trying to keep racing going whilst also rescuing boats that seem to wrap themselves on the mark tubes with insufficient brreze to remove themselves. The breeze did pick up and straighten to come from the far end for the last three races, but after the earlier difficult sessions racing was finished after 12 races.
Onto the racing; today it was John Tushinghams’ turn to be leader of the pack with five wins from the 12 races sailed and take the overall win. Next in terms of race wins was Tobias Laux with 4 wins, but relegated to third place by Alan Bennett with just two (all sailing Ivy’s) and Peter Baldwin (Uno) with one. Bill Culshaw sailed consistently all day and took the fourth place overall, leaving a clutch of four Ivy’s at the top of the leader board. Peter Baldwin and Robert Macintosh were both sailing Uno’s and picked up fifth and sixth spots.
We should have had fifteen boats racing today, but unfortunately one boat had terminal arm winch failure before we started sailing. Another couple of boats had issues which put paid to their event and an early homeward journey. Chris Elliott was one of these, which was unfortunate as he had shown good boat speed in a number of races, but unfortunately was having issues for most of the day, which had stopped him from performing well overall.
Special mention to our Junior member George, who stuck at it, with what can only be described as very tricky wind conditions finishing 11th overall with a number of eight and ninth places and a prize for being first junior.
Thanks go once again to Paul Plested and wife Sharon for running the racing assisted today by Malcolm Harvey carrying out the scoring and for Joss managing the galley once again as well as bringing yet more cookies after we had eaten most of yesterdays batch. Paul also found time when not in the waders to take more photos.
The next RG65 TT’s are at Fleetwood over the weekend of 12/13th April, with an NoR promised soon.
RG65 TT1 & RG65 Winter 2024/5 #6 – 22/3/25
As sailors and the event team started to arrive, there was already a nice ESE breeze straight down the lake from the clubhouse end. Our RO, Paul Plested soon donned the waders and worked with the Commodore to set out a windward leeward course starting at the far end of the lake. Setting a good start line proved to be a bit tricky as the wind was having difficulty on deciding whether it was from the top left or right corner.
After a short briefing, the fleet of 17 RG65’s got started on time in a decent mid to top suit A swing rig breeze, with just a couple of boats using a full sized conventional rig. The day was sailed at a decent but steady pace of 4 races followed by a break for a drink or lunch, with 16 races completed by the time the wind shut down (well actually reversed direction!) at around 16:00.
The day belonged to Alan Bennett sailing an Ivy with 7 wins, followed by Tobi Laux (another Ivy) with four, Graham Elliott (Electronica) with three, then Martin Roberts (Uno) and Bill Culshaw (Ivy) with one each. Aside from these race winners, a number of boats had some good results and even had the lead at some point, but unfortunately never quite made that elusive first place. Chris Elliott had a number of seconds after a difficult start to the day missing the first two races with gear problems. Peter Baldwin also had a good day, but never managed to capitalise on some decent positions mid race.Vernon Appleton and Roger Hopper were also going well with Vernon picking up a second and third during the day and based upon his speed later in the day, may well be better placed tomorrow.
As the full results sheet below will show, Alan Bennett not surprisingly won the day on 25 points, with Tobias Laux second on 32 points and then Graham Elliott in third on 41. It was close for fourth to seventh place with only 6 points separating these 4 boats.
Out thanks go to our RO Paul Plested and his assitant wife Sharon, Joss in the galley for making drinks and some great cookies and also to Paul for some cracking photos.
DF65 & DF95 Social Racing – 19/3/25
DF65’s
Another excellent 65 fleet turnout today, with twelve skippers ready to race. Lovely blue sky and – slightly unusually for Gautby road – lovely blue water as well but with a cold South Easterly breeze which had various folks looking for extra layers of insulation. The usual course with the start at the far end and a nice wide line allowing a really good choice of start position.
Paul was fast straight away with wins in races one and two and maintained a slight but significant boatspeed edge the whole day. James won race three, and then it was business as usual again for Paul in race four. Very close racing meant there had now been four different second place boats in four races, Clive, Mike, Paul and James. James then sailed very consistently to score seconds in races five and six, while Clive and Mike counted some rather variable results by comparison.
The final three races were a slight variation with Mike scoring one, one, three against Paul’s two, two, and one point two as RO, however by this stage Paul was long gone leaving James, Clive and Mike to fight it out for second. Clive was unlucky to have to count a seventh in the last race with Mike just making it to second in front of James by half a point.
As well as sailing consistently well Paul was visibly the quickest boat on the track, and although he was pushed at various stages ran out a clear winner. Very competitive racing again with a few OCS calls and turns. It was great to see Neil racing again after a bit of a layoff and he was unlucky to get tagged and suffer a broken mainsheet which meant he missed the last two races.
Thanks to Dave for getting us out and started on time and for the photos once again, and to Malcolm for collating the results which are shown below using the Afleet software.
DF95’s
The afternoon conditions were very similar to the morning with the wind from the east, and whilst this looked a steady breeze basically straight down the lake the reality had some large windshifts which switched the prominent tack from port to starboard along the length of the lake coupled with a few smaller shifts to keep helms on their toes. The sun shone and it was a good A rig setup, an extended final beat was set to provide a full length beat. 6 boats were ready to start on time at 13-30. A self monitored start and first to finish recorded the final positions.
Race 1 and it didnt take long to lose our first casualty, when rounding the gate mark in third place Paul suffered control issues which kept him out for the rest of the afternoon, a shame as he sailed so well in the morning. Martin sailing his new hull for the first time showed good race speed finishing second behind Clive with Alan third. Race 2 and this set the tone for the next 2 races with Clive taking the win and Alan getting ever quicker in second, with close battles for third, Malcolm taking it in the 2nd race and Martin in the 3rd. Race 4 and 5 and Alan continued his improvement and took the race wins, with Clive second and John finally getting his boat performing taking two third spots.
Race 6 and It was Clives turn to return to winning ways, with John making further improvent taking second, Alan would have finished third but a lapse in concentration saw him heading for the windward mark and missing the finishing line, gifting third spot to Malcolm. Race 7 Unfortunately Alan had to leave, Clive handed himself a starting Handicap, starting at the leeward gate marks whilst the rest used the standard start line. This worked welland provided a tight finish, althoough Clive finally caught them up 3/4 of the way up the final beat with Malcolm second and Martin third. Race 8 with a similar starting arrangement, this time the fleet, held Clive off agin until very close to the finish line and although he caught Malcolm and Martin due to a coming together he couldnt catch John who took line honours.
Summary
Good social racing in the sunshine with a decent breeze. Competition through the fleet was split in 2 with Clive and Alan at the front and the others having their own very tight battle with a different outcome each race.
Thanks to Paul who stayed behind to RO a couple of races and take the photos and to Malcolm for tabling results in A Fleet
