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IOM Summer 2024 #5 – 3/8/24

The forecast for today had been good since Thursday with sunshine and a decent 10mph WNW, straight down the lake and so it proved to be for the 7 sailors who hit the start line for the first race under the keen eye of RO Dave Williams (who we also have to thank for the few photos).

Peter and John tussled in the first couple of races with Peter coming out on top and Alan and Bill picking up the other podium spots.  Bill then took race three, with John winning Race 4 and Brad making it up to 8 boats with a late start in this race.  Brad took Race 5 and Bill getting his second win in Race 6 before the break.  Peter, John and Brad picked up the podium spots, although at the first windward mark, it could be anyones race, with tight bunching and the favoured side switching within a matter of seconds.

After the break, the wins were once again spread around, with Peter, John and Brad each picking up another couple.  Bill missed out on a win, but had a good run of top three results, along with Brad and John.  There was some good close racing through the remainder of the fleet. Alan picking up some good results in the Corbie 5 on its maiden outing and Charles getting the right setup on his K2 to take fifth place overall and Guy improving during the afternoon (after having some early battery problems) and getting more time on the water after a long layoff.  Neil may well have placed higher, but he unfortunately had to retire and miss the last three races due to gear failure.

The final result was a win for Peter on countback over John who had a better second session, with Bill taking third just ahead of Brad who had to count a DNC of 9 points.

Many thanks to Dave for being RO again and taking the photos.  Next IOM Summer Series is on 31st August.

  1. Peter Baldwin         63  Britpop!     20pts (4 wins)
  2. John Brierley           84  Venti           20pts  (3 wins)
  3. Bill Culshaw            21  Britpop!       25pts  (2 wins)
  4. Brad Gibson             42  Post Punk   27pts (3 wins)
  5. Charles Legg           40  K2                   55pts
  6. Alan Watkinson     23  Corbie 5        57pts
  7. Guy Cowper             16  Lintel MMX 58pts
  8. Neil Westbrook      03  Widget           65pts

 

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 31/7/24

Today saw 8 skippers turn up to the lake on a beautiful day for sailing and even though the wind was light it was there.

Neil and Malcolm shared the RO and scoring duties for the day.

The racing was close with John Carlin and Mike De St Paer having wins in races 2 and 6 after being last across the start line.

Throughout the morning wins were shared between Mike and John with the exception of race 5 when Clive held Mike at bay on a starboard tack to the finish line which was a tactic John used to beat Mike in race 7.

Throughout the morning the remaining skippers had some close racing but could not match John and Mike’s ability to read the slightly fickle Gautby Road breeze and make the most of a good start or first leg or two.

Although the racing and conditions looked OK from the bench the skippers were happy to call it a day after 8 races.  So Mike ended up the winner (and with 4 wins) just one point ahead of John Carlin (on 3 wins), with Clive third sevn points adrift. There were then insufficient sailors for any DF95 racing after lunch today.

DF65 & DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 24/7/24

DF65’s

Almost flat calm at Gautby road on arrival today, with a few catspaws at the far end of the lake.

Alan used his years of competition experience to assess the conditions and immediately volunteered as RO – a very sound decision in your scribes view. Frans had hedged his bets by bringing a very impressive looking electric speedboat but decided to sail when the time came.

What breeze there was seemed to come from the clubhouse end, so it was agreed to start at the far end using a short slightly zig-zag course. This worked well, and the wind then turned to make it a running start, so the start was moved down to the clubhouse end only to have this work as a running start too. The wind then gradually filled in from a more North and West direction as the morning progressed making more sense of the course.

The running starts actually made for very close racing, with crowded arrivals at the first marks and there were plenty of opportunities to sail into areas of no wind and vice versa.

John C made the best of the conditions with four wins, followed by Clive with three and then Mike dsp with no wins but a string of OKish results but not quite enough speed. Final results as shown below with thanks again to Alan for running the racing and Dave for doing the results.

  1. John Carlin           10 pts          4 wins
  2. Clive Warren        12 pts          3 wins
  3. Mike de St Paer   13 pts
  4. Dave Williams     18 pts           1 win
  5. Neil Wesrbrook  22 pts
  6. Sally Collings      29 pts
  7. Frans King           36 pts

DF95’s

Firstly and most importantly, it was great to see John Beech back on the shore line with a transmitter in his hand following his recent illness and looking fighting fit.
Now onto the sailing, and after a very tricky and often frustrating morning, there were only 4 skippers willing to put themselves through the turmoil again of the light southerly or westerly depending on what part of the lake you were on. The reality was that the wind generally had settled more in the Westerly direction and had filled in providing a mid A rig breeze. Don’t be too fooled though, there were still plenty of holes and shifts to allow position changes and to challenge the helms.
Sailing got underway using the full length of the lake and utilising a standard course, starting at the clubhouse end to a spreader taken to port, back down the lake through a gate and to the finish line half way up the lake. With only 4 boats competing the starts were self monitored and the first across the finishing line recorded the results. Single lap races were the order for the day. Seven races were sailed before rain set in and the skippers called it a day.
Clive seemed to master the conditions best winning 6 of the 7 races, although he was pushed hard by the other helms at various stages including Frans who led race 5 until the last 5meters from the line and also John who won the last race. The fight for minor places behind Clive was very competitive with Martin, Frans and John alll recording good results and swapping positions.
Results after 7 races with 1 discard
  1. Clive Warren                            93   6pts   6wins
  2. Frans King                                59  15pts
  3. John Beech                              288  17pts   1 Win
  4. Martin Withington Jones    77  18pts

DF/RG65 Summer 2024 #5 = 20/7/24

Four RG sailors arrived for a competitive but friendly race. The wind from the Clubhouse end only made itself felt from the top half of the lake. An interesting course was set using the normal gate as a start line starboard rounding of the left mark,of the normal start line over to the white finish mark to port through the gate and repeat one and a half times.

Bill with his Ivy was on top form, taking all the races but having a little competition from Alan on a couple of races. Alan, Dave and Charles were having a more competitive time with close racing all taking turn for seconds and thirds.

An early dinner was called for as Dave’s rudder servo expired, thanks to Alan this was replaced in record time. After dinner, Bill carried out a tuning session which brought all the UNO’s even closer together but still not able to beat Bill. A very relaxing and enjoyable afternoon was had by all.

  1. Bill Culshaw              6pts 8wins
  2. Alan Watkinson     13pts
  3. Dave Williams         16pts
  4. Charles Legg            19pts

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 17/7/24

Ten sailors arrived hoping to have an enjoyable days sailing, unfortunately this was spoiled through lack of wind.

The RO set the usual single lap course starting from the top end of the lake down to the Clubhouse end, where all the boats in close competition with each other left the windward mark to port and then on to the spreader. It was only after passing through the gate that the boats spread out.

With the first boats taking twenty minutes to complete the race the majority vote was to abandon racing for the day.

DF95 Summer 2024 #4 – 13/7/24

We arrived to a  westerly light breeze, which comes generally from the top left hand end of the lake and the houses and provides the typical Gautby road conditions. Enough shifts to tax the patience and skills of the 6 helms on the starting line, numbers were lower than usual due to a date clash with IOM event, holidays and illness.
The threatening rain stayed away for the majority of the first session and very timely, persisted down when lunch was taken, good planning by the RO for the day Neil Westbrook. Neil kept us on our toes with a number of early starters getting called back.
The course was set, with the start line at the club end, a beat up to the top right hand corner (to port), to a spreader mark (to port) Down the full length of the lake to a gate and a beat back up the lake to the finish halfway up.
Racing was extremely competitive from the start with the whole fleet scoring either a first  or second during the 12 race series, and in most races the lead changed hands on more than one occasion, thanks to the shifts.
Seven, 1 lap races were sailed in the morning session and with the wind dying and rain threatening a break for coffee was called by Neil, which was a great shout as 2 mins later the heavens opened for about 20min. At the half way stage Alan was leading the way with 4 wins, chased by a group containing Clive (2 wins) and Andrew (1 win). After race 6 Andrew had a play with Martins setup which saw Martin leap up the running order and fighting it out at the front. Meanwhile John and Dave were also having moments of inspiration but without consistency
After the lunch break the rain subsided and the wind improved a little but there were still a lot of shifts to trap even the best helms. The racing was even tighter than the morning especially for Martin with his new setup and resulting speed. But there was no stopping Aln who followed up his morning success with 4 straight wins, only stopped by Clive who took the last race honours, racing was very tight throughout the fleet with many duals being fought all the way to the line, Andrew sailed very consistently with a string of 2nds and 3rds.  Photos courtesy of Dave Wlliams.
The final standings after 12 races, 2 discards
1.   Alan Watkinson                       23     12pts        8 wins
2.   Clive Warren                            93     26pts        3 wins
3.   Andrew Peter                         179     28pts        1 win
4.   David Williams                       33      36pts
5.   John Beech                             288     40pts
6.   Martin Withington Jones   77     43pts  (only 9 races sailed)