The DF95 open scheduled for today had been cancelled due to algae in the lake. However, club sailing was still on the cards and 8 skippers turned up from noon for a 1pm start and some DF95 racing, albeit with the added challenge of the sailing through green gloop for the afternoon.
The wind was A rig from the top of the lake for the duration of the 12 races sailed, with some reasonably regular shifts and the odd gust and softer patches to keep everyone on their toes. The standard windward mark, spreader and leeward gate with 2 laps was used throughout. As for RO, Neil Westbrook was on hand to run the show assisted by others during the afternoon such as Dave Williams, Steve Miller and Alan Watkinson.
Given the algae the trick, if you could pull it off, was to keep your boat powered up and driving, even if it meant sailing through some headers. Trying to point and looking to tack on every shift just slowed you down too much. It was clear from the 6 races before the tea-break that Paul Plested and Peter Baldwin had sussed out how to sail in the conditions, both scoring 3 firsts each. Phyl Fanning also had his boat going well with three 3rds in the first session. Martin Whittingham-Jones was also quick off the start line in several races and managed two 3rds before the break. Dave Williams scored a 2nd in race two only to have rudder servo problems again, which put paid to his day, although he did get to race later as a few skippers lent their boats out for a race or two. In race five Steve Miller kept a cool head with a cracking start hitting the line on port, crossing the whole fleet approaching on starboard. Great to see the improvement in his sailing given how new it is to him and to have him back sailing after a time away due to injury.
After a short stop for refreshments and a natter, it was more of the same with Paul and Peter hogging most of the top two spots. However, Paul had clearly had some Red Bull at the break as he bagged five of the six firsts on offer, with Peter scoring one 1st and four 2nds. Alan Watkinson, who had been mixing it at the front of the fleet in most races, scored two 3rds in this session. Phyl continued where he left off and scored another three 3rds in the post tea break slot, which gave him a very worthy 3rd overall on the day. Both Dave and Neil had a sail of Steve’s boat for a race each, both managing to finish 2nd.Thanks to Neil for running the racing and Dave for producing the results and supplying the photos.
1. Paul Plested 12pts 8 wins
2. Peter Baldwin 17pts 4 wins
3. Phyl Fanning 39pts 6 x 3rds
4. Alan Watkinson 41pts 3 x 3rds
5. Martin Whittingham-Jones 49pts 2 x 3rds
6. Clive Warren 50pts
7. Steve Miller 58pts
8. Dave Williams 79pts 2 x 2nds (in different boats!)
Never the less, the course was set, windward mark to port straight back down to a gate and then to the finish half way back up the beat. It was decided to have a dedicated RO for each race with the skippers taking it in turn. Dave W took first duty and got us off on time.
Race 2 and James took the RO role, but it was Clive again who got a port end flyer crossing the fleet, and would remain ahead until the finish with Charles holding off Dave W to finish second. At this stage Alan who had struggled with boat setup decided enough was enough as the frustration got the better of him. As the number of skippers was diminishing it was decided to ditch the dedicated RO and the starts would be self monitored and first to finish would record the results. To make things fairer the 2 helms who had RO’d (Dave W and James) would have an average score used to complete the missing scores
Race 4 and this time James who had a bit of advice from Clive on his set up, joined Clive in crossing, what was left of the fleet. on port tack from the start. The pair had a good battle to the finish with James taking line honours. There was also a good battle going on behind with Charles getting his revenge over Dave W for third
It was decided that enough really did mean enough and we decided to retreat to the clubhouse, although the sun did start to come through the clouds. Thanks to Dave for a few photos from Race 1.
A warm sunny day, reasonably consistent wind and a colourful lake. What more could we want? Answer – More Sailors: possibly due to confusion with the DF95 open being postponed many thinking the lake unsailable combined with holidays and a few being unavoidably detained on other things.
The three that were up for it had a very enjoyable time, eight races were held. Although the algae was present the boat speed was little affected. The usual course was sailed using the whole lake. Starts were consistently good with very close racing throughout the course with each achieving at least one win.
There were just 8 brave souls who participated in the DF65 racing this morning. One additional sailor turned up and after a quick practice decided he would return home and get on with other things.
There was a light A+ breeze straight down the lake, but unfortunately it was a tough morning and your result was usually based on how you managed the build up of algae on the keel and rudder. The favoured way was to keep to the near bank and “dunk” your boat several times upwind and down to shed the algae. Deciding how often and where to “dunk” could determine the outcome as you needed to catch the shifts right, otherwise you might lose out to someone else who did get it right (by good planning or a bit of luck).
Paul and Peter were vying for top spot with Paul just gaining the most wins, although the last race was very tight and only a boat length separated them at the finish, with a sychronised tack off the bank 2m out from the finish. Unfortunately, Peter hadn’t capitalised on Paul’s RO duty earlier on when Neil took the win, but the overall result would still have gone to Paul who won the last race.
Although it was frustrating at times (Malcolm couldn’t stand the pressure and ended up a spectator after two races), racing was still close and the result could quite easily have gone a different way.
Post racing we celebrateda big “0” birthday for Clive with a Birthday cake very kindly provided by Clives’ sister Gill. Thanks go to Dave W and Peter for the photos and Paul for producing the results.
Before racing started we did take the time to embarrass Clive by singing happy birthday to him as well as enjoying some birthday cake that his sister, Gill, had brought over to celebrate with. He had also been busy on his birthday adding some wider”feet” to the clubhouse benches, so hopefully they will not topple over as easily.
As for the racing, with the wind virtually straight down the lake the usual windward mark, spreader and leeward gate was used. Normally with only a small fleet we would have self marshalled the start with first boat to finish scoring. However, as Gill had stayed the watch the racing she was quickly enrolled as PRO for the afternoon.
With only four boats the racing was very relaxed. In the first two races Phyl definitely had good boat speed off the line and was tough to catch. In race one Paul was slow in comparison, but after some tweaking to his new A rig, he did get his boat going well in the following races. Neil had some good starts and was in the mix throughout the afternoon, as was Clive who got the better of Paul going into the leeward mark holding on to the finish in race three. In the end, Paul counting three 1sts and a 2nd came out on top. With Clive and Neil tied on points, Neil took 2nd overall based on their results in the last race.
