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DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 7/2/24

Following on from the morning session, strange things happened during the lunch break. The wind completely disappeared with only the slightest zephyr on the lake. The start was delayed for about 15 minutes whilst the 5 skippers debated whether to sail or call it a day, fortunately during this period the wind started to fill in so we decided to “give it a go”.
A short course was set utilising only half the lake but before we could start the wind filled in from completely the opposite direction so a new course was set, starting at the clubhouse end of the lake, the windward mark was set halfway down the lake taken to port, a spreader mark down to the gate and the back to the windward / spreader marks which were used as the finish line.
A massive thank you to Neil Westbrook who was the RO for the afternoon and also gave some very useful coaching and tips, 7 races were completed in testing conditions.
From the off Clive showed his intentions taking the first 3 races followed by Alan and Frans. Rolls were reversed in the next 3 with Alan taking 3 wins, Clive 2 seconds and John taking the other. Unfortunately Alan had to call it a day after 6 aces. The wind was filling in nicely, so the course was reset to utilise the whole of the lake, and being the last race 2 laps were set. Frans and Clive battled it out for the win with Clive sneaking through on the final windward leg, with John finishing third.
Final results after 7 races, with 1 discard
  1. Clive Warren          8pts   4 wins
  2. Alan Watkinson    9pts   3 wins
  3. Frans King            18pts
  4. John Beech           22pts
  5. Dave Howard       23pts
As with most weeks racing was close throughout the afternoon with lots of “private” battles being fought throughout the fleet, another enjoyable sunny afternoon was enjoyed, We were all delighted to have persevered with the start of the afternoon.

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 7/2/24

Another great DF65 turnout today with 14 skippers ready to sail, including new member Paul Plested who has acquired Martin Whittingham-Jones boat. Welcome Paul!

Conditions were, as usual, very shifty with wind blowing from the houses and not much breeze near the clubhouse top corner – and not really much anywhere else either for that matter. It did look as if it might fill in from time to time but this never really happened.

Racing was very keen right from the start on the usual course format, with Paul Little dong an immediate horizon job.

The next three races had three more different winners, until in race five Neil won his second race on the way to winning the day with three wins and nine points winning on countback from Mike dsp with only two wins. Close racing.

Elsewhere on the results sheet the points didn’t tell the whole story, with much very close racing, and many skippers going from  being completely down the pan to good results and vice-versa.

Thanks again to Dave Williams for sorting out the average points and doing the results which finished as below;

  1. Neil Westbrook           9 pts            3 wins
  2. Mike de St Paer           9 pts            2 wins
  3. Clive Warren              19 pts             1 win
  4. Andrew Potter           21 pts
  5. Alan Watkinson        22 pts              1 win
  6. Dave Williams           28 pts
  7. Paul Plested               34 pts
  8. Paul LIttle                   35 pts              1 win
  9. Frans King                  44 pts              1 3rd
  10. Malcolm Harvey       44pts
  11. Simon Bates                45 pts              1 x 4th
  12. Charles Legg               45 pts
  13. John Beech                   56 pts
  14. Dave Howard              65 pts

DF95 Winter Series 2023 #3 – 3/2/24

There was an excellent turnout of 12 boats for todays DF95 racing with the sailors served up an excellent mid to top end of A suit breeze straight down the lake from the far end.  After Peter had tweaked the marks for a good windward leeward course, racing got underway promptly at 12:00 as with 12 racing and no designated RO, we needed to get 12 races completed to allow everyone to undertake an RO duty and avoid averaging results.

The most common sail number at the front of the fleet seemed to end in 84, with both 84 (sailed by John Brierley) and 184 being loaned by John to Martin Roberts for the day.  Between them, Martin and John took ten of the wins, with Martin bagging six (one whilst sailing 429) and John Brierley four.  Peter Baldwin picked up the remaining two wins.  We also had a couple of guest sailors who used Martin’s boat to very good effect with them both finishing their races in the top 5.

There were some notable results elsewhere across the fleet with top 3 finishes in a number of races by Neil Westbrook, Alan Watkinson and Tony Sedgwick.  Dave Williams, Dave Howard and Frans King also had some good results after starting well and being well placed at the first windward mark.

Some close finishes across the fleet in many races, we unfortunately lost one boat at half time due to illness and then by the end another couple through unfortunate gear failure.

A great days racing, with a well deserved winner in Martin Roberts, John Brierley second, followed closely by Peter Baldwin just one point behind.

Next week is IOM Winter #4, with 6 entries so far and more promised.  It’s looking to be a strong field.

DF95 Social Racing 2024 – 31/1/24

Following on from the DF65 morning racing the wind remained from the south west but strengthened throughout the session. 8 helms including Olly Murry were on the  start line for the commencement of the races. The wind was the talk of the day coming from the houses which caused some 180 degree shifts along the length of the course as well as strong gusts and holes to catch even the experienced skippers out.
The same course as the morning was used starting at the clubhouse end, taking a windward mark and spreader to port, back down the lake to a gate and the finish half way back up the lake. It was decided to keep all 8 boats on the water and the first over the line would record the results.
The racing was well contested with a lot of lead changing especially around the windward spreader marks which if you were lucky a close fetch or if unlucky could take 4 or 5 tacks.  Despite the difficult conditions the racing was generally very close with a couple of photo finishes. Top 3 finishes for Neil Westbrook, Alan Watkinson, Olly Murray, Dave Howard, Tony Sedgewick and Clive Warren shows how close the racing was.
Unfortunately after 5 races a strong squall came down the lake and took the result sheet with it, depositing it in the water, so no results are available. Racing continued for another 3 races to establish bragging rights. A fun day was had by most with a touch of frustration thrown in, and a steep learning curve for Olly who doesn’t get to sample such tricky conditions at Fleetwood, but he still left with a smile on his face.

DF65 Social Racing 2024 – 31/1/24

A little bit of a surprise with the results today, such that the author and scorer had to treble check!

Today was a day when you think “I should have stayed in bed”, but thirteen keen sailors arrived, including a visitor (Olly) from Fleetwood sampling our tricky conditions. The wind was coming over the houses but not consistently, at times A+ was not enough then a long strong gust would appear and flatten the boats.

The usual course was sailed, starting at the Club house up to a port rounding of the windward mark, port around the spreader down through the gate to the finish halfway up the lake. Planning a good start was difficult with many boats caught out due to the sudden light wind patches. Those that planned it right were more or less able to make the windward mark on one tack due to some very good lifts. The final leg from the gate to the finish was the most difficult part of the course with many good finishing positions suddenly disappearing.

Twelve races were held with each skipper managing a RO. The racing was very close throughout the fleet no more than on the finish line with boats within centimetres of each other.

  1. Dave Williams              13pts 4wins
  2. Neil Westbrook            16pts 3wins
  3. John Carlin                     19pts 1win
  4. Clive Warren                 21pts 2wins
  5. Alan Watkinson           25pts
  6. Olly Murray                   36pts
  7. Don MacKinnon          46pts
  8. Simon Bates                  48pts
  9. Sally Collings                61pts
  10. Paul Little                      64pts
  11. John Beech                    72pts
  12. Frans King                     73pts
  13. Paul Plested                  92pts