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DF65 Social Racing 2025 – 30/4/25

A bright sunny day welcomed the skippers to Gautby Rd, the wind was a light breeze coming generally from the East but with a few twists and turns to keep the skippers on their toes. Eight boats turned up, however only 7 made it to the start line with Dave Williams having ongoing transmitter problems forcing him to drop out. His loss was our gain, as he volunteered to be our RO for the morning.
No discussion required as A+ rigs were the order for the day. Dave set the course, start at the far end of the lake, windward mark at the clubhouse end  (the first one, as the the top of the lake was in wind shadow), back to a gate and a beat to the finish half way back up the lake. Racing started  on time at 11:00 and 8 races sailed
Race 1, – Paul and Clive  had a close battle at the front, Clive led at the first mark and dropped into a hole on the run and Paul passed him.  These 2 were clear of the rest of the field which was headed by Alan and Richard in hot pursuit. Paul took line honours with Clive 2nd and Alan 3rd.
Race 2, – This time Paul was called back for an early start providing the rest of the field with a head start. Alan took advantage at the front of the race, Paul had other ideas and a close battle until the finish with Paul taking his second win, with Alan just losing out in the last few metres finishing 2nd and Clive 3rd with the minor places being hotly contested with Malcolm sneaking in ahead of Don.  Race 3 and a slight change to  the course, the finishing line was moved further up the lake to provide a longer second beat. The same 3 broke away from the pack, with Alan leading round the first mark, from Paul followed by Clive. At the gate Paul took the port one while the other 2 took the starboard one.  Paul soon realised that he had a senior moment and forgotten the new finish line, allowing Alan to cross the line first followed by Clive. The race for the minor places was a tight as ever with Don coming out on top.
Race 4,  Clive got a great start and split from the rest of the pack staying on starboard tack whilst the others tacked onto port, this paid off with a good lead at the first mark, behind him the usual suspects of Alan and Paul were joined by Richard in a battle for the minor places. The positions didn’t change until halfway up the final beat as Clive snagged some debris which stopped him in his tracks and alllowed the majority of the fleet to pass him. Line honours agin going to Paul, Alan 2nd, Richard 3rd and Clive finishing in 5th.  Race 5 and 6, – followed a similar pattern to the previous races, with Paul, taking two more wins, Alan two 2nd and Clive two 3rds. Don had found some consistency and added 2 more 4th places to make it 4 in a row.
Race 7 – This time Paul, Clive and Alan were joined by Richard to battle for line honours, whilst behind the overall minor placings only separated by a couple of placings so there were private battles throughout the fleet. Clive notched up his first win with Paul 2nd and the inconsistent Richard 3rd  It was Davids turn to take the honours in the minor places.  Finally to Race 8, Richard was first at the windward mark followed closely by Clive, Paul and Alan, at the gate there was nothing in it and anybody’s race. Richard and Clive opted for the port gate whist Paul took the Starboard mark and sailed into an unfavourable windshift. Clive managed to pass Richard on the beat back up the lake to take his second win, Richard holding on to 2nd with Alan also passing Paul for 3rd. Further down the oeder David took his second 5th place on the trot.
Summary
Good  mornings sailing with a steadyish breeze, a few windshifts and a couple of holes to catch the unawary out. Close racing at the front with Paul the clear winner but not having it all his own  way. The lower order also highly competitive with very close racing.  A big thank you to Dave  Williams for standing in for RO allowing maximum sailing time for all the others, and also for the photos.
  1. Paul Plested            7pts        5 wins
  2. Clive Warren         12pts        2 wins
  3. Alan Watkinson   13pts        1 win
  4. Richard Walker    24pts
  5. Don McKinnon     27pts
  6. David White           33pts
  7. Malcolm Harvey  35pts

IOM Summer 2025 #2 – 26/4/25

(c) Malcolm Harvey

A total of eleven skippers turned out for round 2 of the Summer Series with a surprise visit from Olly Murray of Fleetwood collecting a rig for the M Worlds next week.  After a good breeze straight down the lake in the morning for the DF95’s, it initially looked as if there was going to be little wind for this afternoon session.  However, as the fleet started the first race (and after a general recall) under the watchful eye of RO Neil Westbrook, the breeze restablished itself staright down the lake for the first few races.

(c) Malcolm Harvey

The first race was a close battle between Robbie, Martin and Peter, with Robbie gifting the win to Peter after taking the wrong gate mark with Brad coming through to third.  Brad then had a string of three firsts, with Martin, Olly, Graham and Robbie all taking podium positions.  During Race 4 the breeze started to switch to the South, with beats becoming a reach at times and for the final beat into the finish, the breeze all but disappeared (and turned into a run!), returning as a light Westerly sea breeze.

(c) Malcolm Harvey

The course was then switch around and the rest of the day was sailed with a Westerly that continued to create some close racing in  Race 5, with Peter gaining his second win of the day with Graham and Robbie following him home.  In the final race before a mid-session break, Martin was in top spot, followed by Brad and Robbie.

(c) John Beech

We resumed again after the break with the breeze holding up and a decent pace to the races kept up by Neil.  Unfortunately, there were some position “snakes” to catch out most sailors over the next 4 races with accumulated bags and other debris from the Easterly breeze now making its way back down the lake.  Getting in a groove behind another boat was a possible but tricky answer, along with a quick change to sail backwards if you slowed in the middle of the lake and try to shed the obstacle.

(c) John Beech

Brad took another two wins in the final four races, with Robbie Mac getting in the groove and taking the other two.  The minor places were spread through 6 of the eleven sailors including a second for Olly, with Noah keeping pace with this strong fleet and managing a great 4th in Race seven.  Alan also let the boat loose in this second half and had some good placings along with Phyl who is getting to grips with boat control and picked up a seventh in Race 9.

(c) John Beech

We called a halt at 4:30 and ten races, with the breeze dropping.  Probably a good job, because as we left the club a short while later, light rain had set in and the breeze had all but disappeared.

Brad took the afternoon quite comfortably, with Martin in second and Robbie Mac only just behind in third. Thanks to Neil and his several assistants for running the racing and also Malcolm, John Beech and Paul Plested for the photos.

The next event in the Summer Series is #3 on Saturday 10th May, followed by the Jack Turner Memorial Race on Saturday 31st May (a whole day open event).  Entry via the following links:

https://birkenheadrspc.co.uk/iom-summer-2025-3/

https://birkenheadrspc.co.uk/iom-open-summer-2025-4-2/

DF95 Summer 2025 #1 – 26/4/25

Stock photo – no photographer available today

Nine skippers made the effort to get down to the club early for the first of several double class days over the coming months, with the DF95s starting at 10:15 (followed at 13:30 by IOMs).  After some shifting of buoys the racing got going just after the designated time, with a standard 2 lap windward/leeward course with a beat up towards the clubhouse end in a 7/8 mph A rig breeze.

First to bag a bullet was John Carlin who sailed a perfect race despite the efforts of both Peter Baldwin and Paul Plested to overhaul him.  Then it was Peter’s turn to cross the line first, followed by Paul and then Alan Watkinson, who showed some good speed throughout the morning.   After 2 seconds, Paul P managed to post a 1st in race 3 closely followed by Peter and Alan.
For the next 3 races in was the Peter show, with 3 straight bullets, with Paul P, Alan and John C scoring 2nds and 3rds, although both Martin Whittingham-Jones and Paul Little had both been well placed throughout those races, both scoring 4ths just behind the leaders.
Paul P did manage to break Peter’s winning streak in race 7 with Alan coming in 2nd again.  Race 8 and Paul L showed the fleet a clean pair of heels from the off to cross the line first, followed by Paul P then Peter.
Race 9 was Peter’s from start to finish and it looked like Malcolm Harvey and Alan would be scrapping for 2nd as they rounded the final gate marks, but a coming together stopped both of them in their tracks, gifting Paul P another 2nd and Phyl Fanning, who is definitely getting quicker around the course, a 3rd.
Whether or not the collision in the previous race spurred him on, but Alan was away from the start and never looked back bagging a well deserved first place and a strong performance all morning.  Paul L also sailed well picking up his third 4th place of the day to go with his 1st.  Whilst not having it all his own way, Peter came out the clear winner on the day, followed by Paul P, then Alan.

Club Successes at the IOM Nationals 2025

The 2025 IOM Nationals were recently held at Lincoln Radio Sailing over three days if the Easter weekend.  There were a total of 58 entries after a number of last minute withdrawals and of these, there were eight club members racing.

On the first two days we had decent and generally steady breezes with most people sailing in A rigs and 12 races completed by the end of Sunday.  However, Monday brought very light winds from an unfavourable direction which disappeared once heavy rain set in during the morning and only one additional race completed.  Racing was abandoned soon after 2:30 and 13 races, after waiting for at least two hours for racing to continue.

Brad Gibson took the title in commanding form with less than half the points of his nearest rival Peter Stollery.  Of the remaining Birkenhead members, the other finishing positions were:

  • Peter Baldwin in 5th
  • Martin Roberts in 13th
  • John Brierley in 16th
  • Paul Plested in 19th
  • Andrea Roberts in 21st
  • Rob McIntosh in 28th
  • Noah McIntosh in 57th

Paul Plested took the Rookie Trophy for the best placed competitor for whom this was their first IOM Nationals and Noah McIntosh the Captain David Perkins Trophy for his radiant smiles and can do endeavours over the weekend.

A full report of the event is available on Yachts and Yachting here

The full HMS results may be seen on the Lincoln RSC website here