The evening’s racing was blessed with ten skippers who negotiated an excellent course in A rigs.
The course included various hazards, with some amazingly fickle wind directions, especially the final beat to the finish and sadly crab lines and the occasional jelly brake!
Nevertheless bullets were enjoyed by three skippers with John S proving that, yet again, consistency is the name of the game!
It was good to see back Russell back on the water and also John Plant who took the helm in various races.
All-in-all a thoroughly enjoyable evening with very few breakages and competitive racing throughout the fleet.
21 June 2018
We wanted some wind for a change and boy did we get some. A course was set up the lake to take out some of the chop, C rig was the choice, but even then it was difficult, tacking was hard and we all struggled, but after saying all that I think everybody enjoyed the challenge.
No breakdowns of note, other than a couple whose batteries ran out, and Eddie whose batteries died in his hearing aid, and we had a short delay as he changed those so he could hear the starter, and we all came off the lake after our eight races, with no broken boats.
John and Eddie showed that they can cope well with any conditions, and took the top two spots.
Thanks to Peter for being Race Officer for the evening, and being lenient with all the uncontrollable jostling on the start line.
Our next DF 65 event in the series is on Thurs 28th June at 6.30pm
Bob Jolly
DF 65 Capt.
Well it didn’t turn out too good. First hurdle was a portable pump filling up the lake bang on the corner with a mass of pipes to hinder the walk around under the bridge. So we agreed and settled to sailing from the near bank.
The idea for the day was multipurpose. First to give guys that had never had a go with Mustangs and Lasers a taste of a one sail rigged boat and they are pretty similar to each other. Then if numbers allow, to race one against each other to compare as some say the Mustang is quicker.
About half a dozen guys turned up and the weather wasn’t great. The first hour or so was a familiarisation to each others crafts and we had spare. The task was, first race Lasers only to set the usual rules in place. The next race was Mustangs only, again using the basic rules although not to the familiar Mustang course that’s sailed on Tuesdays. We had to change course just to catch out a couple of the seasoned Mustang sailors and even up the odds as we found the Mustangs are definitely quicker.
Also wanting to hinder collisions as the bigger boats are much heavier and pointy, although very old in themselves and some are pretty much held together by whatever means and could likewise be a bit fragile.
Race three and four were mixed races although you had to race one of each on both races. By the end of all four races you would have four separate scores.
Derek won the first three races, huddled along the club cabin out of the drizzle. If his radio range would have been better, I’m sure he would have raced from the comforts of his armchair from home with a set of binoculars. He then left us for family matters and a spot of lunch and forfeited his fourth score.
This was all trial and error and just a low key practise for guys. It was only at about 2 pm that the rain finally stopped. Ken had left us with his four scores and the rest of the guys decided for an additional round. John Plant had spent most of the morning caged in his car parked along Peter that was taking scores.
As the cloud over head disappeared the wind stiffened up and swung around 90 degrees to come straight down the lake which was good.
Bob had never sailed a Mustang before so it was a bit of a treat for him. Ian Hawtin had a go of both boats and was so happy about sailing and not decorating at home that he wanted to sail in all of the races which was fine. His preference in the end, was he decided the Laser was the favourite for him. Dennis also joined in and was happy to have a free sail of trimming his boat
John pinched a couple of firsts, but then he had to sail a Laser against the Mustangs, while Tony with a couple of firsts had beat Peter Iles in a very close fought battle using Peter Jackson’s heavier boat against John’s all winning super quick Mustang.
Trevor totted up the days scores and it was all separated by single points with Tony as Victor followed by Peter Iles and Ken in third. We hope that the next event on 7th July is better, as it certainly couldn’t be any worse and this paves the way nicely for the 21st July when we are programmed to be sailing all RC sailing yachts in sunshine.
A new model shop has recently opened in Fleetwood. It is JAYBEE Models, 202 Lord Street Fleetwood.
There is a link to its website under ‘Suppliers’ but as yet it is still under development. Whether it will cater for our needs or not remains to be seen but if they don’t know what we want they can’t, so it may be worth popping in from time to time and suggesting items that will be useful to us.
B rig verging on C conditions greeted the eight skippers as we made it onto the water. B rig was the sail of choice, as we moved the course up the lake to where it was less choppy and friendlier, it worked well and we managed to stay on the same rig all evening, although boats were tending to nose dive on the downwind run early on, but that lessened as the races progressed, and the wind dropped a touch.
Eight races were done in the time, with a couple of two lap longer ones towards the end in what weren’t easy conditions, but it was Eddie who was unstoppable, he had set his boat up perfectly, and took seven bullets out of the eight, and was the runaway winner for the event with six points, with the usual two of Chris and John fighting it out between them for second.
Many thanks to Peter for his race officer duties.
Our next event in Series 2 is on Thurs 21st June at 6.30pm.
There is no report for Event 1 but the results are also below.
Event 2 enjoyed ten testing races in B rig conditions which proved to be a John Sharman demonstration of tactical awareness and excellence!
Although many of the Squadron were otherwise engaged this did not detract from a very competitive session which the results reflect.
I am in debt to the skippers who allowed me to enjoy a race with their boats whilst mine ‘dried out’ and I hope to see you all on the water and making the best of the lake prior to the forthcoming Nationals.
A short delay was needed for the start of our Event Four in the Saturday Series, as we waited for the wind to pick up. We didn’t have long to wait before there was enough for the nine skippers to get on the water with A rigs, and start the day’s proceedings. A simple triangular course was set and we enjoyed a full days racing in what was fair to good conditions in the main, if a little iffy in places.
Sixteen races were completed in the day, with six different skippers taking bullets, but it was David, John and Garry who were always up at the front, and it was always going to be between those three who got the glory. It was a close call in the end as David and John finished on the same points, but on countback David got it.
All in all a good days racing in the warm sunshine, and with only a couple of breakdowns which were quickly rectified. I think all enjoyed the day, even if there was a little bit of moaning about the conditions early on.
Many thanks to Peter for being Race Officer and Scorer.
Our next event in the Saturday Series is on the 4th August 10am start.
