The lake didn’t look very inviting for sailing as the 12 skippers arrived for the first of the DF95 series of races including Brian Crosse from Great Orme and David Worron from Gresford. On a positive note the overnight rain had disappeared, but then grey skies remained and the promised wind had not materialised leaving a glassy look on the lake with only the odd zephyr managing to pass through.
Guy Cowper had problems with his FlySky transmitter and it took Dave Howard to sort it, (for those interested it turns out you can not bind on channel 2 if channel 1 is empty). Apart from this the pre race antics where trouble free. Neil Westbrook, was our RO for then day ably assisted by Dave Howard. By the time racing got underway on time at 12-00 there was just enough wind to note which direction it was generally coming from enabling a standard course to set, starting at the clubhouse end a spreader mark at the far end, and a gate at the leeward, a short beat back to the finish line halfway up the lake. Due to the lake of ‘real’ wind a single lap was set.
The start line looked like it had a port bias to it, but in reality there was a trade of between starting at the committee end and chancing your luck with the wind, or at the pin end where the wind was more reliable. Whichever position the skippers chose it resulted in a long port tack, then trying to navigate the best approach to the windward mark where many a place was lost and gained. The short beat back to the finish from the leeward gate was also a tricky win or lose leg, meaning the places were not secure until you’d crossed the line.
Unfortunately Martin R was a late arrival and missed the first 2 races. Racing was very tight, right from the outset, but John Brierley showed his class in the first race shooting out from the middle of the pack on the first beat, taking the win with Guy and Alan following him home. Race 2 and it was commodore Dave sneaking home first passing Clive and John B on the final beat. Race 3 and Martin joined in and showed his class straight away taking what was the start of 4 second places in a row but couldn’t topple John B from taking his 2nd win and the start of a run of 4 bullets. The minor places were keenly fought with Clive being very consistent having a run of 3 thirds and Brian C taking 1. The final 4 races were business as usual for our top 2 helms taking 2 wins each, but dropping out of podium positions when not winning, second places went Guy with 2 and Clive with 1 and final podium positions being filled by Dave W, Guy and John Beech
Special mentions go to Dave W for his win in race 2, John Beech who led convincingly at the first mark only to be pegged back, and Steve Miller who was in 3rd place in one race coming through the gate mark.
All in all, an enjoyable if not frustrating at times where everyone was close to the lead at some stage, but as always the cream always seems to float towards the top, Well done John B and Martin.
Thanks again to our ROs for the day and to Dave Howard for the photos.
Another crisp start today at Gautby road, but sunny and very happily nice and dry. The wind direction was South Easterly or South S. Easterly, but varied during the morning going slightly right mid-morning and then back again towards the end of the racing.
Good turnout of 8 skippers despite one or two regulars missing, and really close racing with everyone putting in some good results over the 8 races. The close racing also resulted in a number of close encounters of the boat to boat kind with the resulting turns affecting results. There were also a couple of proper entanglements with John being particularly unlucky to be collected while clearly leading a race.
As there were only 8 skippers it was agreed that race winners would record the results, while starts were “self-monitored”. Perhaps because of this the fleet wasn’t at all line shy, and although the starts were in fact pretty fair a dedicated RO might have called a few generals during the morning.
There were three winners during the morning with John starting where he left off last week with a clear win. Mike then managed three bullets and James then put in a couple. As always the start was critical and starting from the favoured pin end and getting the bow down on starboard worked for the first four or five races, but then – as mentioned – the gusts started to pull right, and it payed to start further up the line towards the committee end. James also made a couple of early port tacks pay to pick up a starboard lift along the club side of the lake.
The approach to the windward mark remained tricky, with some really flat patches in some races and the run had some very slow areas as well. Despite doing his share of turns during the morning Mike held on to win from James who had to miss the last race due to time pressure. .
7 skippers wrapped up well to combat the bitterly cold wind with sunny intervals. Much like the morning, the wind was predominantly blowing from the south, blowing from the club house corner of the lake. A similar course to the morning was used with the usual windward mark, spreader and gate, and finishing half way up the lake. The breeze was perfect for ‘A Rigs’. With only 7 boats the starts were self monitored, and first to finish recorded the results. 19 races were sailed providing 2 discards.
It was good to see John Carlin on the start line for the first time in a while and from the start showed the way for the rest of the skippers to follow. The start line looked to have a heavy port bias but this was not necessarily the case, with some skippers starting on starboard and tacking early onto port whilst others held the starboard start as far as possible up the lake before tacking. In the end it didn’t seem to matter with both options proving successful in different races, typical Gautby Rd unpredictability. It was much more about which shift to tack on and which ones might leave you headed going nowhere. This was never more in evidence than when approaching the windward mark where the wind was at its trickiest. The downwind wasn’t as much of a test with not many places being exchanged. The final beat from the gate to the line was a conundrum, port gate or starboard gate was the question the helms had to answer, there wasn’t an easy answer and many places were lost or gained on the final leg.
John C was off to a flyer with 3 straight wins, although Clive did push him right to the line in the first 2 races before Andy took over and pushed him in the 3rd. Further down the battle was just as competitive between Malcolm, Steve, Stuart and John B with positions being swapped throughout the race.
Race 4 and Andy went one better taking the win from Clive with John C 3rd.
Race 6, Clive followed John C to take the 2nd spot and it was John Bs turn to take the final podium spot. Unfortunately we lost Andy for the rest of the day with technical failure. Races 7, 8 and 9, saw John C taking the last of his run of wins with Clive taking the win in the final race, with Malcolm taking a 2nd and John B and Steve picking up a 3rd place each.
Plenty of layers were required today and caution on the icy footpath. An A+ rig was selected for the light wind conditions.
Starting looked quite straight forward with a strong port end bias on the start line however this didn’t always prove successful with the dying wind on the far side of the course and slowly moving round as the morning progressed. There were a few start line collisions and the usual merry quips exchanged!! Gaining a good start however, wasn’t necessarily a guarantee to be in the leading pack at the windward mark.
There was plenty of potential for errors to be made up the beat as shifts were missed or the wind didn’t behave as it should (or expected)! The port side paid off for the first few races but gains would be made to starboard as the wind slowly moved round to the South.
The downwind leg seemed easier to stay ahead with few place changes and little congestion at the leeward gate with the near mark paying consistently. However, places continued to change on the final approach to the finish line. Competition was tight throughout the fleet with Mike and John tussling for 1st place with a tight following pack of Alan, James & Clive.
With ice covering the lake Friday, there was some trepidation from travelling skippers as to whether racing would go ahead for Round 1 of this seasons IOM Winter series.
Old heads, long schooled in the ways of the ‘Paradise Peninsula’s Micro Climate’ were spot on with skippers arriving to no sign of Ice, the odd spot of liquid sunshine but little to no sign of the predicted Westerly winds.
Racing got underway from the far end beating towards the clubhouse in a faint SE wind with Brad Gibson, Graham Elliott and Martin Roberts fighting a close 3 way battle in race one. Brad kept the momentum going to take races 2 and 3 before an early halt was called with the land breeze all but dissapearing.
Racing resumed after snacks and warm tea and it was Graham Elliott streaking to an all the way win in race 4. Both Alan Bennett and John Brierley were finding form with the former taking race 5 and the latter being pipped at the post in race 6 by Brad.
As the light slowly faded, sails becoming increasingly more difficult to set in what was left of the wind, time was called following race 7 taken by Graham Elliott.
Final placings after 7 races with one discard had Brad winning on 8 points, Graham second on 12 and Alan pipping John on counback for third with both on 19 points.
Real Autumn day at Gautby road today with sunshine and a clear sky, but properly chilly for the first time this year with everyone looking for extra layers of insulation. The wind was Northerly as forecasted, blowing with some chunky gusts from the far corner of the lake, and leaving an obvious flat patch on the far side where the trees are. A rig was right for the conditions which ranged from flat calm to top end on some of the runs.
Racing was very keen right across the fleet with individual boats getting away up the beat only to be reeled in elsewhere on the track. The wind went very slightly right over the morning which made the approach to the top mark a real lottery. Clive and Mike swapped a one two in the first two races, Andrew won the third, James the fourth, and then Andrew did a complete horizon job in race five.
Boat glitches also affected the results for several skippers. Alan put in a third in race one, then lost the next three races due to a rigging failure and a delay warming his fingers up enough to retie everything. James missed the first race re-rigging his winch, and then after a clear win in race six and ROing race seven, Alan’s boat wouldn’t fire up again so he missed races eight and nine.
Clive did some boat whispering for Dave White who was immediately much faster, while Charles started off with a couple of good results but then had something in the rig slip so missed a number of races dealing with it.