Lincoln Radio Sailing Club

Report from Darin ,

Thick fog and no breeze on the journey from Burton on Trent for the trip to Lincoln for Rd1 of the MDWS; well at least until we turned into the club lake, where we met with a nice top suit breeze and visibility from one side of the lake to the other. That was at 8.15am, by 9.00am a course was set by PRO Pete Walters and boats were on the water practicing. Just before the official start time a sea haze (!) drifted in and a fine mizzle replaced the breeze. Still the fleet of 16 had faith and  kept preparing. Come the start time, Pete was able to announce a course with a number of different options for the swinging breeze, something that would continue all day, although we later  settled on a course with a long beat which worked for the big shifts and differing pressure across the lake and allowed us to complete 13 races in a single fleet. Up and down the fleet skippers had tales of snakes and ladders with the more consistent finishing higher in the final positions, but almost everyone having at least one good race.

As usual at Midland District events everyone was made to feel welcome and questions were asked and answered throughout the fleet, with advice given willingly.

This was the first round of the Midland District Winter Series organised by Darin Ballington. It was also Round 3 of the Lincoln Winter Series and attracted six visitors and ten home club sailors.

Report from Martyn

Pete Walters was the OD, and also sailed, as is the norm for these events. He called the skippers together for a briefing in good time and explained how the day would be run, the safety considerations and also that changes in the wind direction necessitated another course to be set before we could start. Peter explained that he would perform the first line start and that we would then take turns but still compete in the races. Similarly, the finishing results would be compiled by the skippers of the boats coming first and second. There were six different race winners, so this duty was shared out reasonably well.

A slight mist hung over the water and the Northerly wind meant that a course had to be set with fairly distant windward marks. Visibility and distance meant that judgement of the furthest marks was quite challenging all day.

A course was set that looked quite daunting on the course board, with two windward marks and two laps. It worked out well however, with the majority getting to grips with the course quickly. Four races were run in quick succession generating three race winners with Pete Walters and Tim Hand both sailing noticeably well at this point.

After four races, a shift in the wind direction gave the opportunity to create a simpler course and racing re-commenced with a wind speed that had dropped considerably and a wind that had become increasingly fickle in terms of when and where it blew. This created a lot more variability in results and gave everyone the opportunity to be at the front. Having got there, staying at the front was another matter and the final result of the day reflected the consistency of the sailors in reading the wind. Pete Walters was the most consistent skipper and took first spot by quite a margin. Darin Ballington improved his consistency during the day and came through to second spot leaving Tim Hand, who was sailing a Proteus for the first time, in third.

The final race was completed just after 3:30pm in failing light due to a descending mist and a light drizzle. Prizes were presented to the first three competitors and thanks were given. Although this was quite a challenging day, the sailing was conducted in a sportsmanlike manner and it was a well-run good day of sailing. Thank you to all the sailors and particularly those who travelled, given the poor wind forecast.

M Aspinall

The top 3 were presented with prizes and everyone was encouraged to enter the next round at Manor Park Sailing Club on the 6th Dec 2026.

Only two pictures as everyone was sailing and Tim had left by the prizegiving so Jen took the chocolates. She said that she will pass them over!

See you at MPRSC for Rd 2 (6th Dec, If you have forgotten already).

IOM Winter Series Round 2, 18th October 2026

The wind duly arrived from a Northerly direction today, as predicted, making course setting difficult. With Tim unable to take up his RO duties, Darin rose to the occasion and was out in the boat and busy experimenting with the buoy positions for a suitable course before 9am. Thank you Darin.

An inventive course was set that only required use of the South-West quadrant of the lake, with three beats that required very little skipper bank-walking. This worked well until coffee time was called, by which time Neil had scored a single win and Darin had embarked on a string of first positions. The other top few positions were shared amongst several sailors in wind conditions that were hard to read.

Over the break, Darin was again out in the boat laying a more traditional South bank course to accommodate a changing wind that had veered more Easterly. The wind continued to be challenging in both windspeed and direction, the more-so as skippers attempted to find an approach to the windward mark. The ‘approach’ was typically dictated by the wind changes and there were numerous positional changes and very mixed fortunes on this leg of the course.

The only two skippers who produced consistent results on the day were Darin and Rob. They took first and second positions overall. Their consistency was quite astonishing considering the erratic nature of the wind. Kevin, Neil and Martyn took single race wins, whilst Mick and Colin came close to doing the same. Richard finished the day on a ‘high’ with a second place in the last race, whilst Jen unfortunately struggled all day.

Although this was a difficult day for sailing, it was characterised by the good-natured approach of the skippers. No harsh words were heard and penalties were taken with grace. The sun shone, and what can better than spending time with like-minded people in the beautiful surroundings of our fantastic club?

Report by Martyn Aspinall

The wind from yesterday had abated and we were left with a very nice day Roger B was down early and got all the gear out and Mick C the OOD was soon on the scene, The breeze was just about straight down the lake with a bit of right in it , and as the morning wore on it veered even more , and tried to make Micks day troublesome, But we stuck with it and had a pretty good day of racing even tho a proper beat eluded us , and without an awful lot relaying the course in the dingy ( mick not keen on that ) we stuck with it . 8 Skippers showed, and all wanted to make a good impression for the first of the Winter series’ including fairly new member Neil Webb who made a great impression in the Clive Hand last week, probably only first time out with the DF 95 but trust me , he is my tip for the top very soon. Sam P 59 got off to a great start taking the first race with Micky boy following before his morning turned into a less than average performance. Rob Wilson took the next race in style and that wannabee Colin H 301 getting a very good second spot. The breeze ,, well it was top suit all morning, but at times quite light and with out a proper beat it could have and did become a bit processional although the weather mark caught a few out in the shifts. Kevin E 02 took race three before Rob W 97 started to find the groove taking race 4 before coffee break. Colin T 431 looking half the man he was was having an ok day of it, as was Roger B 448 on one of his rare visits to the lake.

After coffee Colin H came out determined and you could see it on his face he won that won and you could see his confidence grow , Rut Rob W was not going away and neith was Sam P who took race 6 , Rob was back on it in race 7 with the win while Colin had a bit of a wobble Neil W 40 was getting the hang and took a second ,( sign of things to come ) but to clinch the morning Rob W finished up with two straight wins while the ever improving Colin H with a pretty good ave, only made a second and third . And so it was all about the top three on the day , Big congratulations to Rob W for the win and with 5 wins that has to be impressive but only one point adrift was Colin H, super racing at the farm as we move into Winter.

Many thanks to all who made it a great day and for helping get the gear away especially Sam P for getting the board and putting it away safely

Next week it is the I.O.M’s turn to impress .

Held on the 4th October 2026

Many thanks to Nigel Barrow and of course all who contributed the picture’s

Report and Pictures can be found here