Lincoln Radio Sailing Club

Thirteen skippers turned up on this bright, hot sunny  morning for round 9 of the IOM summer series, despite the forecast of light, variable winds. Sun cream and shady hats were the order of the day. Eventually, the breeze settled into a northeasterly direction, allowing  the race team, Kevin E and Chris G, to set a course off the east bank.

A simple course was chosen, with a beat away from the clubhouse to a windward/spreader mark off the middle jetty, followed by a downwind run to a leeward gate near the clubhouse, before a second beat to the finish line between the windward and spreader marks.

The wind proved fresher  than forecast, although frequent shifts and variations kept everyone on their toes. The challenging conditions produced some excellent racing and made for a thoroughly enjoyable morning.

It was great to welcome Mike H (27),  Ron A (175) and Chris G (11) back on the water.

Racing got underway shortly before 10 am, with Sam P (59) taking the honours in the opening race,  closely followed by Jen H (69). Colin H (77) claimed his first victory of the day in Race 2, while Richard J (89) showed excellent form by winning Race 3. Mick C (66) finished the morning session strongly, taking the honours in the two races before tea break.

After tea, Sam P came out flying, winning Race 6 and 8, while Mark N (10) sailed well to secure victory in Race 7. Colin H maintained his consistent form by winning the final  races  the day.

It was encouraging to  see different skippers on the top steps of the podium, and the small differences in the final scores reflected just how closely contested the racing was throughout the fleet.

Congratulations to Colin H, who won the day with 26 points and three race wins. Sam P finished a close second on 30 points, also with three race wins, while Richard J took third place on 32 points after one race victory and a consistently strong performance.

All in all, it was an excellent day’s racing, with close competition, good sportsmanship and plenty of enjoyable sailing. The race team would like to thank everyone who helped pack away the equipment at the end of the morning

Great racing at Lincoln yet again .

Hey up you missed it ,,, !!!! what a fantastic mornings racing at the club, Adrian and Mike down early, Sign board out on the lane , flag up, dingy launched and course laid , just like it should be , Just a little lacking on skippers, but never mind, the racing was intense, and you could see on the faces of the skippers , everybody wanted to win. Rig selection was always going to be a choice between B and C rig, a couple of skippers did not have a C rig in there bag, Sam had already opted for the C rig, Kevin was still sorting his B rig set up quietly in the club house , Mick and Martyn finally decided on the B rig, there were some big gust’s coming down the South bank in the strong North Westerly , and according to reports it was going to increase as the morning wore on. First race and Mick looked at Martyn !!!!! ” should have gone to C rig , as Sam stormed away never to be seen again and with ease won the 1st race , to be fair Mick had a rudder problem on the start line and was franticly trying to readjust it on the 1st beat, and managed to claw back and take second spot. The B rigs decided to stick with B rig as is really was marginal. It was a fairly short start line but plenty of room,, and you needed to get your start spot on , coming to the line on starboard and then a quick flick over onto port. The second race had Mick take the top spot and Martyn taking second , and this was the form for the next three races, Sam sadly struggled after his emphatic win, and must have been tempted to go to B rig during coffee break but he stuck to his guns, because after all the breeze was set to increase, Race six and Sam was back at it , he was definitely pointing a tad higher, and was willing the wind to ” BLOW “,, I felt it had been fairly stable up to now, but from Race 8 there was a couple more knots Kevin got a great start and held on to his lead until the finish, it was a purple patch time for Mick in races 8 & 9 and with the increase in breeze he made a couple of adjustments, the first being the draft in both the jib and the main and secondly just tightening the forestay a little, he didn’t tell the other skippers until after racing finished, and it certainly paid dividends as he won the last two races .

So that’s about it ,, a brilliant mornings racing, that I would not have missed it for anything , great bit of chit chat at coffee break , and well done to everybody especially the OOD’s who did a sterling job,, oh and well done Micky Boy taking the top step.

The racing started promptly at 10.00 with Chris Elliott (OOD) and Darin Ballington spending over 30 minutes to set a challenging course in a very difficult wind direction that was swinging by 10-15 degrees. The weather was great and the lake looked in great condition. The course involved a dog leg and the usual downwind gate. The wind was anywhere between a light A rig and a heavy gusty A rig, challenging all skippers set up and boat control in reading the wind. A small movement of the course marks was undertaken after 4 races. The start line was close to the clubhouse and clearly visible to all, which led to all races being started first time and very few start line incidents.

There were 14 boats that had entered with 6 different designs, although the top 7 places were taken by Britpop! and Venti designs. Chris  E was back with his refurbished Britpop! and Mick C sailed his trusted Venti, Chris Graves also sailed his refurbished Britpop! Overall there were 11 races sailed and four different race winners, the most notable being Darin who won 7 races. The sailing was done at a fairly quick pace with the majority of incidents being recognised and penalty turns being done.

It was a day where consistent sailing showed, and the top 5 overall were usually in the top 5 in each race. With Darin being the most consistent and coming first, next was Mick C with an excellent set of results. As the morning went by it was noticeable that the fleet were getting closer as time went on, showing considerable improvement in many skippers.

Congratulations to Darin in first and Mick in second place.

Report by Chris Elliott

Pete W’s Venti 65 at the I.O.M Ranking at Chelmsford 2024 ??

Pictures by various artists , Thank you .

Come and have a go at this fabulous Sport/hobby

Another fantastic day of racing for the Marblehead skippers , more breeze, a little cooler , and very exciting , great to watch, probably a bit tricky if you were a skipper.

Results below and a couple pictures courtesy of Paul Middleton and Jen hand , More Picture’s on MYA Downwind .

Mick and Darin Ballington winner of Ranking 4 .