Ten skippers arrived for this weekend’s DF95 round at Scotland Farm. The breeze some were expecting never materialised, so the A Rig was the straightforward choice.

RO Mike W set the course down the east bank and, with the races being just once through the gate, it meant ten enjoyable nip-and-tuck races were fitted in. Many finishes had a boat length or less deciding the places. Playing the shifts correctly, and – whether by luck or judgement – finding the puffs, was often key.

Lack of memory rules out a blow-by-blow account of the whole morning, but suffice to say that Martyn A remained consistent, really only marred by getting rafted up with another boat in the final race. In fact many skippers were able to record some good results, so no race was ever a foregone conclusion.

The other big winner was the weed, with the majority of races seeing at least one skipper needing to make a quick pit-stop. (Fortunately, for the rest of the fleet, it was usually Jen H…!). It can be surprising how much effect just a single two foot strand has on the boat, and it seems to have a knack for only getting picked up during a race!

A shower just after the break soon departed but left the wind a few knots lighter. It did return in the form of a torrential squall in time for the final race, making for a much wetter windward leg. Trouser leg, that is…

Congratulations to Martyn for a very solid overall win, and thanks to Mike for organising a great day and to the skippers for getting the stowing away done in short order.

Report by Colin Helliwell