Not a lot of sun, but a breeze from the North Eastish was going to make this a fluky day, and so it was.

Tim the OOD and Roger B were at the lake early, and waited patiently for the breeze to settle, a course was set on the East bank and racing started early for the 12 skippers, a few missing, but we were ready to go, Some big holes in the beat made this a bit tricky but not for Roger C 30 who simple romped away. Tim H 134 got a good second and Martyn A 91 with his new Alioth got third spot and showed good speed for the first time at the club. Pete W , 65 with another brand new Venti took control in the second race and just held off Tim H 134 to secure the win Roger B 58 took third spot with his Britpop. The tea break was called early due to one of the boats having fixable winch line problems, Race three and Tim got the win with Micky boy C 46 getting the first of his two second spots, unfortunately his brain was in the wrong gear resulting in a lack of consistency during the morning, I have to say conditions were tricky, but having said that Roger C 30 made it all look too easy with yet another of his four wins on the day, Tim notched up three wins , Pete two wins, and Micky Boy one win, Battles all thru the fleet great to watch, racing was close and conditions tricky, we lost Adrian C 80 early on with winch problems but I am sure most went home happy, and will be looking thru the results to see maybe where they could have done a touch better. Well done to Roger Crates for the win , and thanks to all for helping put all the gear away.

It looked as though it was going to be a very nice day,, Micky Boy and Tim were down early to get stuff sorted at the lake , and loads of important stuff was well in hand with Jen, the breeze was not coming from the right direction but we got a course sorted on the South bank and so were ready when it played ball , took some time though but we sorted the course and got racing with hardly a delay. we needed to have starboard rounding at the weather mark to start with and in the main it went without problems, First race got away and the two Lincoln hotshots had lost their powder, Pete W suffering from a failed rudder servo and Tim H must have been brain fade but a visitor Neil Webb 286 took the bullet , with Paul K 19 2nd and Sam P 58 in third , race two and Paul M 06 led from start to finish, Richard J 699 took second and Neil W keeping his scores low took third spot. Race three and Tim H 44 started to get his act together but Pete was still in amongst the electrics, but at least things were looking brighter. Races 4, 5, and 6 , saw Tim H 44 back on top form taking all three bullets, in fact it was a one two for Son and Mum in race 4 and we were to see a lot more of Mum as the day progressed, Michael Read was putting in some good numbers, and It transpired that Pete W 678 was now using Tim’s spare boat and was not doing too bad.

A short break for lunch and an opportunity to get the scores put in the computer, Many thanks Colin H, By now the breeze had filled in and we had some pretty exciting racing , it had veered a bit too, and gave us a great beat and run course, The weather including the sunshine made the day absolutely sublime and with the cut of time of 4pm fast approaching it was always going to be a struggle to get 16 races in , we did get 14 and they were quite long, and I am pretty sure most went home happy, The final countdown and we had Tim H 44 take the top step , Michael Read from Hollowell RSC in 2nd and our very own Jen Hand 69 ( I told you we would see more of her ) who took third sport and in her own words, felt she had sailed extremely well. Just like to thank Grainne Lambert for coming to present the prizes, and to all skippers for their attendance and the manner in which the event was sailed, we look forward to seeing you all next year.

Micky Boy Chamberlain.

A few days to go and its time to get your entries in for this great annual event , I have checked the weather and it is warming up quite nicely, 20 C, also a nice moderate breeze from the East , Much the same as the I.O.M Nationals, You can enter the event HERE but don’t leave it too long, this should be a fab Sunday of DF 95 racing and we look forward to seeing you all.

Back to normal club racing after the very successful National championships, held in April.

I arrived at the lake, good and early,  Roger C, and Mick boy already there, getting things sorted. With one or two absent for this round , some up at Keighley with the DF TT‘s and Darren at the Marblehead Worlds in France, where we have just heard he has got a very credible third place, very well done.

The day started with the wind in the north which meant setting a course was a nightmare and we started to race on the Southbank which was the best of two evils, with Tim H taking two bullets, with Rob, Roger, and Chris fighting it out for the second the places

The wind moved round to the east slightly meaning a quick change of course, and moving to the east bank we had one more race before coffee break very close racing at the front and all the way down the fleet.

After coffee break one or two skippers, Roger Crates, and Richard Jutsum both having fantastic sailing  putting some solid results together.

So at the end of the day it was Roger C, who took the top step , well done Roger, Tim H, Rob W 2nd and 3rd . Some very close racing up and down the fleet in sometimes some very shifty gusty conditions.

And finally a big thank you to everybody who helped especially Colin Helliwell who did not sail, and did the start line and scoring.

Next week it’s the Martin Lambert DF 95 so get your entries in ASAP

Write up by Tim Hand , picture By Caz Hand