Just a quickie ref our extended hours informal I.O.M event at Lincoln this Sunday the 19th , Weather looks great , wrap up warm, and just let Darin or Mick know your coming so we can judge numbers . It will give you a chance to try out the the lake and it’s little nuance’s, prior to the National Championships over the Easter weekend , Do not also forget there is a Midland district event at the club on the 2nd February , entry for this is here https://bit.ly/3E5Xox8 and With 15 entries already in, this also could be a great event to hone your skills and race against some of the best skippers West of Grimsby , Get entered now .

Happy New Year to all, and I hope that the cold snap that we have been subjected to over the last couple of weeks is starting to warm up where you are so that those with frozen waters can soon get back to sailing.

Not everyone has been frozen off the lake and Darin has sent out a reminder that Lincoln RSC are hosting two IOM events starting this weekend.

This coming Sunday (19th Jan)- No 2 of the Lincoln occasional extended race day for IOM takes place. For some this may be the 1st sail of 2025.

This is a club race day from 10.00am to 3.00pm open to MYA members who may wish to join our competitive fleet of IOM. It is informal, with help and advice given alongside the racing.

There is a small charge of £5.00 per boat for visiting skippers.

No formal entry but please send a note to Mick Chamberlain or Darin Ballington so we know who may be turning up.

Then on Sunday Feb 2nd – A more formal day for the Midland District Winter Series Round 2, again open to all MYA members and entry is via the MYA online system. Currently 15 entries without some of the local skippers announced yet, so expect 20-25 entries for this event. This will be the last IOM open meeting at LRSC before the IOM Nationals in April and will be a great opportunity to understand the location.

One of those scary weather forecasts, but for Lincoln the bark was worse than the bite. Nine skippers turned out for this very popular class. The Rain was light we were all wrapped up warm and we had some fantastic racing, Tim and Pete sorted the course , and Richard showed up and did the start line and the finishing, many thanks. Race one and the usual suspects were right up there with Darin taking the bullet from Tim and Pete , the Brit Pops just having the edge as this was a day of Venti’s and Brit Pops, we all had top suits and I guess it was around 60/70% breeze for that rig and it went lighter as the morning wore on, race two was once again Darin taking it from Tim, and Chris nipping in to take 3rd spot. The racing up and down the fleet was close, and very competitive, By the time we had race three the rain had just about stopped, Roger C 30 took the win with his slightly modified Venti , with Tim keeping his averages nice and low took another second and Darin in third spot, Just to clarify Kevin E was racing his brand new Brit Pop instead of his Venti, he seemed to be well pleased. Mick Cooper I have to say sailed as well as I have seen him sail for a long time he also got some great results a couple of fourths and a couple of thirds and in this fleet that is some going, so well done to him. Race 4 saw Pete W’s jib boom snap at the pivot point on his Venti and put him out of the running, Darin took the win Chris 2nd and Roger took 3rd spot. Coffee was welcome sadly no left over mince pies but hey ho , a bit of banter on the bank made up for it. Straight after the break Tim really got going and won race 5 by what we may call a country mile showing both Darin and Chris a clean pair of heels, race 6 and a couple of Venti’s managed to get their noses in front with Tim having his worst result a 6th , from then on as you can see by the results it was the Darin and and Tim show, apart from the very last race of the day in a drastically falling breeze, where Tim led all the way to within ten yards of the finish when cheeky Micky boy just got his nose in front to take the win. For the record Darin had 6 wins Tim took 2 wins Roger 2 wins and Micky boy 1 win but it really was all about the discards,and with Darin’s worst a 4th and a 3rd it tells it own story.

Well done to all for a great day of racing, especially Darin for the win , and especially to the helper’s who got the gear out and away again.

Report from DF 95 Sunday 29th. from Richard Jutsum .

The last race of 2024 closed with an excellent morning of sun, sailing and seasonal greetings. I arrived early to find Colin was desperate to get onto Santa’s good list for next year as he had arrived early and most of the Prep was done.  Shortly after our very own Santa arrived disguised as Pete, no reindeer they were resting.  He jumped in the boat and set a course down the east bank with a steady breeze although a little shifty at times. A rig was the order of the day. By 0915 a course was set and our numbers had grown enough to run a pantomime.  This year it was Snow White (played by Jen) and the 7 dwarfs some of us not so little.

Sailing started early, I decided to let everyone get a good start and do a couple of turns for hitting the start bouy and then Kev as he tacked off the bank.  The first race was noted by Snow White being taken out by Dwarf Bashy played by Kevin who was caught out by a gust driving his boat on to Jens locking them together.  Snow White was rescued by Prince Charming played by Martyn who waded in when the boats hit the north bank.  

The next couple of races were very close with the lead changing constantly as well as close racing.  Penalty turns were done without prompting and the banter was good especially between Snow White and Prince Charming who had several races only separated by an apple on the finish line.  Coffee and a nice mince pie provided by dwarf Dave set us up for a further six races.  Santa obviously want to sleep as he kept leading the way although Martyn and Snowman Sam kept him honest although rumour has it Pete was illegally using Fairy dust on his boat.

At the end of the morning we all went away singing Hi Ho Hi Ho but Pete was singing the loudest (Not in tune though). I was hoping for rain as Santa brought me a nice coat and in the end the sun just shined.

This is the end of my first full year sailing and thank you to everyone at the Club, race officer is so easy when we all work together.  The Wednesday Club should all have been on the good list along with Mick for the best news letters. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year with wind in your sails.

Series results so far are up or will be in a mo .