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

Wow what a great mornings racing, conditions were perfect and race officer Pete had it all in hand with help from Roger , we were racing on the South bank, with the breeze just about top of A suit there were a couple of B suits out , but these were for necessity rather than an option Tony49G only had a B and Dave 57 had to change down due to a shroud breakage. we welcomed a new member Roger 30 who was sailing his K2 . Racing started promptly at 10 am, with Pete 65 taking the first bullet. 17 skippers showed and so the start line was cramped and you needed to be wise to get you slot and not be too early, the first race was a Venti wipe out taking the first three spots, 2nd race and Darin 98 took control , in fact it was family 1st and 2nd as Tracey 49R was in fine form throughout the morning, Roger was showing us what the K2 could do and I am sure he was enjoying the racing, No shouting on the bank even when there was a minor event of barging at a port rounding mark not a voice was raised, Darin 98 managed 3 wins on a morning he will admit he was not at his best, Micky Boy 46 and Pete 65 managed two wins a piece , Tracey 49R got one and probably the most improved skipper on the day was Mick C 39 with a win and a whole series of great results, and you can see for yourself how well he did and it was not fluke, lets hope his progress continues. Absolutely fantastic to see everybody giving it there all and enjoying probably one of the best racing days we have had for some time.

Interesting, That a Widget changed hands at the club and one of our new members has the benefit of a loan of another Widget Mk 2 and I expect that too will also be used on a regular basis , thanks to Darin for the loan.. There were some tense moments during racing , the first was Peter C 110 leading with Micky boy in hot pursuit, Micky Boy we to the wrong gate make which threw Peter’s brain into overdrive and he went round the wrong mark , throwing away a certain victory, another incident was Chris 11 leading to a mid course turning mark , followed again by Micky boy , was it port or starboard rounding this was the question asked by Chris %%$£:@{+)( , not sure of Micky boys reply but they both did the opposite , and the rest is history.

Fab morning as I have said well done all skippers for the manner in which it was sailed , and of course well done to Darin for his win , and also well done to Cooperman for an outstanding second,

We can look forward to round ten in a couple of weeks time .

A very exciting day at Manor park , on Sunday 30th July , full race report will follow but here are the results for now . A very well done to Pete Baldwin for taking the top step , and I may add to all competitors, for making it such an enjoyable day .

With a rare gap in the club calendar, five DF95 skippers got together at the lake on Sunday for some informal racing. (A thanks to Mike W for taking the lead on co-ordinating it).

The course was set down the East Bank, with no need for any mark-moving. The breeze was top end of B, and often ‘plus a bit’ – which called for caution over last-second tacking off the bank, and elsewhere meant gybing round could often be more effective than trying to tack. 

One boat had an on-board camera – the footage will need some editing down (let’s just say it won’t include Colin H’s foul-ups…), but hopefully something will be shared on YouTube. 

Colin H lucked-in on a good setup and was able to stay consistent. Sam P put on his C Rig for the first time ever before the last race, and I think the phrase is “fast straight out of the box”!

Most stayed with the B Rig, but a couple changed down to C later in the morning and did benefit from some better speed and control upwind.

There were gear problems now and again for some, but overall everyone was able to get stuck into an absorbing and challenging 8 races.

Despite the date, there was no Pickles on-hand/paw to supply a trophy. But it was a morning for just laid-back racing and – always LRSC’s forté, on any day – having an enjoyable time with club-mates.

Report by Colin Helliwell