Another good day at the Farm , and after the High pressure and non events around the country last weekend , this was a welcome surprise, 12 skippers arrived , and Darin took charge, and got the buoys sorted to get a good beat and run course on the South bank. Rob Wilson got of to a flying start and took the bullets on the first three races the first had Micky boy 46 ,2nd and Mick Cooper 39 3rdm,, the second race had had Pete W 65 and Roger C 30 , the breeze being about 70 % of top suit but was pretty fluky and slightly one sided, and you could quite easily get caught out, 5 races and then we had coffee and some delightful cake care of Jen 69 not sure of the occasion but was very tasty , Race 6 commenced and was won by Darin with his spare Pikanto, the second of his three wins on the day, Tim after a fantastic weekend at the ranking was not going to well and I broached the subject, probably should have kept quiet but hey ho its what these youngsters do now and again, he did win race 9 but he knows he should have done better. We saw some great racing during the morning in the best competitive spirit all watched over by our latest new member Ron who said afterwards , that it was fantastic racing, and so Rob was on good form and took the days win with four first places Darin 2nd with three wins and Pete Micky boy and Tim taking one win each, well done Rob you deserved it, great day as usual and the stand in OOD did us proud.

RG65 TT Series Round 13 Lincoln 4th October 2025

As the named ‘Storm Amy’ approached the UK toward the weekend, there was some concern that the planned events at Lincoln may not take place. However, 12 entrants arrived for the RG65 event on Saturday to an improved forecast and they enjoyed a truly excellent day of sailing in strong winds that topped 30 mph at times. These small boats really showed their versatility in the conditions.

The Lincoln race team of Martyn Aspinall (PRO), Jen Hand and Pete Walters were well prepared with Pete having set courses on the South and East banks in preparation for the anticipated change in wind direction. Racing commenced on the East bank with a 2.5 lap course taking around 11 minutes per race.

After a retirement in race one (which was won by Alan Bennett), John T got to grips with the conditions and scored 3 successive wins. The remaining wins of the day were shared between John T, Toby, Alan and Peter.

The wind frequently swung to a more Northerly direction for periods of time during the racing. This provided great opportunities for positional changes and required an inventive approach to the start line which was selected from various buoys and poles on the bank/jetty and frequently changed between races. The wind eventually did eventually take a more Northerly direction and the final 2 races were conducted on the South bank.

A key factor to success for the skippers was maintaining boat functionality. The attrition rate was high (on boats and competitors) with only 6 boats from the initial 12 being launched for the final race and 5 finishing. Only 2 boats completed all the races without retirement.

At race 14, the event was wide open to winning by the leading three skippers. Alan suffered his fourth retirement in this race however, which scuppered his victory chances. Although Toby maintained his consistently good result record for the final 3 races, John T took 2 wins to take the day on count back from Toby. Congratulations John, hard luck Toby!

Many thanks go to the competitors for turning up on such an off-putting forecast and to Chris for his enthusiasm that ’the boats would cope’. Thank you to Jen for braving the elements as scorer and inputting the results to HMS. Thanks also go to Peter for his invaluable rescue boat handling skills which were tested as he pro-actively moved buoys and collected disabled boats in the strong winds. The day was a great success ….. and we remained dry!

Author: Martyn Aspinall

Storm AMY did its thing over the weekend, and gave the annual legendary “Clive Hand Memorial Race” and its 30 strong fleet some very exciting racing indeed.

An almost all female task force (Race Officers) controlled the racing with expertise and no nonsense!

Racing

The two seeding races got under way at 10.00 sharp and with skippers from all parts of the country it was a busy bank side. B rigs were definitely the order of the day, and it was glorious, bright sunshine on our backs and a fresh breeze in our faces. Lincoln was the place to be that’s for sure. The seeding races were won by Darin Ballington and John Tushingham, and the two fleets (A and B) got sorted with minimum fuss.

Racing was on the South bank with B fleet setting out first. Just to clarify the two heats constitute one race. The first race was won but last year’s winner Pete Baldwin with his BritPop, and interestingly second place was taken by John Tushingham sailing probably for the first time, his new design called Mint. I am sure you will hear more about this design in the coming months. Taking up third spot was the Vision design of Buzz Coleman, so we had three different designs in the top three in the first race. By now skippers had had plenty of chance to sort the tune out and racing continued at a great pace. It was a long beat followed by a short beat and a beat up to the finish line, and with the breeze full on, just about top end for B suite. The runs sometimes became hairy with one or two dives evident.

Race three had Darin B take the win and he repeated that in the following race and was beginning to make his mark, but it was not easy in this very experienced fleet of skippers.

We also had youth at the lake side – young Hayden Wallace 12 years old from down Huntingdon way, he was with his dad Ben and both were racing a ” Rockstar” design, (and there is a story there) yes Hayden beat his dad and is definitely one to watch for the future, he actually got two seconds, fantastic young lad, just check out his races.

Also just starting to get warmed up was Pete Walters an ex 505 racer from the Notts County Sailing Club, who has found model boat racing a fantastic challenge as have many others. He was pushing his Venti to the limit and from race three was accumulating some fine results as were one or two others, but to be fair the conditions were testing and both John T and Darin B were experiencing some gear failures that were not helping their cause. Mick Chamberlain was sailing out of his skin, a second in the seeding and he never looked back.

You can see from the result’s page how far many skippers had come to enter this fantastic event. After a short break for lunch and a sit down we were at it again, many fine nip and tuck races all through the afternoon, and the manner in which the event sailed was exemplary.

So to the results. We have a winner and many congratulations must go to Peter Walters who took the top step, 2nd place going to Darin Ballington, and 3rd Micky boy Chamberlain. Many thanks to the Race team who worked wonders as always, and of course to all the skippers who sailed their best, and finally to storm Amy who gave us the very best conditions for some superb racing.

During the course of the day a collection was made for the R.N.L.I. Thanks to all – there will be a donation on the way to them in the region of £150.

We are getting Pictures coming in this and fast and you can view them on the Clive Hand Tab on our website at you leisure. There will also be a write up in Yachts and Yachting that should get posted.

Wow Plenty of smiles here for sure, what a fantastic day of racing, great top suit breeze,. plenty of sunshine and some truly great racing, This was primarily a warm up for for a few skippers who will be going to the last I.O.M Ranking race, to be held down Bristol way in early October, which will be a last chance to qualify for the I.O.M Worlds in the UK in 2026. Thanks to OOD Darin racing got under way at 10 am sharp, on the South bank at Lincoln, a long beat and run with a dog leg suited everybody, and with a little oopsidaisy for one or two on the start line, Mick C 46 got clean away tacking on port and was never challenged and took the bullet Roger C 30 second and Darin B 3rd, a 5 minute break to check tune and make some minor adjustments and we were off again, the breeze I would say was around 80% of top suit and made for some great racing, Dorian 60 one of our visitors took the next win with Pete W 65 in 2nd and Darin 98 3rd, This was probably the first time we had a really good chance to see the Viss a Croatian design that won the Worlds in 2024 , and it was in the very capable hand of Nigel B 54, he took the next win, and the boat certainly showed promise with a series of great results. Tim H 134 was sailing very well bit like old times, and it was good to see , A short coffee break around 1130 and we were off again for more great racing a couple of races had us miss the dogleg as the wind had a slight shift, but we were soon back to normal. Darin B 98 was beginning to show his class with a run of fine wins, he was chased hard that’s for sure, but as they say the cream always seems to rise, and Darin took 7 of the wins from 15 races and was a clear winner on the day, as I have said before the racing was superb and I am sure everybody went home with a smile on their faces. Great thanks to all our visitors, many coming from far afield. Also our biggest vote of thanks goes to our very own Darin B 98 who took on the OOD role and in his spare moments found tome to do the results, brilliant ,Plus everybody who helped make the day a success, our thanks too you all ,. This POP up event will certainly be planned for in the 2026 calendar