Series conclusion , the last round of the Summer series was held in a very ultra light South Easterly. The day was very nice with the temperature around 20 C or more and 9 skippers, enjoyed a mornings racing at a leisurely pace, Two skippers fairly new to the club were OOD’s for the morning but plenty of help was on hand. early on 4/5 skippers manned the rakes and cleared what weed there was from the East Bank, Most of the buoys were on the South side where racing had been held the week before with no weed issues, so it was decided to make use of them, a good beat and run course was set with two laps for the first couple of races, Mick Cooper 53 had this one all wrapped up as the first three headed for the finish line, however after writing the course on the course board, not everybody seemed to read it, which allowed Mick C 46 to cross the finish in the correct manner just inches from Mike W 76 , Pete W 00 sailed his socks off and got 3rd spot before Cooperman managed to get back and finish correctly, Ok drama over , All races were ultra light winds and it was all you could do to keep moving , in the second race Both Micks thought they had weed and come to the jetty a pit stop if you like , neither boat had weed and so they carried on with a huge launch from the jetty and continued on their way Cooperman finally got it right and took the bullet, with Pete Webster getting another well deserved result in taking third spot.

Everybody was finding the light conditions a real task, Dave Clark ( Clarkey) did not bring a boat and so one or two skippers let him have a go which he thoroughly enjoyed, he did not realise as OOD you are allowed to sail as well . Ed 31 was really struggling and when he lost his connection, decided to just do the scoring, An interesting morning all sailed in the best spirit , a morning like I do not think I have seen at Scotland Farm , a breeze usually comes from somewhere ( and I know the sea is a long way away)

but hey ho we had a few missing today and this was the last of the summer series. Mick Cooper 53 sailed a brilliant set of races and was very consistent till the last, but at the end of the morning Mick C 46 took the win. Light airs sailing is an art , and you need to keep the boat moving , with as less tacks as you can, only practice practice practice, will help you move forward, and good luck with that.!!!!!

Well done Mick C 46 , and many thanks to all skippers for a nice morning.

Great conditions at Lincoln for round 11, Dave R 57 and Pete H plus Mick C 46 were there early to survey the South bank to check for any growing weed , The breeze was from the South East and if poss we needed to sail the South bank. After inspection the coast was clear no green stuff in sight and Dave procced to set the course. Twelve skippers showed up, one of the better turnouts just lately, which was promising, breeze started about 60/70 percent of A rig and as the morning progressed it increased a tad.

Dave R 57 was fast out of the blocks taking the first Bullet, with Kevin E 20 with his Pikanto taking 2nd and Pete C 110 pulling 3rd. We have got into the habit, of sharing duties watching the start line, it can be difficult trying to spot who is over whilst trying to get a good start your self, the second race Dave R 57 did the honours and did himself no favors getting stuck in the melee and not able to recover scoring his worst result of the day, Pete W 65 showed true class in sailing away from the fleet to clear victory, and Mick Cooper 39 popping up in a well deserved 3rd place. It was most surprising to see only Two Brit Pops in the fleet and 8 different designs , we did have a couple of skippers away at the ranking in West Kirby and one way down south in Australia, so we could have had quite a large fleet,

At Coffee break we were shown the workings of our new Defibrillator, that has been purchased with thanks to the membership who dug deep so that we could afford this expensive piece of kit, that we all hope we will never have to use, Mike Williams gave us all a run thru , and the unit will be very well looked after, and available at the club when we have activities there.

Back to the racing , and a suggestion to give 3 skippers a little head start by starting on the 30 second sound , Greg C 21 took full advantage and got a cracking start and ended the race in second position in race 5 , it was tried in a couple of races and the jury is out about how we can help the not so knowledgeable skippers to enjoy their racing a bit more, but I fear this may not be the answer, and I am sure the debate will go on, Mick Cooper 39 had a great day with some good results, but he would do well to try and get a little more consistency in his races , Pete 65 and Dave R 57 sailed as usual brilliantly, but at the end of the morning that old bloke Mick C 46 stole it, after a shaky start,. We had a few spots of rain and the racing was held in a great spirit.

very well done to all who helped with a bit of raking at the start and helping to get all the gear stowed away

Well done Mick C 46

Only 6 skipper available on this very light and fluky morning, I had heard a couple of reports, one said relatively weed free , the other said a bit of floaty weed, however at this time of year a pond with no weed is like a bird with no bike, (Mike Sarne back in the 60’s )

Moving on Dave Rigby filled in for Dave Darwell and helped Peter Walters get stuff set up but with no wind at all it was decided not to bother with the dingy, always a mistake as Pete was to find out later. He was of course worried that enough skippers would turn up to retrieve the dingy, 6 did , luckily and probably the worst turnout to date this year.

Pete W 65 started well taking the first three wins ( not enough wind to call them bullets ) and on virtually each leg the wind direction went around the clock , making course setting impossible.

And then a Mistake, “and it is always the mistake that will cost you” Pete W 65 launched his boat and very quickly realised he had not switched it on, Dave R 180 gave chase ( with his boat ) but Pete W was far to quick even with no breeze !!!!! Pete W eventually having to launch the Dingy and go and retrieve his boat ,whilst the other carried on their race, which is painful but the correct thing to do , and it happened to a certain Mick C 46 in the DF 95 two weeks ago. ” try not to make mistakes” . Moving on Dave R 180 recorded his first win with Alun N 232 2nd and Mike W 76 3rd , It was great to see Pete Webster back and also Geoff Streeter, both having been absent for a while, Pete W got back to winning ways taking the 5th race, and it all looked pretty exciting on paper but in reality it probably was not, Dave R 180 finally clinching the win, by shear persistence, and with a worst race being 3rd his consistency was unquestionable, the top two skippers on the day were on the podium , so very well done to them and of course everybody who sailed and made the morning pleasurable for all.

No official report despite asking!!!!!!!!!, only 9 skippers, Well done Rob W 97 .