Steady start to the Summer series with 11 skippers out to play. The breeze dictated it was A rig although a few tried to chance their arm with A + but the gusts were to frequent and strong for that kit to survive. Great to see a fairly long term absentee Phil Harpham back , and very quickly back to his best, Keith H 669 was straight into his winning ways with three bullets on the bounce followed by a second and that left the rest of the fleet scrambling to catch up, Jen H 69 was the best of the rest and would not let go, some say like a dog with a bone ,, with some fine sailing. Roger Bowtle finally was getting the best out of his boat and held the rest at bay.

It was definitely not Mick C’s 46 day as he was going backwards after the first race where he held on too second spot, eventually his winch packed up and he lost races 4 and 5 luckily coffee break helped him out to give him more time. Mike W 76 was getting some good average scores but just needed to Master the extremely difficult conditions with shifts and gusts that had the whole fleet skipping in frustration. Phil H 44 was enjoying himself , as was Alan Bradley , Pete W 26 back again after all sorts of dramas had a problem that was insurmountable in race 6 and had to retire , and Gordon B 23 assistant OOD despite the full length course gave a good showing, Ed W is improving week on week and Alan E 890 was always going to be up against it with a B rig on. The days win went to Keith and he deserved the applause for a great showing and the win with 8 points from 9 races , pretty good achievement. Well Done .

Many thanks to the helpers, and all the skippers for making a frustrating day a happy one

14 skippers turned out for probably the best Day of the summer so far and shorts were on show. A steady South Easterly 5 to 10 knots had the fleet racing on the South bank, Peter C and Kevin E set the course and moved marks accordingly. First out of the blocks was Darin B 98 , and there were skippers with their eye on Scotland in a couple of weeks time and Darin was one of them, Pete W 65 took the next bullet, and it was plain to see these two would do battle till the end, Sailing out of his skin Mick Cooperman 39 got a second in the first race after leading the whole race, with 25 yards to go Darin pounced, but the boy did well and his Venti was performing, Darin took the next two races with Pete being called over at the start not making life easy for himself. Mick C 46 was trying out a new rig and new sails, on his Venti and was taking a bit of time to try and get the settings right, A personal battle With Dave R 57 was exciting to watch and tense on the water. Rob W 97 was having trouble with his rig and missed a couple of races, but came good towards the end with two fine wins. Jen H 44/69 was trying different things, and came good again towards the end. But Mr Consistency Darin B, jumped on the top step after a sterling fight with Pete , both had three wins a piece , but Pete W 65 had two premature starts which did him no good at all, Mick C 46 was not unhappy with the days proceedings, but I am sure could do better. Kevin E 85 showed well in some races, so expect more from him, Mike W 76 is still climbing up the fleet.

The Racing was great and the last hour or so the wind increased a little , Only 3 points the difference between Darin and Pete and Mick C 10 points adrift ( must do better )

Well done to Darin for his win , and many thanks to the OOD’s who did a great job. Only one criticism, we really do need to do better with our scoring at the finish, I have done the very best I can

Lakeside sheet below Must do better

Wow what a great start to the series, 13 skippers turned out in bright sunshine and a light south easterly that Veered into the South south west and gave the skippers some great light airs sailing on the East Bank, Keith H 39 was off the mark and took the first race which was on the South bank, Pete W 678 took second, with Chris G 489 taking third spot. The breeze was very light for the first two races, with Pete W taking the bullet for race two, We then moved to the East bank with a knot or two extra in the breeze stakes, Mick C 46 got on the board with a win in race three and followed it up with a second in race four, the winner was Keith H 39 . Kevin E 02 was at times sailing very well notching up a second in race three, but just needs some work on the consistency stakes.

Great to see Gordon B 38 at the lake , and new member Colin T 431 getting to grips with radio sailing, Roger B 448 was having some good races ending up just above half way in the fleet. It really was all about the start and as in any race you must time your run in to get it right, and even then as proved in race 6 Pete W 678 went of on a left hand flyer and looked dead and buried , but a nice little puff and a lift had him rounding the weather mark first, and not looking back, taking the win with ease.

Sailing was extended for half an hour by mutual consent as it was such a nice day, Jen was having winch problems, Gravesy 489 was always a threat as was Keith H 39 , but despite winning the last race Mick C 46 just did not sail as consistently as Pete who took the top step on the day by one point . Clase racing it most certainly was, but bragging rights go to Clay pole on this occasion but the chasing pack will bite back make no mistake .

Many thanks to Greg and Roger and all the helpers including Alan who did our scoring for us.

Congratulations to Pete W for his win .

If you want to come and have fun with the DF 95 have a serious look at Lincoln, great fun and great racing.

A very light North Easterly greeted thirteen skippers, for this Memorial event, and Pete Walters who took the duty on in the absence of someone official, decided that we start racing on the East bank, Peter Helen turned up to do the scoring, and it all worked out very well.

Mick C 46 took the first bullet, with Rob W 97 a close 2nd and the pink Lady Jen H 69 taking 3rd spot, we had two or three races on the East bank before moving to the South bank as the wind had veered but quite a few degrees. race three had Pete W 65 in first , which turned out the first of 7 bullets during the day, His Venti design showing lots a pace and once free of the start line was going to be hard to catch.

The racing was extremely close and very competitive, in the light and fluky wind, but just after coffee break we had another couple of knots wind which helped keep you going, Jen H 69 was sailing very well and at times , like in race’s 6 & 7 with back to back wins was coasting. Last years winner Steve Haywood 57 was giving it everything he had to try and get on terms , but today the Venti’s came out on top, It was fantastic racing in a great spirit, and in warm sunshine .

We were pleased that Grainne Lambert was on hand to present the prizes and we have a new name on the trophy 7 different names in 7 yeas so not bad going , There was also a Silver salvor prize donated by Chaz Jordon, and three raffle prizes awarded to those who stayed the distance .

Many congratulations to the winner Pete W 65 on his win , and also to everybody who helped and Peter Helen who did the scoring and start line for us .