Well, what a day for a bit of a float around, it’s been windy for what seems like weeks but upon my arrival down at Scotland Farm was met by a millpond and no wind. By 9.00 and only myself and Mike W, your Assistant Race Officer was there (who by the way had everything ready to go sailing, many thanks from Sam) it looked unlikely we would have any racing this weekend. However, a few die-hard sailors slowly started to arrive and eventually we numbered eight hardy souls, also a big thanks must also go to Paul who moved enough marks around for me on both the East and South banks to give us enough courses to pick from as the wind was going around in circles.

So, the first race on the South Bank got off to a good start on a beat, but this then went round and turned into a run, a reach and a beat again which seemed to set the tone for all races during the day. As positions changed often with the wind coming from multiple directions the mood down the lake was very good-natured with much laughter at each other’s gains and losses through-out the day. Five races were completed on this bank, before a bit of a respite from the sun and refreshments were required by all competitors.

Upon restarting the racing for the day, the option to race on the East Bank was taken for the remaining six races of the day with exactly the same shifts and holes in the breeze meaning all competitors were blessed with results of varying degrees of success or despair. This Snakes and Ladders sort of racing meant that the results/scores were some of the closest seen, with our resident score master Colin Helliwell quoting that (Don’t remember a day being packed together so tightly on points, doesn’t stop me being peed off with 7^th though).

So, to re-cap the day as a whole look at the results to see how close the points were and to see how varied everybody’s results were without a race-by-race commentary, and a final thanks to all the help I received and for all competitors good humor and sportsmanship during  the day.

Report by Sam Parker

Here are is the DF95 league table after this event:

Jen and Martyn arrived at Scotland Farm to find most of the set up completed by the (very) early arrivals. Thank you Roger Bowtle in particular!

The wind was blowing a light NNE which increased gradually and provided for a few duckings occasionally on the gusts with our A+ sails. What became apparent upon launching were the substantial wind shifts that took place largely unannounced and for variable periods of time. The leading boats were never safely positioned and the chasing boats always had opportunities. These were frequently cruelly curtailed though!

We were a little light on numbers for the initial races as Dave C had not arrived, plus Adrian and Roger were spending some time on their rig settings. The first two races gave the impression that it would be a day dominated by Pete and Mick as they streaked off into the lead and had epic battles, but with Pete coming out on top. How events can change in sailing though! Martyn found some form in race 3 and took three wins on the trot, with Jen getting two seconds. No team racing involved. Pete seemed to have gone off the boil and Mick found that his performance had collapsed due to a broken bridle which he never fully recovered from in the subsequent racing, despite making a temporary fix. Dave Rigby was always in the mix but was not favoured in the wind shifts and buoy roundings. He did walk away with race 8 though, demonstrating a dominating win.

Adrian, Roger and Dave C didn’t find full form, but Roger was finally enthusiastic about his boat performance after the break, describing it as ‘going like a train’. I’m taking that as being a good thing and it was lovely to see his satisfaction!

Fourteen races were completed in a friendly manner with great honesty and sportsmanship being demonstrated. Pete sailed with consistency and recovered top form to take the final three races (with Martyn usually snapping at his heels) and to take the day which cemented his pole position on the series leader board.

Final result; 1^st Pete, 2^nd Martyn, 3^rd Mick.

Thank you to all for making it an enjoyable day and for assisting with the setup, line starts and the efficiently conducted tidy-up. Special thanks to Pete for his assistance with the course setting and buoy positioning.

Report by Martyn Aspinall. Results by Colin Helliwell.

Here are the final standings for the Winter Series – congratulations to Pete Waters!

This turned out to be a very tricky day. Race officer Dave R arrived early and set a course on the South Bank. The wind gods gave us adequate wind unfortunately it was of poor quality, massive shifts, holes and heavy gusts gave very trying conditions for the 12strong fleet. Dave did some final tweaking of the course to try and remove ant bias on the beat.

The fleet appeared to be intact so we started early but this turned into a practice race as more boats arrived prior to the advertised start time.

Paul Kelly made the most of the trying conditions to take the first race closely followed by Pete Walters. Race two saw the start of the domination by Pete W taking the next four wins followed with a 3^rd 1^st 2^nd.

There was close racing throughout the fleet with the conditions proving that any lead was not secure

With boats being becalmed one minute then overpowered the next. Race 9 saw Pete sustain damage and a breakage costing him significant speed and ruling him out of race 10.

Richard Jutsum sailed very consistently to take second with Kevin Evison 3^rd.

Nearly everyone had their moments with good results and all must be congratulated for such close racing in very shifty difficult conditions. The behavior on the bank was superb and hopefully everyone enjoyed the morning in a sadistic kind of way.

Many thanks for the help packing everything away and congratulations to the podium finishers in very tricky conditions

Dave Rigby