DF65 race report for 26th April 2026

Our eight DF65 sailors were greeted with a light SSE breeze and a bright sunny day that gradually warmed up. Mike W was the first there and had begun the setup when the duty crew, Jen and Martyn arrived. Ron soon arrived, and he and Martyn sorted out the course buoys whilst Jen sorted out the gear with some assistance. Several boats were very quickly on the water practicing as the others arrived.

A long beat was set down the South bank with a spreader mark and a downwind gate. The finish line area was frequently subject to very challenging winds.

Mike H took the first race from Sam after some great battling involving several competitors and this set the scene for most of the races to play out. The wind was very shifty and variable in strength and the approach to the finish line was an intense experience with some positional changes and frequent rapid finishing of the first few boats.

Ten races were completed with the first five boats of the day all taking wins and mainly sharing the first five positions in each race. There were also only five points between the first five boats, with countback needing to be applied twice. Yes, it was close! However, it was Martyn who took first spot with four race wins, followed by Kevin then Mike H with two race wins each, and Sam then Jen, each with one race win. Mike W, Ron and our visitor Pete Grimes completed our happy team who all had a great day and enjoyed some great racing.

Thank you to everyone for the great spirit in which the racing was conducted and for a great group effort in tidying away our equipment.

Martyn Aspinall

26 April 2026

Wow 18 skippers came to the line for round two of the summer series and what was to be a great day for radio racing .Breeze coming from the North West , sunshine and many pairs of shorts on show. Racing took place on the South bank with Rob W and Darin B taking control and setting a great course with a dog leg almost the full length, so plenty of exercise for those that need it.

On display was the clubs new Flag for the first time and looked delightful in the decent breeze, this will of course be flown at the upcoming Worlds in May to help cheer on our two skippers who have qualified for this prestigious event. Racing got of to a great start on time and the first race was won by Micky boys new Alioth who led from start to finish, ” wheels soon fell off by the way ” Pete W took 2nd with his Venti that went so very well at the recent National Championships and a fantastic 3rd spot was claimed by Tracy B with her Brit Pop one of two ladies racing today. This was a seriously competitive fleet, and with 18 on the start line you needed to have your head in gear to get a good start, We welcomed potential new member Peter G 48 sailing a borrowed Robot for the morning. By race two Darin 98 had sorted the boat and claimed his almost rightful position at the sharp end closely followed by Tim H 134 both these guys are pick of the pops at the moment, Micky boy got a third and the Alioth was certainly showing some pace for the first time out. Another skipper who was showing some fine pace was Paul K 44 in his V 10 , in fact he took race 3 by the scruff of the neck and won it from Rob W 97 with his Brit Pop and Tim H 134 who was firing on all cylinders.

Other showing good pace were Sam P 59 Venti Colin H 77 with the Sedici a pre runner of the Venti, Richard J 89 much improved and finally getting the hang of the Viss Martyn A 91 was actually racing his Alioth today and will be pleased with the performance in some very fluky conditions at times, Jen Hand 69 now there is a name we cant forget , special day for her and for the rest of the skippers who enjoyed her birthday cake at the lake today , always a fierce competitor, and a fabulous asset to the club and in fact the MYA, To round up Darin took 4 wins from the 7 races, Tim H definitely back to form with some great results, Pete on the podium, and what a result from Paul K , just nicking it on countback from the Venti of Roger C 30 . An absolutely spanking morning of racing and our thanks go to all who made it memorable, The Flowers for Jen was the icing on the cake..

This is the series to be involved in if you love I.O.M racing , every two weeks at Scotland Farm .

For a full report and results have a look HERE . Many thanks to Ron and Colin for doing the donkey work.

This being a five-weekend month we had the opportunity for an extra DF95 sailing day, your Race Officer for the day was Sam Parker who turned up at Scotland Farm to find Mike Holmes already setting up, many thanks for this help on a day where the duties were all voluntary. Having got all the equipment ready for the day a course was chosen on the roadside bank, this being a dead beat towards the clubhouse and a dead run back to the leeward mark, only one mark was needed to be moved to create a course (beat/run/beat). Even with the clock change eight competitors were down early and we got sailing on the dot at 10.00, with all competitors opting to start the day on the A rigs despite a forecast for the wind to get up, the first win of the day was taken by Martin A, this was a result he was to repeat three more times before a call for a coffee break was made after six quick races. By coffee time the wind was building, making control when sailing downwind and tacking a little difficult at times.

During the break half of the competitors chose to change down to B rigs with the remainder thinking that the A rig was still a viable option (ha ha ha), this proved not to be the case with Sam changing to B rig after race seven. Another victim of the wind increasing was Mick C who suffered winch trouble and had to retire for the day, this was disappointing as he was putting in some good solid results, the last two competitors to change down to the B rig were Martin and Jen. Races nine thorough to thirteen were now sailed with all competitors sailing on B rigs and at times tacking was still an issue as the gusts caused many head to wind issues. Sam soon got to grips with the B rig with four wins in a row and Colin also finding his feet was always at the forefront of the fleet. With thirteen brisk races completed a well-deserved win on the day went to Martin.

Finally, many thanks must go to everyone who sailed today, for the good-natured attitude in which the racing was carried out and to all the help from everyone who helped to pack away at the end of the day, making your Race Officers duty very enjoyable.

Sam P.

And we have a winner in this class for the Winter series it has been neck and neck but I am pleased to say the series has been won by Sam Parker , and so many congratulations to him, it has been an exciting series throughout and we now look forward to the Summer series.