Report and most Pictures from Nigel Barrow and a great deal of thanks is due to Nigel for this great report, Many thanks Nigel.

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Where do I start with such a perfect weekend of sailing. The only thing that was missing was Mediterranean temperatures.

The organisation was impeccable. From the time I arrived in my camper on Friday, parking pitches were organised as close to the race centre as possible. The race team were on site to greet us, a course was laid out to practice on, banks were neatly trimmed, there was easy access to all sides of the race course and free tea and coffee available all weekend. What more could we ask for.

Our thanks must go to the organisers Judith and Sharon on the heat board, Colin the scorer, Mary Ann and Mike on finishing and other jobs, and Tim Hand the ARO (in the boat) and of course Jen Hand who brings everything together at the club. Mick Chamberlain was in his ambassadorial role and sadly did not commit to making bacon sandwiches for breakfast this year. The team’s tireless efforts meant we experienced a faultless weekend of racing topped by a superb performance of our race officer Wayne Stobbs, who kept the two heats sailing at a pace acceptable to all. The Lincoln team should be proud of how they have developed their club and prepared for the weekend.

The conditions could not have been better. The club is sited on a trial, squarish gravel pit who sides face roughly North, East, South and west. On the Saturday the wind conveniently blew down the East bank and on Sunday shifted to the South bank so the course could be its maximum length and rounding marks would not be an eyesight test. Conditions varied through all the ranges of the DF65 rigs from A+ to C as the wind varied from light to 20+ MPH gusts.

The DF 65 is one of the smallest radio sailing boats, produced in China and shipped all over the world. It is a marvellous design and has spawned many clubs and sparked interest in radio sailing across the globe. Rumour has it, the numbers sold are in the tens of thousands. The boat comes in a box, is simple to rig and only a few hundred pounds to put on the water. There are four rigs. A light weather rig called the A+ for conditions up to 10mph, a slightly smaller A rig which has a very narrow wind band of a few miles an hour, then a smaller B rig for 12-18mph and a C rig for windier conditions. Interchanging the rigs can be done in seconds.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and while I took breakfast in the van at 7am, I could watch Tim Hand, moving marks and prepping the course for the day.

Competitors were out early checking rigs, boat tuning, analysing wind shifts and testing the course. At 9.30 ish, the call was made for boats to be removed from the water for a 9.45 briefing by our race officer. The event was great practice for Wayne Stobbs, who later this year will be running the DF95 Globals (world championships) in South Africa on a lake a couple of hours from Cape Town.

Racing started promptly at 10am. There were 31 boats entered so racing was run under the MYA Heat management system. The fleet is split into two and sorted by the current ranking

of competitors so there is a mixed set of abilities in each of the two seeding races. The top six from each seeding race go into the heat A and the rest in heat B. Heat B races first and the top six are promoted into heat A. Heat A then race and the bottom six are demoted into heat B and racing continues like that until the end of the championships. This system allows up to 80 boats to race as one fleet.

PHOTO THE FLEET AND COURSE BOARD

The seeding and subsequent 3 races were sailed using the biggest A+ rigs. Nigel Barrow and John Tushingham won their respective seeding races and after 4 races with one discard at lunch Nigel had a lead over John with Peter Baldwin, David Burke and Simon Clarke making up the top 5. However, that was to change as the wind built over lunch and the fleet changed down to B rigs.

PHOTO – A DOMINANT START BY JT

With the increased wind, John stamped his dominance on the fleet and won all 5 races in the afternoon. His experience was telling and reflected the fact he has his name on the trophy whenever he entered the event. He is also the key designer behind the boat which must help. Nigel had a hiccup after lunch with a 10th, and he and Peter put together a string of top 5 results to be separated by 6 points at the end of the day. Dave Burke was 4th and Derek Priestley climbed up to 5th place.

PHOTO – TOTAL CONCENTRATION WHILST RACING

On Saturday night we all went to the Railway Inn for dinner of excellent pies containing either chicken, steak or veggie with crispy chips and peas. Quality food, hot and tasty. Two competitors shared their birthdays, Nigel Barrow and Paul Plested so they were each given cake and card and all sang happy birthday.

PHOTO – THE BIRTHDAY BOYS

Sunday dawned bright and windy, conveniently down the south bank of the lake and there was much discussion over whether to use B, or the smallest C rig and after the briefing from Wayne, most elected to use their C rigs.

PHOTO – LAUNCHING 572 IS ON B RIG, 438 IS A C RIG

John continued his dominant form although in one epic race he was beaten into second place by his wife Liz. Barrow might have challenged for the lead if he learnt how to tack in a chop. He demonstrated good speed upwind but lost ground with several failed tacks in each race. Ah well there is always next year.

After 7 races on Sunday, we had completed 16 races overall which brings in a 3rd discard and after a fleet vote, we decided to leave for home early and forego the last race.

When the scores were added up, John’s lead over Nigel was 18 points who 9 points ahead of Peter Baldwin. Simon Clark was 32 points behind Peter and Dave Burke 7 points adrift of Simon to make up the top 5.

THE WINNER WITH LIZ AND HIS BOAT WITH B RIG

At the prize giving, our PRO who had worked with a fluey cold all weekend, thanked the club and organisers who delivered an exceptional weekend.

The next event at Lincoln is the IOM Nationals which if the wind delivers will be a stellar event.

PHOTO FINAL RESULTS

If you fancy a bit of Radio Racing , come on down and have a go, It really is exciting, and great fun.

The DF 65 Nationals are on the 29th and 30th March , room for a few more entries, and looking at the long range weather forecast it could well be a great weekend .

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Extended I.O.M Racing at Lincoln, 6th April 10 am till 3pm ish , this could well be your last chance to get to grips with the course or courses at Lincoln before the big one, all welcome just give Jen the nod that your coming. It should be a great day.

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And finally yes it’s The I.O.M Nationals , at Scotland Farm, Top skippers, many with World and National championships under their belt, will descend on the lake for three exciting days of racing, Everybody will of course be aiming to show well in the ranking to enhance their chances of a place in the World Championships that will be held at Datchet water ENGLAND in 2026 , a world spectacular that is for sure. Entry for the Nationals still coming in , make sure you seal your place, It will be exciting that’s for sure.

It looked like a beautiful day, just a small factor , where was the breeze, Patient’s I hear the call , and so it was , Roger the OOD had got there early and with the absence of his assistant got everything ready for racing , which bank ??? eventually a light flutter of a breeze filled in from the North east and we were racing along the East bank, Tim H had jumped in the dingy and sorted a great course, the 9 skippers looking happy and radiant in the sunshine, the lake looked fantastic as last week the dye was put in, and wow did it look blue, Pete was away quick as ever and took the bullet in the first race With Mick and Tim taking 2nd and 3rd , Colin H who needed this round, was 4th and sailed well, a tad more aggression on the start line, mate, races two and three it looked like becoming the Pete and Time event as both were giving it all , Kevon E got a great 2nd in race two, Micky boy was keeping in touch with the leaders, and with the breeze giving us a few extra knots it was looking a lot better even though the breeze was veering and it eventually swung far enough for us to change banks after race 5 which Tim won. Paul K was putting in some good results while Alan N 438 was suffering leccy or range problems, Colin T was soldiering on as was Roger, But the top three were sailing very well and any chance of crumbs fell by the wayside as Micky boy won the next two races all on the South bank, Pete took race 8 and Tim race 9 , it was going to be difficult to call a winner this morning, it was that tight , and it all came down to countback, The top three are on their way to the IOM ranking next weekend and I am sure will continue the tight racing .

At this point I have to say there was an incident at a weather mark, and Micky boy it turned out was naughty. but at the end of the day , it was great racing and a great day , Many thanks to all who helped.

This was the last of the Winter series for this class and we all look forward to the summer series.

Tim ends up the Winter series Winner, congratulation’s to him, and all skippers for taking part .

A very still morning greeted the skippers at Scotland farm, not a breath of wind at 0930, but after a short delay the breeze filled in from the forecasted direction, the favoured South West, light to start with, but after a couple or races we had what we wanted .Tim H 134 with his very quick Brit Pop got things going and took the first race from Dave R 57 sailing his Vision and in third spot was Roger B 58 with another Brit Pop. We saw the launch of two brand new boats today, a Viss skippered by Richard J 89 and a new Venti sailed by the ever improving Mick Cooper 39, both will have mixed feeling’s about their first time out, and both know it takes time to get the best from a new boat. Some of the usual suspects were missing today but we still had a good fleet, of 13 , also helped by the return of Chris G, 11 who despite his absence sailed well.

Race two Pete W 65 got a great start and went on to win the next two races, before the coffee break was called for, Radio gremlins affected one or two, and at the break battery’s were changed in the hope of solving the problem, it seemed to, but further investigation will be necessary. Race 4 straight after the break was a superb win for Mick Cooper 39 with his brand new Venti ( don’t touch it was the call ) and you could see the smile from all the way from Lincoln, Pete took 2nd spot, to keep his averages low, meanwhile Tim was having a purple patch and recorded his worst two results, Paul Kelly however was quietly getting some good results and was keeping in touch with the leaders, his V10 proving a very good buy in recent weeks. The breeze by now was up to a decent strength, and some great racing was being had, The next two races had Chris G taking a first and a second, race six had Criss E 74 take his only win of the morning he was OOD and did a great job on that count, Adrian Cripps is finally getting to grips with his Venti and we can expect more from him, the last three races saw Tim take a couple of f firsts and a second to stretch his lead over Pete, and win with a small margin, Pete W second and Paul K third rounded off a great mornings racing, in beautiful sunshine, The quality of racing and respect was second to none and I doubt if anyone went home without a smile, As we all know the first ranking of the season is coming up in a couple of weeks at Scarborough 57 entries and I am pleased to say 10 skippers from the Lincoln club, so watch this space .

Many thanks to all who helped get the stuff put away and to all skippers for a fabulous mornings racing . Very well done to Tim on his win , he just keeps getting better and better.