Little did we know that on Sunday 23rd February, at the farm, for round 5 of the DF65 winter series at LRSC, we had a celebrity amongst us. Sailing a DF65 in a discreet disguise. Only his sail number gave him away 180!

Yes, the young sensation of the Darts world, Luke Littler, or as we know him at the club, Dave Rigby, was unstoppable. 180 was the boat of the day. ‘Luke the Nuke’ would have been proud of the number of times that Dave despatched 180 with skill, finesse and consummate ease.

On this blustery day, where gusts of 40 knots were forecast, we still managed to sail 9 races. Could our very own ‘Dave the Nuke’ complete the perfect 9 dart finish and win every race?

The forecast likely put a few off and with other regular skippers attending open events elsewhere a small fleet of 5 skippers arrived early. Bright eyed and bushy tailed to a gusty, but a dry morning. The pre-race chat resulted in a consensus of all skippers rigging their B rigs, which turned out to be the right choice and the rig used for all the races.

Unfortunately, Roger Bowtle had rig issues prior to the start of R1 which resulted in an early exit and no racing for him. But my thanks go to Roger for showing me the ropes & helping set everything up (my first attempt as an OOD at LRSC).

The Southerly wind direction was awkward and very shifty. But a long course was set utilising almost the whole length of the East Bank with 2 Beats and 2 reaches (the reaches to position the fleet back offshore to enable a fairer beat) followed by a long downwind leg. We were going to get our steps in today.

R1 saw a close race between Dave 180 and Martyn 66 with Dave coming out on top. A close race a little further back between Sam and Jen saw Sam coming out victor. What was obvious to me as an onlooker, was that all the skippers had set their boats up well. The blustery conditions required skill and experience to get the best from these small boats. One bad tack and it was game over.

R2 was very similar, with the same top 2, Jen, however, was starting to show her ‘Hand’ (apologies) and finished ahead of Sam for third place. A couple of tweaks to her rig and Jen was now showing better pace.

Dave the Nuke was on course for the perfect nine dart score line. Could it continue?

R 3 and the weather was pretty static, Dave was comfortable with his sailing and another victory secured. Jen continued her gradual improvement notching a 2nd, she was adapting well to the conditions and was starting to threaten Dave’s masterclass so far.

R4 started with the course changed. The wind having veered enough to enable one shorter decent beat with a spreader leg followed by a run whereby avoiding the bow going ‘down the mine’ was key to a good result.

Unfortunately for our sporting hero, ‘Dave the Nuke’, the dream of the perfect 9 dart finish ended and 180’s dominance so far came to an end. Jen’s gradual improvement and adoption to the challenging conditions pushed Dave hard and as she crossed the line first, a delighted Jen exclaimed ‘Yes!’ after realising she had completed the course and there wasn’t another lap.

A quick break followed with some rather delicious flapjack type birthday cake supplied by Jen to celebrate Martyn’s upcoming birthday. Lovely!

Race 5 and the conditions continued as before with the added spice of a splash of the wet stuff that falls from the sky. But our intrepid quartet were still keen as flapjack to sail, and sail hard they did.

Sam had nailed his set up now and was noticeably quicker with little separating the four skippers. Jen again showed the way. Dave’s earlier dominance was faltering and Jen now had a chance to affect the overall standings, her consistency starting to pay dividends.

Race 6-9 and ‘Luke the Nuke’ must’ve had a word with Dave. He was on fire again, back to his best. And 180 was the boat to beat winning the final four races.

Race 7 saw Sam hit the start line at full speed on the B of BANG. The best start of the day. He led the race right up until the last couple of tacks, where the cool head and hands of Dave snook over the finish a matter of seconds ahead of Sam.

So, with a cool 7 wins out of 9 Dave Rigby took the honours. Consistency and skill, particularly gaining good speed out of the tacks, rarely getting caught out and stuck, as a spectator, were the difference and how Dave managed to dominate so well.

Well done to all the sailors. A competitive day in testing condition, sailed in a friendly manner with good humour.

Thanks to all for helping put things away at the end of sailing. I know where everything lives now. A most enjoyable first attempt as OOD and a great way to spend a Sunday.

Report by Paul Kelly, Results from Colin the H Helliwell .

Another great day of racing at Lincoln, 14 skippers arrived with a steady Easterly blowing around 8/10 knots and steady , OOD’s Mick and Rob arrived early and the course was set on the South bank and was to be a perfect beat and run course that would certainly stretch our legs. There had been quite an orgy of boat swapping in the previous two weeks, with some new coming in and second hand boats being snapped up, and so what we had was very able skippers getting their hands on probably a better boat.

Racing got underway at ten sharp with Mick Cooper doing all the donkey work, as his brand spanking new Venti was not quite finished. Race one had two or three OCS , but Tim 134 was fast off the line ans never looked troubled to take the win from Chris 74 and Pete 65 taking third spot, race two had Roger 30 take the win with Pete 65 and Tim 134 keeping up his fine form by getting the third spot, Racing was very close up and down the fleet with some very tight racing, and that is not surprising when you see the pedigree of designs on show, 6 Brit Pops , 5 Venti’s , a very well sailed V 10 by Paul Kelly, a Vision and aa Sedici, By race three we started to see winch problems with Pete’s Venti that would see him retire for the day, Roger took his second win of the morning in race four and Rob 97 started a run of three decent scores , and Tim worst two races of the morning, Mick C 46 started to go aa little better and Kevin E 87 managed a good win, but as always consistency is key, and the top three , especially Tim 134 had this well under control. Jen Hand and Martyn were close at the end, with Jen just having the edge , Colin H with his newish Sedici will I am sure be well pleased for his first time out, and Sam 59 just needs a little more time on the water with his Venti, Adrian I guess the same, it does take time to get used to a new design , One man who will certainly go home with a big smile on his face is Paul Kelly 144 who steered his V10 to a great win in the final race followed home by Chris 74 and Tim 134 the eventual and well deserved winner of the mornings racing, discarding two fourth places. All in all a great mornings racing with a steady breeze, this fleet at Lincoln is getting stronger and stronger and with the National championships coming up over the Easter bank Holiday, what more can we say , except many thanks to all who helped get the props put away , and a very well done to Tim on his win, Brit Pops certainly rule the roost at the moment. We look forward to round eleven, when we know there will be at least one brand new boat on the water , maybe two .

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 any 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 3rd 1st 2nd.

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 3rd.

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

Write up from Dave Rigby , Many thanks

Wow , The forecast looked good all week but the 30 skippers got some of the very best conditions ever for Radio Racing, hey it was 2nd February , it could have been mid summer, The club had visitor’s from far and wide, a 3 hour trip each way for some , and we are pretty sure the drive home had them smiling. The breeze started a little East of South and so the seeding for both fleets was sailed on the South Bank, Darin B was great in the boat and got a course set in no time, Winners of the seedings were Martyn A sailing his Brit Pop and Roger C 30 with his heavily modded Venti. a short delay while our scorer Colin H sorted out the fleets and we were off , still on the South bank, but a change in breeze was imminent, B fleet completed , and we moved to the favored East bank, Race two was won by Robert Mcintosh, followed home by Dorian Crease , third going to Ben Wallace sailing his Rockstar.

The racing was incredibly close and the conditions nigh on perfect and with three long beat’s and runs you had a chance to get back should a minor error happen. Mick C the OOD for the day kept things moving and the superb race team worked well together. and the racing just flowed. The behaviour on the bank was superb after an earlier incident,( just handbags ) and a pattern was beginning to form as it usually does, Class generally show’s , but the battles all thru the fleet were a delight to watch. By 3 pm the breeze fell away slightly and the skill factor really came into play, the wins being well spread and nobody having it all their own way , in fact we manage to do 8 races , that’s actually 16 heats, Robert Mcintosh sailing his V9 came out tops ( the Lincoln lads heard he was good ) he took two wins, Our very own Darin Ballington was second , 1 win, Tim Hand another local in third with 1 win, Dorian C 1 win, Brian S 1 win , and Paul Kelly 1 win and he will be delighted as he was sailing his new V 10 I had heard that some boats had changed hands after the event, this is such an exciting class to race in, so guys very well done to the top three , in what was a very competitive fleet, In fact very well done to all skippers taking part and many who travelled, you are all a credit to this great sport. Also the race team Colin H , Mike W , Richard J, Mick C , Ed W , and Both Jen H and Darin B who did so much behind the scenes as well as on the day . Hope you all have safe journey home and your all welcome at Lincoln any time .

Picture quality not great sorry .