What a treat of a day! Jen and Martyn filled in for Tim as ODs on a day that started off a little cooler than the last few, but the clouds thinned to provide warmth from the sun and the breeze did not disappoint! Roger was at the water early and did all the initial setting up which gave us plenty of time to assess the course requirements in a roughly WSW breeze which blew at an angle to the South bank. The South bank was chosen for racing and a single beat, spreader and downwind gate course was selected. This lasted us for the entire session, despite some interesting changes in the wind strength and direction. Roger and Jen efficiently laid the buoys to Martyn’s directions and a prompt start was made with nine skippers, all on ‘A’ rigs.

Richard Jutsum started out like he really meant business and stormed the first race. He was only just beaten by Sam and then Martyn in races two and three before a blip in his results followed by disaster striking with the failure of his winch elastic. This was soon fixed, but Richard oddly didn’t find form again. In the meantime, Martyn was cashing in with a couple of wins and Colin H found his mojo and became a front-runner after race two. Sam Parker too was in hot contention, and was frequently at the front. Jen finally found her settings (a bit late) on race five with a dramatic improvement in results. Kevin was sailing fast but somehow managed to lose his positions during racing.  

By the coffee break, the competition had become fierce, often with little separation between boats at the finish line; and this was after two and a half laps! Roger Bowtle was thrilled by a win on race seven and reckons to be dining out on that for a while. Well done Roger! He then graciously took on most of the start line duties by choice! Colin Toll was not drumming up top finishing results but was a contender in the thick of it, and thoroughly enjoying himself, as were we all. Just a quick note here to acknowledge Alan who unfortunately suffered electrical problems and only competed in the first race.

We didn’t know it at the time, but the final winning result between Colin H and Martyn was down to the last couple of races. Colin compiled the results in HMS as usual and was the first to discover that Martyn’s final two wins had sealed the day. Colin promptly sent his congratulations!

We had a great day! The sportsmanship was top notch. The course worked well. The wind played ball. We got a sun tan. Great fun, just as it should be, and everybody acknowledged that. Looking forward to the next round!

Report by Martyn Aspinall

Results compiled by Colin Helliwell

I.O.M Extended days racing at Lincoln SUNDAY 6th April . This will be your last chance to have some great race’s prior to the 2025 I.O.M National Championships held at Lincoln , always great racing, If you fancy it just leave a comment on the MYA Downwind FaceBook page .

Not to late to enter, The 2025 IOM National championships at Lincoln over the Easter weekend, Get your self entered HERE , best make it snappy cos entry could well close on Monday, and you would not want to miss out would you .

DF 95 open event, “The Martin Lambert & Absent friends trophy“.” 11th May , this is definitely a date you don’t want to miss if you are a keen DF 95 racer Entry will be going up on the MYA site soon.

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.