Incorporating I.O.M Midland series round 3 / & LRSC Winter series round 1

The Clive Hand 2024 was held on Sunday 6th October . A good entry of 30 competitors from around the country arrived and were welcomed with the usual bacon butties and a light breeze from the East. Roger Crates and the team of helpers quickly got the course set on the South bank and after the briefing racing got under way with two seeding races, this then decided the action plan and racing began with a few minor changes to the course over the day. The day as I said was light and fluky and could and would catch out the unwary. Below are the results and a couple of pictures from the camera of Caz Hand ,The rest of the pictures can be seen in due course on the Website under the tab ( Clive Hand ) . The trophy this year went to a new home and the very deserved winner was Peter Baldwin from Birkenhead, very well done to him , runner up was Derek Priestley from Fleetwood and in third place our very own and previous winner Tim Hand. Prize giving completed the club wished the competitors a safe journey home.

A bit misty and murky with a light breeze from the North East greeted the skippers for the last round of this series , Roger B 74 had got all the gear out and ready , many thanks for that , One skipper was suffering with a bad back , but determined to sail after a few weeks off, another forgot to put his brain into gear and forget the correct sails , but hey ho. Three skippers were in with a chance of winning the series, 12 skippers had contested it at at one time or other but only half that number showed up today. Richard J 699 took the first bullet, in what was a frustratingly fluky race course, Martyn 66 took the second and then Pete W 65 started a run of four straight wins, Jen 69 was keeping in touch and was never out of the top three in fact she won race 7 in fine style, After his win Richard 699 went slightly off the boil, but in truth the conditions and fluky ness was making it difficult. Mick C 46 struggling with a borrowed A suit called it a day early , 10 races were completed Pete W 65 took 6 wins , Bad back Martyn took two wins with Jen and Richard the other two , What it actually means is that we have a winner in the summer series, Jen H 69 , so very well done to her. The Winter series will start in October , and I would hope to see this series better supported.

Summer series’ results below .

A fantastic South Westerly greeted 17 skippers including two very welcome visitors Simon Fairman and Peter Guest , Darin was on site early as usual and had I believe got the course sorted , which was perfect up and down the East bank, the breeze just south of south west , variable in strength and gave great racing conditions , Tim H 134 one of the clubs hopefuls in the upcoming Worlds in Australia got of to a cracking start and nailed the first race with Rob W 97 our second club member in the Worlds taking 2nd place, a great start and of course where they would want to be, It has to be said that for the second time we tried out our very basic handicap system, and three skippers stuck their hands up and were given a thirty second start on the main fleet, it worked very well, Darin got into the groove and took the win in race two, and followed through with another bullet in race three , from a personal point of view, I was finding it very difficult to stay in contention with the front runner’s and I have to say I probably was not the only one , but we rarely get 17 on the start and getting a good start was paramount. The racing throughout the fleet was tight with close battles everywhere. Last race before coffee, and again I personally made a small adjustment to a set of spreaders I had fitted during the week, It and a small wind shift at the gate made a big difference and I Mick C 46 recorded my only win during the morning Darin close behind took second spot, with Roger C 30 picking up third. Coffee break took it seemed a lot longer than normal, and this needs to be addressed in the future to ensure as many races as possible. Races 5 and 6 Darin once again took the wins and in race 7 Sam P recorded probably his first win at the club, well done Sam. The fleet as you can imagine is very competitive, But I for one was pleased with the behaviour on the bank, and long may that continue. Darin took the last race and is obviously the bench mark for the upcoming winter series that starts early October with the Clive Hand Memorial trophy ,

So well done to Darin and we also would like to say good luck for out two members Rob and Tim who are off to the I.O M Worlds in Australia next month it is I am sure a great honour to be able to represent you club ,, Our club in this great event , Many thanks to all Skipper’s and we look forward to seeing you all back for the Winter series.

Picture from this years I.O.M Nationals at Poole earlier this year

Lack of interest from club Skippers meant that only 5 skippers showed up for some great racing, The stand in OOD’s Mick and Dave got everything sorted so that we had a great beat and run on the East bank. Two laps and a beat to the finish, and we all started on A suit with the breeze straight down the lake, No sign of any green stuff and the racing was close, race one had Dave R 180 taking the win and Micky Boy coming home second only to find his hatch cover was not stuck down and his boat full to the brim with water Hey ho it was still working , duly taped down, off we went again , and Dave got another win, Today was not going to be as straightforward as I thought, The racing was very close, with some skippers so relaxed they were one handed on the tranny, hey ho , Race three and Mick got the win with Richard taking second spot and Dave in third, keeping his average nice and low, not mentioned Jen or Sam yet but both were sailing very well, One more race before coffee and the wind strength was getting up, Dave took the win and Richard recorded his third second from 4 races , ( sailing one handed must work then !!!)

Coffee break over and plenty of banter and the odd swear word which I apologise for , we all changed down to B rigs , but it was to be Micky boys last race as his boat sailed of into the distance and reached the far bank in short order, Richard took race five with a win with Jen and Dave fighting for the pieces , Jen then went on the rampage with two wins on the trot and Dave trying his best to catch up, Richard went off the boil after trying to use both hands on his tranny , Sorry mate , and Sam came back fighting and got a couple of thirds, at the end of the day.

Dave took the win on the day and Jen second , well done to them ,,, have to say great racing and great respect on the bank and on the water, Mick cleared everything away as he had no boat to sail, even got the dingy back on the ramp, and we all got away sharpish at just after 1 pm