Great turnout for this, round 6 of the series, 15 skippers rocked up for close on perfect conditions for some top quality racing, It was a quality fleet and some superb racing was on the cards, wind direction was not quite the best but the OOD’s gave it there best shot along with Darin who as usual was at the lake early getting the buoys sorted, great to see the two “Eastenders” Roger B and Stuart J ( from down Boston way ) in attendance .

Racing commenced on the South bank, and with a short dog leg it proved to be just perfect, Darin B was out of the blocks fast and took the first race from Mick C ,closely followed by Rob W, it was the first of four straight wins by Darin with Tim H and Rob W picking up the crumbs, in race two Pete W must have had some kind of disaster that I am afraid I did not see, same thing for Mick C in race three but this was a coming together, The Brit Pops looked, and were strong , Darin fresh back from his Nationals experience, a first in another class, and he looked sharp as a knife, The racing was as I said first class with battles fought throughout the fleet, Jen H and Chris G separated by a very small margin, as was Roger Crates and Martyn A . Kevin E was not having the best of days, and as others will ,they are sure to analyse the score board when they see the results . Race 5 and Darin seemed to have a problem which stopped him having a clean sweep , however he went on to win the three remaining races with Tim H doing much better in the last three races along with Pete W keeping Darin honest. Eight races on the day, quality races I may add, the rain held off and the breeze stayed firm, we started on A suit and finished on A suit , I am fairly confident everyone went home with a smile on their face , none broader than Darin who took the win by a country mile, 2nd 3rd and 4th only a single point separating them and 3rd and 4th on countback.

Hey till next time .

Micky Boy

Standings after round 6 below

Not a great forecast , eight skippers showed and Dave Rigby was busy sorting out a course and moving buoys around in the dingy, It was trying to rain but was not cold, Nice to see Alan Newman return after a bit of an absence, One of our number was brave enough to don shorts. Racing was to be undertaken on the South bank and at least we had a couple of usable jetty’s. Briefing was called and to try and get a decent beat the start line and the leeward buoys were a bit of an eyesight test but we coped . Everybody took a turn sighting the start line and off we went , Dave R 180 won the first and Peter C 110 took the second , Mick C 46 got the third, and then Pete W 65 finally kicked in and took the remaining 5 races in a solid performance the rest of us were fighting for scraps in a shifty strengthening breeze. A + rig was used throughout, MIke W 76 had his winch elastic break but only missed one race after having to restring his winch, After Coffee the course was moved a little closer to the bank making it a little easier for the old eyes . Many thanks to all skippers for turning up and helping out with the gear and putting it all away, the bank banter was good, and it was a pleasure racing with you all. Pete W is the hot shot of the moment, so very well done to you Pete for the win, racing was close on the water that is for sure.

Cumulative summer series results below .

DF 65’s racing hard

Somebody mentioned champagne sailing , did not see much champagne but what I did see was some of the best racing and conditions that I have seen for a while ( well actually last week ) It really was fantastic but including our visitor Ben Harper and his wife on route to Scotland, but just popped in to race with us, we only had ten of our own skippers, well it certainly was not our loss, Micky boy Colin and Helped by Darin set up the race course with a view that the expected veer in the wind would kick in around ten am , it was shifty make no mistake but with two and a half beats you had the chance to make amends for earlier folly, 1st race up and Darin B 98 was on it , young Martin A 91 pulled a 2nd and Roger C 30 took third spot. race two and Rob W 97 took the bullet, Roger 2nd and Micky boy 3rd , Roger C was getting better each race with his little wing Wooden design and in race three took the bullet, Racing was tight throughout the fleet and it got particularly tricky when around 20 yards to the weather mark , and a large wind shadow ( these two buoys eventually moved 10 yards South By Darin ) Just before coffee break Darin took a first and then after coffee continued with two more, with Rob Wilson in hot pursuit the brit Pops putting on a show of superiority, Race seven saw Micky boy get away at the start and was not caught to take the win. Many faces missing from this round but credit to those who showed up, Martin was having some fine battles with Kevin who is handling his Venti better and better every week, Tracy just , and only just got the better by 1 point of the ladies challenge, Colin H 20 feels he could have done a little better and I am sure Ben Harper will be chatting to wife Olive all the way to Scotland about his visit to Scotland Farm,

Just one final mention Mick Cooper is suffering at the moment as most of you know, but today he turned up and raced, and in the first race went out wide saw a bit shift and went for it , he tacked onto port and put everybody to shame getting to the weather mark well ahead of the fleet, well done mate , just shows how good the Venti is when your on it , I realise as do others that you run out of steam during the morning , but that is to be expected , you will be back at it before you know it , and I am proud to call you my mate.

Thanks to all for the help thoroughly enjoyable day , Congratulations to Darin for the win , and everybody for the competition .

Results in the series so far Below

A wonderful spring morning greeted the 19 Skippers for the annual Martin Lambert, sunshine and warmth at long last, Pete W the OOD was down early and sorting out the racecourse moving buoys, etc . as the skippers arrived from as far afield as Birkenhead Keighley and Birmingham, ten skippers from the home club were also competing in this the first year using the DF 95 Dragon Flite class , fast and slim.

As we got nearer the time it was evident that the breeze , and it was healthy was steadily veering and so Pete decided we would be better on the South bank . Everybody signed in and briefing complete we all launched into a good breeze with top suits , that promised to get stronger as the morning progressed .

One of our visitors Chris More from Askern took the first bullet, from Rob Radbourne from Manor Park and Mick Chamberlain got third spot, after a quick out of the water tune up for all boats it was back in for some back to back racing probably 3 races. The second race had local boy Kevin 02 taking top spot in a very well sailed race on his part leading from start to finish Tim H 44 getting 2nd and Young Colin H 301 3rd , Race three and Paul 54 one of the Birkenhead boys got the win, closely followed by anther local lad Sam 59, with third going to another Visitor from Birkenhead Tony 429. Coffee break came and went and as the breeze got a little stronger Tim H 44 started coming in to his own, early on in the day perhaps there was an outside influence that caught a few skippers out but this soon disappeared, and it soon became a healthy breeze , all still on top suit, and it appeared the top three or four were battling it out with some tight racing , Tim H 44 just got stronger and stronger but he was kept honest by the chasing Rob 88 from Manor park , and Dorian 683 from Datchet ( London Reservoir near Windsor castle) Tim 44 won 5 of the 14 races, brilliant , Rob 88 won only one but kept his consistency, Dorian 683 won three and ended just two points in front of Mick. Battles went on throughout the fleet , and it was interesting to watch and hear the chatter . Lincoln would like to thank the Visitors and we hope you all enjoyed your day . Our many thanks must got to all helpers for the event but especially To Jen Hand for all the prelim work, which as we all know is immense and never ending . Pete Walters for an excellent job as OOD and he did give up his sailing to do it ,, the finish team led By Mike Williams’s Wife, Maryanne , the scoring by Colin Helliwell, and all the helpers who got the gear out, and away each and every one of you we are all grateful, extremely grateful.

We also thank Martin Lamberts Widow Grainne Lambert for coming and presenting the prizes and trophy.

And finally congratulations to the winner of the Martin Lambert for 2024 Tim Hand , and also good luck in the 2024 I.O.M Worlds that are being hosted in Australia later this year.

If I have missed any thing or anybody out , I am very sorry and apologise

And to add a few nice pictures from Chris More , many thanks .