Wow another great racing day at the farm, South Westerly a good few knots and B rig was the order for the day , Talk of changing to A rig, later did not materialise, we all clubbed together to get everything sorted after Roger B had got all gear out and ready , Dave R did the briefing, but funny how some people just forget to pack the wrong rig , and realise the DF 95 rigs don’t fit the DF 65 boat, oh dear , but , who should come to the rescue , Martyn with a totally spare set of rigs, Thanks mate , a few minor adjustmenst and were ready to go, so sailing under the number 70 Mick C normally 46 got of to a good start winning the first two races , the second by a whisker from Martyn right on the finish line. Racing was much tighter than it looks on paper with some skippers mastering the tricky beat , 3 of them in each race , better than others, and the downwind was just as tricky, Mike W strung together 5 third places , very consistent during the second half and it was also interesting to see Alan E lead one of the races for the first lap. Jen H was a little up and down but managed to get a win on the board as did Dave R, but on this occasion Mick C with borrowed rigs was not holding back, and took 6 wins from the 8 races , Long course ‘s reduced by one lap for the last three races kept the race numbers down, but it was great racing and apart from Dave C who receiver gave out in the later stages, I am sure everybody went home happy, well done to Mick C for the win , and well done to all who helped out in the absence of an OOD . That’s it for 2023.

So enjoy your Winter break and we shall be back on the 7th January for the first race of the new year, it will be IOM’s and something I for sure am looking forward to

Merry Xmas all Lincoln Skippers and follower’s and a happy winning 2024 to you all

The previous days gales had passed, thank goodness , but the forecasted breeze was missing when OOD Mike W came to try and set a course , however 8 skippers had arrived and the game was on, racing started on the East Bank , and even before racing started it was going to be a no no for Mick C 46 as a twitchy winch had a mind of its own , luckily he had a spare winch and changed but it cost him two races. Pete W 678 took full advantage and took the first two races , with Colin H 301 in hot pursuit, Mike W 76 and Mick Cooper 39 taking the third respectively. The wind was very light and with a new winch fitted Mick C 46 showed good speed to take the win , Cooperman 39 and Mike w 76 getting great results in second and third. Same deal for race 4 and Jen H 69 who was having a quiet day manage to get second spot, with Mike W 76 keeping his consistency going with a good third spot. Coffee loomed and thanks to Dave C 537 a few mince pies were on offer , it was at this time we decided to switch to the South Bank, And Pete W 678 continued his winning ways with three straight wins, very impressive , the breeze had filled in somewhat and the racing was excellent, Colin T 431 and Dave C 537 having their own private battles. All in all this was a good days for racing , the rain held off in the main and everybody enjoyed the morning, we will all look back and think where we could have done a bit better, in some races, and some of us will have gone home with a great big smile on our face, just before he sorted the results for us , Well done Colin H 301 a very good showing, Close racing it certainly was , not the best turnout by a long way, but hey ho , Many thanks to Mike W the OOD and many thanks to everyone for mucking in and getting stuff put away, Pete W well done for the win .

Wow , Chilly it could well have been, the temperature that greeted the seven skippers, some of whom had travelled a fair distance I may add was 1 degree above Zero, Most houses and areas had a fair dusting of snow some say 4 inches, some did not brag about it, but the gritters had been to most places, and the roads if you were careful were ok . Rob Wilson the OOD got there early, and we all decided to leave the dingy where it was and use the marks available to us , worked out well as it happened, the breeze once it was found was in the South east, much more of a whisper , and racing started and finished on the South Bank, “sounds exotic doesn’t it ” It was not,, but the trampling feet soon had the snow bedded down, and racing begun, very light whisper of a breeze as I said before and Pete W sailing his Venti made light work of race one, securing the over Darin ,, race two and in fact race 3 Darin 49 got the bullets, and race 4 Rob W 97 took a win, generally the racing was tight, and with no wind chill , all skippers stayed warm as far as I know, it was great to have such a good turnout in very adverse conditions, and we know that some skippers were just unable to get to the lake due to the conditions , but you all have one more chance 17th December will be round five of this series and I am expecting it could well be a mince pie day , However back to the present , 9 races completed Darin with 5 wins Pete with a brace and Chris E 74 and Rob W 97 one a piece, some skippers found it very tricky to get to grips but hey as always, as we know cream rises, so very well done to Darin who by the way travelled a fair old distance to race , enjoyed by all a morning of fresh air and one again good racing. in fact a pleasure to be out .

Adrian Cripps as OOD had everything in hand for a prompt start with a lovely light SW wind that kicked in at just the right time. A simple and appropriately short course was set and stood for the whole session with an initial race of 1 lap (with 2 windward beats) before moving to 2 laps (3 beats) as the wind steadied. The day was very cool …. but the racing was red hot over all 12 races!

The majority of wins were shared between Jen and Martyn with 5 each. Dave and Sam scored a bullet each. Dave caused much amusement by his attempt to set a record for how many times a skipper could be over the line at the start. He was cheered on as he managed 5 or 6 and had no competition on that aspect of the day. He did recover his race position admirably each time though and tied with Jen for second place with 23 points, only losing out on countback. Martyn took the day with 18 points.

The results don’t really tell the story of how tight the racing was, with most skippers enjoying good positions at some point during the races, and those positions changing frequently as skippers picked up wind shifts and sailed tactically. The finishing was frequently a rapid succession of boats, so close was the racing. All this was conducted with some good-natured banter and with very few incidents requiring penalty turns making this a very enjoyable day.

Many thanks to Adrian for the setup and guiding the day’s racing …. plus doing more than his fair share of the starts! Ed had a few rig and battery issues and took over start line duties for the final few races; thank you Ed! Thank you also to those that participated in the final efficient tidy away.

Martyn Aspinall

26 November 2023