Wow , the weather ,the forecast, the Jubilee, But hey ho 8 hardy skippers turned out for what turned out to be a fantastic mornings racing at Scotland farm, Darin Arrived early and proceeded to set out a great course up and down the East bank, the wind lighter than forecast was steady but shifty around 8 knots , and so everybody set to tuning to get the very best out of the A rig, Jen meanwhile had a little job to do before sailing, and did a great job, Mick Cooper our OOD for the day, under the close wing of Darin, did a great job and kept racing moving to allow us to get in nine long races, and claim our two discards. The rain came and went but we were all dressed for it and it was not too cold, Race one Darin stamped his authority, and followed through with two more bullets, three on the bounce!!!!, and we were wondering if he could be caught, it may have been a bit of divine intervention from the deep, with Mick C 46 taking race four, before coffee break. Pete W 65 one of the clubs top performers with his Venti had been doing a big boat race from Cowes to the Eddystone lighthouse and back and was pretty tired and maybe a little out of salts but came back strong winning the last two races. Maybe Dave R 57 had been up to something the night before, as he too was out of salts. At the end of the day it was very good racing, with Darin B 98 coming out on top, it could have been closer But Mick C 46 failure to see danger whist on Port and crashed into Dave R 57 who was on Starboard whilst clear ahead of the whole fleet, scuppered his chances of being a tad closer to the winner. There were two bottles of wine ( Jubilee weekend) on offer one for the winner, and one for the fifth placed skipper in race five, which was one by Mick C .

Well done to Darin for his win , unbeaten in the series so far , if you think you can catch him come and have a go if you think you are good enough , and well done to everyone who took part, For those that stayed away , you really did miss a great day of racing.

A smaller than usual, but still enthusiastic and competitive fleet, lined up for the latest round of the LRSC Summer IOM series on Sunday May 29th. A northerly breeze coming diagonally across the lake at Scotland Farm, causes difficulty for any RO and skippers, and Darin B was the RO struggling on this day. He managed to set a series of courses that whilst not as long as usual produced close racing with various skippers taking a win, a good start helped but was not essential as the shifty breeze did allow overtaking and most skippers experienced the joys of the ladders, but also the pain of the snakes, even those normally at the front were not immune from these. Racing started at 10.00am prompt and despite a few course changes a full set of 12 races was completed just before 1.00pm, in fact skippers were enjoying themselves so much that an additional 13th race was enthusiastically sailed before the morning’s racing was drawn to a conclusion. 

The scoresheet below shows the final scores, but this doesn’t tell the full story as the consistency of the skippers is improving and with no breakdowns and evenly matched boats the difference between a good result and the other end of the fleet is getting narrower.

A group effort got all of the gear away in a timely fashion and the weather, although cold on arrival, turned into a lovely day, not quite a shorts and T-shirt day, but still pleasant enough to see skippers sitting around and chatting after the racing had completed, although maybe Tony would have preferred to have got going rather than wait for the recovery truck to get his car started after leaving the door open all morning. A suggestion to the committee may be to get a set of jump leads to keep in the club house as this will no doubt happen again!

Many thanks to all those helping Darin run the day and next weekend’s IOM round 5 should see some of the regulars back again but they shouldn’t expect to have it all their own way!

Don’t forget that visitors are always welcome, if you fancy a morning’s competitive racing just send an email to Mick C or Jen and get your name down. 

Just a Quick Note it is I.O.M Round 5 next weekend , Sunday June the 5th

Below is an old Picture , perhaps when Lincoln hosted the Nationals

Wow , great racing at Lincoln, Round two of the summer series gave us wall to wall sunshine a steady South Westerly around 10 knots, in fact not far off perfect conditions for racing off the East Bank.

12 skippers turned up OOD Mick C 46 explained the finishing process, and the new Windex Mod designed and modded by two top skippers at the club to help skippers lay a decent start line, and then we were racing. Mick C 46 took the first bullet, with the orange fast machine of Jen H 69 getting second place and Mike W 76 getting a well deserved third.

The Beat was perfect and with three beats full length, each race took some time, and you could not afford to stray to far from the rumb line, or else you were liable to get caught out, especially if you went to far on port, you just got sucked into a lift all the way and eventually had nothing to come back on, on starboard, good performances were being put in by Roger B 74, and it was great to see Gordon B 23 back after undergoing cataract surgery, only one eye for now, he explained because of a retina problem all straight lines appeared curved, ,,,, Start line nightmare, well done Gordon I know you enjoyed your day.

Dave R 180 always red hot, was doing his best to disrupt the sharp end, with some great racing ,Peter C110 admitted he was having a bad day, great to see Geoff S 580 back after his cruise, Pete W 26 started well but by race 6 he was down the road with problems. Ed W 31 despite Jens attention to his rig and Mouthy Micks advice with the transmitter ( gentle thumbs )was having a real bad day, Alan N 232 improved as the morning went on, Keith H 669 took four wins on the day, to Mick C 46 three, but consistency, finally gave the mornings win to Mick C 46 .so many congratulations to him, and in fact all skippers and helpers who made the mornings racing so enjoyable.

What finally made the morning was Peter H came along with his two grandchildren Charlotte and William aged around 7/8 I guess And Roger and Jen let them have a go with their boats, when there was a break in sailing , it made their day I am sure and they are welcome anytime , Start em young , and Lincoln are doing that for sure.

Another great morning at Lincoln, 15 skippers of all ages including two visitors from Manor Park, Tracy B 49 and Colin W 03 turned out on a beautiful May morning, wall to wall sunshine and a nice 5 to 10 knot breeze from the South East, OOD Dave R 57 had no hesitation in laying the course on the South bank with three great beats. The new sturdy Windex poles from Mick C 39 made laying the line correctly far easier and all starts got away clean.

Mick C 46 stormed away in the first race with his Venti and was never troubled, Darin B 98 with his Brit Pop took second and Pete W 65 took third Spot. A young chap called Tony did the finish line for us with Allan taking over from race 6. so many thanks to them.

Pete W 65 took the second race from local hero Tim H 44 and Darin B pulling third , there was to be a battle all morning between Darin B 98 and Pete W 65 with Dave R 57 getting some good results to stay in touch and it could have been a lot closer had Dave just had to concentrate on his racing without being OOD on the day. There were some great battles up and down the fleet and the two visitors were at the end tied on points with Tracy B 49 taking it on countback with her fabulous 2nd place in heat 5 .

Interesting to see three different designs in the top three, and I can see this battle going on to the very end of the series, This series at Lincoln is very well supported by the club skipper and today we were probably at least 4 skippers down and two at least who would have a shout in the top 5 positions, so long may that continue, The behaviour on the bank was exemplary, and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.

Many congratulations to Darin B for taking the top step and the other two guys on the podium .

Also many thanks to the OOD and the many helpers .

If you find yourself reading this post, and maybe are a dingy sailor, but are just a bit curios about radio sailing, maybe your knees are taking a bit of a hit , Pop along to Lincoln any Sunday morning and somebody will be sure to let you have a go. You never know it may just change your life.