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LMYC at Play
DF 65 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025 Held at Lincoln.
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.
DF65 Winter Series round 6. 23rd March 2025
Jen and Martyn arrived at Scotland Farm to find most of the set up completed by the (very) early arrivals. Thank you Roger Bowtle in particular!
The wind was blowing a light NNE which increased gradually and provided for a few duckings occasionally on the gusts with our A+ sails. What became apparent upon launching were the substantial wind shifts that took place largely unannounced and for variable periods of time. The leading boats were never safely positioned and the chasing boats always had opportunities. These were frequently cruelly curtailed though!
We were a little light on numbers for the initial races as Dave C had not arrived, plus Adrian and Roger were spending some time on their rig settings. The first two races gave the impression that it would be a day dominated by Pete and Mick as they streaked off into the lead and had epic battles, but with Pete coming out on top. How events can change in sailing though! Martyn found some form in race 3 and took three wins on the trot, with Jen getting two seconds. No team racing involved. Pete seemed to have gone off the boil and Mick found that his performance had collapsed due to a broken bridle which he never fully recovered from in the subsequent racing, despite making a temporary fix. Dave Rigby was always in the mix but was not favoured in the wind shifts and buoy roundings. He did walk away with race 8 though, demonstrating a dominating win.
Adrian, Roger and Dave C didn’t find full form, but Roger was finally enthusiastic about his boat performance after the break, describing it as ‘going like a train’. I’m taking that as being a good thing and it was lovely to see his satisfaction!
Fourteen races were completed in a friendly manner with great honesty and sportsmanship being demonstrated. Pete sailed with consistency and recovered top form to take the final three races (with Martyn usually snapping at his heels) and to take the day which cemented his pole position on the series leader board.
Final result; 1st Pete, 2nd Martyn, 3rd Mick.
Thank you to all for making it an enjoyable day and for assisting with the setup, line starts and the efficiently conducted tidy-up. Special thanks to Pete for his assistance with the course setting and buoy positioning.
Report by Martyn Aspinall. Results by Colin Helliwell.
Here are the final standings for the Winter Series – congratulations to Pete Waters!
Three dates for your Diary
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.
DF 95 Winter series round 7 and Final round, 9th March 2025.
It looked like a beautiful day, just a small factor , where was the breeze, Patient’s I hear the call , and so it was , Roger the OOD had got there early and with the absence of his assistant got everything ready for racing , which bank ??? eventually a light flutter of a breeze filled in from the North east and we were racing along the East bank, Tim H had jumped in the dingy and sorted a great course, the 9 skippers looking happy and radiant in the sunshine, the lake looked fantastic as last week the dye was put in, and wow did it look blue, Pete was away quick as ever and took the bullet in the first race With Mick and Tim taking 2nd and 3rd , Colin H who needed this round, was 4th and sailed well, a tad more aggression on the start line, mate, races two and three it looked like becoming the Pete and Time event as both were giving it all , Kevon E got a great 2nd in race two, Micky boy was keeping in touch with the leaders, and with the breeze giving us a few extra knots it was looking a lot better even though the breeze was veering and it eventually swung far enough for us to change banks after race 5 which Tim won. Paul K was putting in some good results while Alan N 438 was suffering leccy or range problems, Colin T was soldiering on as was Roger, But the top three were sailing very well and any chance of crumbs fell by the wayside as Micky boy won the next two races all on the South bank, Pete took race 8 and Tim race 9 , it was going to be difficult to call a winner this morning, it was that tight , and it all came down to countback, The top three are on their way to the IOM ranking next weekend and I am sure will continue the tight racing .
At this point I have to say there was an incident at a weather mark, and Micky boy it turned out was naughty. but at the end of the day , it was great racing and a great day , Many thanks to all who helped.
This was the last of the Winter series for this class and we all look forward to the summer series.
Tim ends up the Winter series Winner, congratulation’s to him, and all skippers for taking part .
Lincoln Radio Sailing Club 