DF65 Newsletter by Paul Heaney

Photos

The following photos are of the new DF65 Club Champion Trophy and sailing with B rigs in 20-30mph breeze on Monday 30 Sept – Series 3 Race 9.

 

Discussion

I fell that sailing EVERY Monday of the year without a break is too often.  I’d like to have, say, a 2 week break between each of the Monday series next year.  Hence sailing 15 rather than 17 of the scheduled races for each series with 2 available for social sailing.  Your thoughts please.

 

Results

DF65 Tankard (Saturday 21 September)

We had a forecast of a steady 10-15mph from the South-East. However, we had to make several course changes as it started off light from the North-East, swung to the South-East and ended up from due East. We also had to make some dynamic mark changes as a large amount of weed drifted down the lake. Thanks, Chris Durant, for being Race Officer for the first 8 races (Happy Birthday for yesterday!).

Ian Proctor (823) was unfortunate to have several encounters with the weed as well as several boats who had DNF results. It was agreed among all skippers before the last 4 races that we would count the best 9 of 12 to be fair to those who encountered repeated weed issues.

Our DF65 trophy winner today was Paul Heaney (422) with 3 wins and 3 seconds. It was very close between the next 3 finishers with only a point separating each of them. Second was Rob Andrews (52), who took a while to find the correct marks, with 2 wins and 2 seconds. Third was Adrian Wallis (81), who kept giving use a head start, with 2 wins and a second and third was Ian Proctor (823), who cleared the weeds for us, with 4 wins.

Phil Hampson (506) also had a win in Race 9.

 

Saturday South Lake Series (Current Standings)

Saturday 19 October – South Race 10

We were fortunate to get the sunny weather between the Friday and Sunday rain forecasts. The westerly forecast varied between North-West and South-West with wind strength between 5 and 15mph – exceeding the upper limit of A+ rigs at times.

Well done Peter Bird (411) for second in Race 7, after leading all the way to the last mark and to Ian Proctor (823) for winning 3 of the last 4 races once he got his rig sorted out. Also a special mention for Chris Durant (91) for not only sailing all the races seated (making it difficult to judge the distance to marks) but also for his consistency with 5 second places.

Our winner today was Paul Heaney (422) with 4 wins, second was Chris Durant (91) with 5 seconds and third was Ian Proctor (823) also with 4 wins.

There were only 2 points separating the next 4 places with David Donin (334) fourth on countback, Adrian Wallis (91) fifth, Paul Rogers (492) sixth and Richard Filer (35) seventh with a win in Race 2.

Current Top 10 of Saturday Series after Race 10:

NOTE: Only 3 of the 25 Saturday Series sailors have sailed the 2/3rds of required races for this series with one race to come.  Should we go for a lesser percentage, say 50%, for this series next year?

Monday Series 3 (Current Standings)

Monday 16 September – Series 3 Race 7

We had a light Northerly breeze which varied in strength and direction. It was difficult to get around the windward mark if you had a knock at the last moment! We had a good fleet of 17 boats, but unfortunately a few dropped out after the break.

Chris Foreman (161) sailed well until he had some boat problems. Bob Wilson (760) is continuing to improve with regular appearances near the front of the fleet.

Our clear winner today was Adrian Wallis (81) with 5 wins and a second – he had some great starts. Second was Neil Robinson (60) with 2 wins and a second. Third was Paul Heaney (42) with a win 2 seconds and fourth was Ian Proctor (823) with a win and a second.

Monday 23 September – Series 3 Race 8

The weather was kind to us as it did not rain – we even had a short period of sunshine. The breeze was from the South-West at 5-10mph.

Our enemy today was the weed scattered across the lake. We set several start lines before we got going. Unfortunately several boats still came to grief on hidden weed while others continued until they could clear their weed. We even had several restarts for one race as boats caught weed near the line.

Our winner today was Neil Robertson (60) with 4 wins and a dead heat for second. Second was Paul Heaney (422) with 2 wins and 2 seconds, and third was Adrian Wallis (81) with a win and a second.

Ian Proctor (823) was fourth with 3 seconds and a dead heat for second. He would have finished higher except for encountering more weed than others.

Chris Foreman (161) also had a win in Race 5.

Monday 30 Sept – Series 3 Race 9

The forecast was for 20-30mph winds from the West with 40mph due around midday. Fortunately, it was more like 15 – 20mph, but there were certainly some very strong gusts. Most boats started on A rigs, but most changed to B rigs after our break.

We had a few incidents of breakage, collecting leaves, catching marks and Andy Dore (358) even managed to get stuck on a fishing line.

Our winner today on countback (most wins) was Paul Heaney (422) with 4 wins and a second, second was Ian Proctor (823) with 3 wins and 3 seconds. Third was Andy Dore (358) with a win and a second.

Well done Graham Baker (122) for scoring 4 thirds in a row to finish fourth overall.

Monday 7 October – Series 3 Race 10

We had a forecast of 15-20mph wind with rain. Fortunately, the last rain shower ended just before the first race and we had sunshine for most of the morning. The wind dropped to 5-10mph at times. We set a Southerly course of 3 laps and everyone had A+ rigs.

There were two improved performances today. Peter Bird (411) finished third in Race 4 and was among the leaders in several races. Alex Notley (457) has a third in Race 7 and held me off to finish fifth in Race 8.

Adam Notley (438) also did well considering he broke his mast on the way to the club and sailed every race with a temporary splint holding his mast together.

Today winner was Neil Robinson (60) with 4 wins and 2 seconds. Paul Heaney (422) was second with 3 wins and a second. Third was Andy Dore (385) with a win and 3 seconds. Andy nearly had a second win but unfortunately got confused on the lap count in Race 3 while leading.

Paul Rogers (492) was fourth with a win, Ian Proctor (823) was fifth just one point ahead of Adam Notley (438) in sixth.

Monday 14 October – Series 3 Race 11

(Race Report by Ian Proctor)

The forecast of 8 to 16 Northerly turned out to be actually a Westerly 8 however quite long courses were sailed in good time.
The 1st race started in drizzle but soon gave way to a warm sunny morning. The wind eventually shifted to the North for the last 2 races and a running start to mark 4 was set. This proved a little congested at 4 but did provide an interesting beat back to the shore. Adrian (81) was pleased to show how a starboard reach to the line was the best way to start but was not so pleased when everyone copied him for the 2nd start!

Monday 21 October – Series 3 Race 12

One forecast was for light winds and another was for 10-15mph with a good chance of rain. Well, the light winds forecast was correct as we were greeted a mirror-like lake with 1-3mph of breeze from the South.

We had our coffee break after the first 2 races in the hope that the breeze would fill in, but it didn’t so we continued. We set a new course to the South-West for the last three races although there was still only a ripple of breeze.

With only 6 races sailed, some skippers had done Race Office duty and others hadn’t. The fairest result is to award average points for when skippers did their duty (hence using OOD code for Officer Of the Day).

Paul Heaney (422) was our winner today winning all 5 races that he sailed. Neil Robinson (60) was second with a win and a 2 seconds and Ian Proctor (823) was third with 2 seconds.

Current Top 10 of Monday Series 3 after Race 12:

Coming Up (rest of this season)

28 October – Monday Series 3 Race 13

2 November – South Lake 11

4 November – Monday Series 3 Race 14

11 November – Monday Series 3 Race 15

18 November – Monday Series 3 Race 16

25 November – Monday Series 3 Race 17

8 Dec – Gosport MYBC AGM at ‘Lee on the Solent Sailing Club’ on Lee seafront at 12pm.

See you at Sailing,
Paul Heaney

DF65 Class Captain

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