So the final DF65 winter series race at West Lancs YC took a different turn on Sunday. The top three spots in the series were already decided so those three skippers plus two others decided to enjoy a spot of DF95 racing instead. We guess that this is the largest gathering to date of a DF95 fleet and it was a great day to go racing.

JT (51), Liz T (4) and Tim Lanigan (no number)

Over the day there were 12 races and 4 skippers won at least one race showing how tight the fleet was. The wind was interestingly light and flukey and during the lunch break it even made a 180 degree switch that made the course change for the afternoon racing pretty simple!

Tim Lanigan (no number) and Liz T (4)

Unsurprisingly John Tushingham showed up with a custom A suit which looked really neat as we have come to expect. Liz Tushingham was sporting one of the NCA demo fleet with stock sails, John Brierley and Tim Lanigan were sporting stock boats and Tim Long turned up with a stock boat apart from the pimped hull stickers.

JB (84) and Tim Long

The boats were very evenly matched throughout the day, perhaps JT’s custom sails made the difference or perhaps Liz puts something in his Weetabix at breakfast each morning, we’ll never know but he was clearly the quickest skipper of the day.

JB took a couple of races to get into his stride but once there he was often seen heading the fleet at the finish line despite getting tangled up on a start mark whilst leading a race.

JB recovering his boat after catching a mark

Tim Long set off well then got too excited about the gravity of the day and went off the boil a bit before winning a race, running out of battery and then finishing the last race of the day in second spot to finish the day third overall.

Tim Lanigan was the only skipper not to win a race, however he was sailing a borrowed boat from Derek Priestley which had a few technical issues during the morning session before making better progress in the afternoon. Liz Tushingham won a race and had some solid finishes but in a fleet this tight the numbers soon stack up.

JT finished first, JB second, Tim Long third, Tim Lanigan fourth with Liz T in fifth spot.

The DF65 racing was enjoyed by six skippers and after the 12 races Mike Parkington took the top spot with Chris Chatfield in second and Sue Parkington in third spot.

The overall West Lancs YC winter series was wrapped up at the last event with JT taking the top spot, JB in second and Tim Long in third spot.

West Lancs YC will be holding the inaugural Dragonfest in May as well as a few other DF events over the course of the sailing season, these dates will be posted on the events page.

Thanks to all those who worked hard to make the series a great success and we look forward to the 2017 winter series which starts on the 8th January.