Evening folks, great news, we’ve got some details of the next DF Racing TT event, to be held at Fleetwood. To take a look at the NoR please click here.

Fun fact for the day, you can most defintely see the Isle of Man from the picnic benches located outside The Mount pub….definitely.

Last years crab before the Rule 69 violation.

Fancy some sailing over the Easter period? Well look no further than a couple of events happening up North. Friday sees Ripon SC holding their annual Easter Open Meeting and Monday sees Fleetwood hold their annual “Crab Race” which may need renaming this year after John Tushingham BBQ’d last years crab.

Full details of both events are posted on the Events page.

We have also now had the updated TT results to round 4 at Coalhouse Fort. Check out your scores on the doors on the Results page.

So we’ve had another successful weekend of racing but there is plenty more to look forward to. Ripon SC are hosting an Easter Open Meeting on Good Friday.  Details are posted on the Events page, take a look by clicking here.

The next TT event is to be held at Fleetwood at the end of April, more details to follow as soon as we get them. As usual it’s sure to be a cracker of an event, wind straight up and down the lake.

Uncle Derek Needs YOU!!

So today was a little better in that it wasn’t chucking it down with snow. The wind was a little bit up on yesterday, also good. However with the breeze up and the super dense air the windchill was probably pegging the temperature at around minus 9 or minus 10, maybe even a little more.

Once again 16 skippers rigged up and after a car park briefing they tramped round to the lakeside to take in the breeze. C rigs seemed like a reasonable place to get started however Tim Long decided to go with his D rig to see how it went. Ken Binks started the day where he left off yesterday and took the first race bullet. Gosport skipper Wayne Stobbs took second, Tjakko third and Tim was 4th with his D rig. Race 2 saw Ken win once more with Tim second and John Howard in third spot.

Race 3 saw Tim go with the flow and he put his C suit on to match the majority of the fleet. It seemed to work and It was Ken, Tim and this time local skipper Glen Meekoms in third spot.

It was race 4 that Tjakko managed a second place finish, not close enough to bother Ken but close enough for a race with Tim. After last nights drinking it seemed that the fresh air was starting to clear Tjakkos hangover! Race 5 saw the same result with Vinnie Zammit, who hadn’t seen a DF95 until this morning scoring an excellent 5th place finish with Glen in 4th, a result he would repeat for the next few races.

The wind didn’t really shift during the session and the two lap course was a great test of skills, especially bowling downwind at top speed whilst in close quarters to other boats. Another couple of races took us to 6, with Ken making bullets look easy and Tim finding good pace to take a brace of second spots.

By this point most skippers needed a warm and a visit to the gents so we had a 15 minute break. With the weather not getting any warmer it was decided to run another couple of races and all it a day. Ken, Tim and Tjakko then Ken, Tim and the other Dutch skipper Peter Molenaar with local skipper Dennis Graham and his amazingly orange boat taking 4th spot.

The prize giving was held out of the breeze in the car park and it was Ken Binks who earned the top spot, discarding two first places to win with just 6 points. Tim Long sailed a solid day but couldn’t match Kens blistering pace and he finished second. Tjakko will never drink with Tim again but he did well to finish third. Local skipper Glen finished a good day on the water in 4th spot with stalwart skipper John Howard rounding out the top 5.

Today’s top three having a high speed downwind battle.

Congratulations to all that braved to conditions, not just today but also yesterday which was also a test of stamina on the racecourse and also in the bar!

April sees us in Fleetwood, details will appear soon enough.

Results for today are posted below.

So with the event called on yesterday and a hardy group of skippers assembled in the car park it seemed like the deluge of snow wasn’t putting too many people off attending round 3 of the DF Racing TT series.

It was gone 10am before there was any let up in the snow and once it stopped it was quickly replaced by a biting NorEaster. The decision was made to get on with it using the available marks in the water and with C rigs on boats the 17 skippers we’re ready for the first race.

A block of four races were held with Ken Binks winning the majority and Dutch skipper Tjakko Keizer taking the other win with third places being taken by Tim Long, Wayne Stobbs and Nigel Brown.

After a brief break we cracked into the next block of races with Ken, Tjakko and Tim continuing to set the pace.

After 8 races the wind had increased a little more and it had begun to snow once again. It was decided that this would be a good time to call the day and at 1330 the prizes were handed out to the top three skippers. Ken won the day with a great display of heavy weather sailing, Tjakko took second place and Tim completed the top three.

So by just after 1400 we were in the hotel bar and it’s looking doubtful that some of us will make it to the 20.00 dinner booking!

DF95 tomorrow with a better day forecast we’ll see how we get on. No photos just yet. Results will be published later.

Just had the following update from the Coalhouse race team. The weekends racing is on but wrap up warm.

Dear All,

The Good news Both Days will go ahead as planned. Briefing at 09:45 registration from 09:00.

Be aware there is zero protection from the forecast wind direction, you will need to wrap up warm. Footwear to keep you dry is essential as the lake side is both wet and muddy!

Due to the historical nature of the site no tents or windbreaks can be erected using any method which breaks the ground surface.

Parking will be in the carpark to the right not on the grass as usual, there will be someone to direct you. ONLY the race committee may park by the lake.

Look forward to seeing you all tommorrow

So we’ve just had a mail from this weekends race team to warn us that the impending weather and conditions at the lakeside may lead to a cancellation of rounds 3 and 4 of the TT series. We will get a decision early tomorrow morning and post it online for general consumption.

We are less than a week away from rounds 3 & 4 of the DF Racing TT Series which will be rolling into Coalhouse Fort RYC on Saturday morning for a weekend of racing that promises to be just as close as last time round.  There are sure to be a couple of new winners once again with current Champ John Tushingham taking in some IOM Racing in Malta, leaving the door wide open for everyone else to get involved.

Speaking of getting involved please take a look at the NoR on the events page and get your entry in.

Hopefully we’ll see a bit more breeze at this years CHF TT! – Photo Sue Brown.

So as the weather gets better (does it?) there are plenty of events to be looking forward to, this coming weekend we have the Invicta Trophy taking place at Chipstead in Kent, next weekend 17th & 18th March we have the third and fourth rounds of the 2018 DF Racing TT series at Coalhouse Fort, a great venue and still plenty of time to ping an entry over to the organisers.

We’ve also had a mail from the guys at Gosport who are busy making sure that your 2018 DF65 National Championship goes smoothly and we get great breeze and sunny skies. They would like to remind you that there is still plenty of time to get your entry in for this event.  The entry list at the end of February stood at 29 skippers which is good for the first month of entries and with two months to go it would be reasonable to expect a few more skippers to come out of hibernation before the closing date.

You can view the entry list by clicking here.

You can check out the NoR and other essential info by clicking here.  One point that isn’t specifically mentioned in the NoR is Junior entry fees, these have been confirmed as £15 per junior skipper.