In the end, 20 sailors registered for the first day of the Twixmas event at Fleetwood Model Yacht and Power Boat Club.  After a short briefing by Derek Priestley, racing got under way shortly after 10:00 under the watchful eye of Bob Jolly as RO assisted by scorer Judith Baldwin.

The fleet raced as one on a course with two beats at a slightly different angle to try and make the best of the shifty 5 to 10 knot breeze.  Dave Burke was quick out of the blocks to win Race 1.  Derek took wins in Races 2 and 3, with Dave then picking up Race 4.

This was followed by a short break for mulled wine and hot mince pies and then resumed with Race 5 where it was the turn of Mick Chamberlain to take the win, followed by Jen Hand picking up Races 6 and 7 by a good margin from the rest of the field.  The final race (number 8) before lunch provided yet another winner in the form of John Sharman.

After a quick break for lunch, John again showed the fleet a clean pair of heels to win Race 9.  Race 10 then provided another new winner in the form of Chris Chatfield, followed by the first win for Peter Baldwin in Race 11.  Derek picked up Race 12 from Peter right on the finish line, The final race which may have been unlucky for some was won by Peter as a small compensation for narrowly missing out on Race 12.

When the final scores were added up, only one point separated the top three, with John Sharman (Keighley) taking the win on countback from Dave Burke (Lincoln) and Peter Baldwin (Birkenhead) in third just one point behind them.

Unless you’ve been under a stone for the last month you’ll no doubt be aware that there are a couple of pretty major events happening in 2020.

DF95 Garda action 2019. Photo Sue Brown

First up is the DF95 European Regatta which, once again, is happening at the great Lake Garda venue at Campione. The 2019 event attracted a good few competitors from a number of countries and overall the event went off well.

To encourage more skippers to attend the 2020 event has been pushed back a little and will now take place between 15th & 17th May. This should ensure that the temperature is a little more acceptable for the competitors. This event makes up one round of the 2020 DF Racing UK TT series and the NoR has been published on our Events page.

There is also an event website which will keep you bang up to date with what’s going on. Clicky here to take a look.

Looks like a nice place for a DF65 get together….

Later on in the year, in early September, we are all gearing up for the second DF Racing Global Championship. This time the event is featuring the DF65 and is being held in Sweden, about an hour South of Stockholm.

There is already a lot of interest in the event which takes place from 6th – 11th September. The Swedes are keen to get as many skippers involved however the entry is limited to 70 skippers. Although there are currently 74 registered skippers it is worth getting yourself on the list if you fancy a trip

If this event is half as good as the 2018 Globals in Texas…well,  we are in for a treat!

Check out the event website by clicking here.