So a couple of weeks back we mentioned a couple of events that are happening on the 21st August. The first is the Eastbourne event at Princes Park, details on the events page or the Eastbourne MYC website. If you are planning to attend please let the club know, it really helps the organisation of the day.

The other event at Askern was arranged in error, there will be no DF95 sailing however if you have an IOM then please take that along for a sail instead.

If you fancy some racing this weekend there is sure to be lots of club racing happening around the country, with an RG 65 travellers event at Two Islands MYC in Milton Keynes on Saturday with DF65’s very welcome. There will be some DF95 racing happening on the Friday afternoon as well should you wish to join in. Location details on the Two Islands website

Another August event for you, this time a week before the other two and in a more central location at Two Islands RYC in Milton Keynes. The event is round 6 of the RG65 Travellers Trophy and as usual DF65 skippers are more than welcome to attend. Full details of the event and how to enter are available on the Events page.

So we’ve all recovered from the Nationals and we have heard that there is a lot of competitive club racing going on around the country which is great to hear.

Last weekend saw the latest stop on the DF65 ND Summer Series at Birkenhead which saw light conditions make the going tough for the DF65’s amongst the thoroughbred RG65’s. Dave Darwell took the DF65 win from local skipper Roger Lincoln and John Bush. Full report and results sheet here.

We’ve had some communication from two clubs, Eastbourne and Balne Moor which are holding events on the same day in August.  The Eastbourne club are holding their annual DF65 open event on the 21st August at the Princes Park lake. Full Notice of Race is available on the events page.

The Balne Moor club are holding a DF95 event at Askern Lake on the same day which will be their first DF95 open event. The lakeside café will be putting on the famous meal deal which is well worth it! Full Notice of Race is also available on the events page.

So whether you are down South or ooop North on the 21st August there is a DF Racing event for you to get involved in.

Well the van is unpacked, rigs washed down, boat washed, pesky rudder servo replaced and whilst I’ve been faffing around with that t’other Tim (who did rather well at the weekend) has written a report and posted up the results.

There is no point in me trying to remember what happened but suffice to say it was a really great weekend with 39 boats turning up. That’s 10 more than last year and a good few more than the years before. The class is growing into a really nice, friendly and social group where the racing is close all the way from the top of A fleet to the lower order of C fleet. Everyone went home with a smile, even Buzz…

Massive thanks to all the competitors for pitching up to sail and even more thanks to the amazing team at Fleetwood who kept us all in check on the racecourse and fed and watered in the clubhouse. Many thanks to you all.

I’ll not spoil it for you but Tushy won it, but then you already knew that I guess…..

Checkout the report and pictures on the Fleetwood website by clicking here.

Dear DF Skipper,

I’ve written to you guys a couple of times over the last few months suggesting that you should enter Dragonfest and we’ve sent you a mail about what IRSA are trying to do to the RG65 class without asking the class first. Tonights mail is about the upcoming DF65 Nationals which is inbound next weekend at the fantastic Fleetwood club in the North West of the country.

The entry currently stands at 38 skippers who are coming to take in the great sea air at Fleetwood, the great Friday practice and talk by John Tushingham and the sensational racing that will take place as well as the excellent social that those canny chaps at the Fleetwood club have arranged for our pleasure.

Now the sea air, the practice, talks and racing are almost a given at this sort of event but the social can sometimes be a bit dis jointed with people staying distances away from the venue, however El Presidente, Sir Derek of Priestleyshire has organised two nights of amusement for us, just yards from the club and within spitting distance of the popular New Boston Lodge hotel, where rooms are cheap and plentiful and still available.

Friday will consist of a debrief at The Mount pub (next door to the New Boston) probably with a little bit of food for those hungry bunnies amongst us, some wine and ale and many stories of the Fleetwood club, vane sailing and radio sailing regaled by some of the sport’s elder statesmen, all of them well worth hearing.

Saturday evening will consist of the end of sailing, a super quick change and back to the Club for some more comedy team racing with the “Not the 24 hour race” where the teams will race round the pond as many times as they can in one hour. This will be followed by an excellent meal at the club, probably some wine and ale followed by a class specific quiz for everyone to enjoy before a return to The Mount for the day’s debrief and some more tales of model yachting past and present.

The racing will be great, two, perhaps three fleets, great breeze straight down the lake, trust me, it’ll be great.

So why haven’t you entered, you’ll be good enough to compete, we all got involved at some point and trust me you’ll have a ball!

Check out the details on the Fleetwood club website.

https://fleetwoodmypbc.org.uk/2016/05/04/df65-nationals/

Cheers

Tim

So we’ve just about unpacked and dried out after a great weekend of racing on both sides of the Pennines. The Fleetwood DF65 event happened on Saturday with a bit of wind but not much, some low cloud and some rain followed by some more rain then some sunshine. Lots of racing for the 16 skippers, much amusement and some frustration but overall a great day out.

The “Circus” then travelled to Weecher on’t moors above Yorkshire for a day of DF95 racing, the wind that hadn’t turned up at Fleetwood took another day off and left the 12 skippers with a light wind day of racing but a lack of rain made it more bearable and there were some decent spells of sunshine.

There are reports for both events on the Results page, both reports written by Tim’s, but only one report is a contender for race report of the year!

So a while back the Fleetwood club agreed to reschedule their DF65 meeting which was initially planned for the DragonFest weekend. They have rescheduled the event for the 11th June which is a Saturday. There are some details below to help you out with organising your day. The following weekend of the 18th and 19th was going to be a 65 & 95 weekend up at Keighley however this weekend has now been cancelled and the DF95 event will now take place at Keighley on Sunday 12th June which is the day after the DF65 event at Fleetwood. Details are available on the Events page.

Communication from Fleetwood below.

On the 11th June we have the DF65 Open meeting/Nationals warmup. Entries via contact form on the Fleetwood Website, its £3 for a days racing and to get the inside scoop on the wind, the course and tactics for the Nationals and have a race against the local hotshots, well… mostly Derek.

Lots of walking under sunny skies for the 92 races over 5 days. Photo – Sue Brown

So we’ve just about recovered now and have unpacked, washed boats down and settled back into the daily grind of life however as a reminder of what we did last week there is a report on the full DragonFest week of events on the results page. Well worth a read, even if just for the social reports. There are also links to the superb photos taken by Sue Brown. Take a look at the results page here

We are just a few days away from the start of DragonFest 2016, the first half of the week will be given over to some informal DF65 racing with some DF95 racing and demos on Friday with DragonFest proper starting at 0930 ish on Saturday morning.

There are some amazing prizes on offer with a DF95 for the winner and a DF65 for the other two podium finishers plus another amazing spot prize for someone which will be decided by the DF committee.

If you plan to enter any part of the event please please please use the online form at www.dragonfest2016.com  which will allow West Lancs YC to get some bearing on numbers for food over the event. You can still enter the event right up until registration on Saturday morning, we will be processing entries through the week after the racing so even if you are thinking about a late entry we can make it happen for you!

Entry fees will be collected at registration on Saturday morning and includes lunch for both days and a Prizegiving buffet as well as a top quality DF65 related goody!

If you are around on the Friday for the DF95 racing you can either pitch up with your own boat or come along and use one of the available demo boats, there will be plenty of informal racing taking place along with some amusing banter and a good bit of social afterwards.

Whilst the sailing over the week will be pretty epic it is fair to say that the social aspect of the event is just as important, I’ve dusted off my BBQ and sorted out the awning for the van and will probably be equipped with a fridge to keep my beer nicely chilled so it would be advisable to bring a chair along so that you’ve got a perch for a drink apres sailing.

There is a great car park above the venue where, if the wind is right we might have a spot of land yacht racing one evening, if you’ve got one, bring it along, it’ll be a giggle.

The club will be open from 2pm on Tuesday 10th onwards and we’ll see you there!

Cheers

The DF Crew

Those chaps down at Coalhouse Fort are holding a DF65 race day in aid of the Air Ambulance. Details are on the poster below, click to view a larger version.