So having had the entry for West Lancs open for just a couple of days  we are seeing quite a lot of entries, more than 10 for each day so far. Plenty of time to be sending us your entry through for one or both days. Check out the up to date entry list on the event page.  For those that fancy a practice at the venue there is the second round of the ND Winter series for DF65 coming up this Sunday, great wind, hot lunch, plenty of friendly banter….need we say more!

West Lancs waiting for the wind!

Happy New Year, a little late I admit but hey I’ve been busy registering loads of boats(nearly 50) over the festive period. Wayne is now back and registrations have returned to normal.

So here we are, staring down the barrel of another season of DF Racing around the country.

Whilst many of you will be sailing every week at your club some of us are waiting patiently for the first rounds of the 2018 DF Racing TT series.

Well here it is, we’ve had the NoR from the guys at West Lancs YC and have posted it up online along with an entry form so you can get on and sort out your weekend activities.

Remember that this event is back to front and we have the DF95 event on the Saturday and the DF65 event on the Sunday.

Check out the 2018 series page by clicking here.

So as we head into the festive period our registrar Wayne is taking a well earned rest and will not be processing any registrations for DF65 or DF95 over the Christmas and New Year period.

Fear not, we are able to offer a seamless solution to the absence and over the festive period if you register your DF Racing yacht you’ll get an email with your number from none other than….me, Tim Long, 2017 Festive guest registrar for DF Racing UK. What a treat.

Whilst I’ll try hard to process the registrations as they come in, there may be a short delay but rest assured I’ll get to you.

Much Festive cheer to all of you!

West Lancs YC in the sunshine

So this coming Sunday we have a DF65 and RC Laser open event at West Lancs YC up in Southport.  Arguably one of the best venues in the UK for many reasons including the superb meal deal that makes a trip over to the marine lake for some racing a really great idea.

Details are posted on the Events page and although pre entry isn’t required it is a good idea if you want a guarantee of some hot food at lunchtime.

Evening folks, we hope you aren’t missing the DF Racing series too much and you are still having some great winter club racing and honing your skills for the 2018 season.

Every year we, as an association, need to hold an AGM to make sure that we are running things properly for you guys, the membership.

We have announced the AGM in accordance with our constitution and there are details to be found on the AGM 2018 page.

We have had word from the Birkenhead club that they are holding an RG and DF popup event on the 9th December and all are welcome.  Whilst the racing will be a mixed fleet there will be prizes for the first RG and the first DF so it will be well worth a trundle over there whilst the other half does the Christmas shopping……

A strong RG entry list is already confirmed but with a really buoyant club fleet of DF’s I’m sure there will be several DF’s taking part.

Full details of timings and entry list are available here.

So this weekend sees the MYA Trade Show and AGM taking place on Saturday at Rowheath pavilion in Birmingham. The DF Racing Association will have a presence at the show in the form of our exhibition stand which will form the backdrop to the RC Yachts trade stand. Membership secretary Wayne Stobbs and class Chairman Keith Coxon will be in attendance and they should be able to answer any questions.

DF Racing product suppliers will be attending too, including Mike Weston of RC Yachts, Catsails for sails and accessories, Housemartin Sails along with several other suppliers who can offer DF Racing products.

Notable absentees will be John Tushingham (Graphite) and Tim Long (Soch Sails), who both have prior engagements and will be unable to attend the show this year.

Refreshments are available all morning and there is usually a very good biscuit selection. Doors open at 10 ish and the trade show is followed by the MYA AGM whihc is well worth staying for to catch up on all of the years goings on and to see what is planned for the forthcoming year .

A previous trade show – Photo Unkown.

Have fun!

So we concluded the DF Racing TT series yesterday with the DF95 racing at Lincoln and we have a winner. A Mr Tushingham of Ilkley seemed to do rather well throughout the season and has come out top of the pile and scoops a very nice trophy for his fireplace.

No doubt it will keep the DF65 and DF95 Nationals trophies company……

Well done John.

Full results available on the results page.

2017 DF Racing Champ John Tushingham with a very handsome chap…

So I’m back at HQ for a brief hour or two having spent another day tramping up and down the bank at Lincoln MYC. Today we notched up a mere 5.5 Miles again, this time under a big blue sky with some scudding fluffy clouds to show us that the breeze was definitely there.

An early kick off meant that there were still a few underperforming skippers during the morning session including JT who used two of his three discards in the first couple of races. Uncle Derek took the first from Snackers and Buzz. Race 2 was Ken from Buzz and Mike and it wasn’t until race 3 that JT found the front of the fleet however he wasn’t to win another race until the afternoon session when he really perked up a bit.

In reality there was no standout performance from any one skipper today, there were consistency issues for many skippers who found the conditions challenging with almost all the skippers catching some ‘salad’ in each race. Whilst it doesn’t stop a DF95 dead like it can do with a 65 it does make a noticeable difference to the performance and if you could get into remove it you certainly saw the difference, but could you cope with the places you lost in performing the task. And so began salad roulette.

So the race wins were shared between the top five or so skippers with overall scores being a little higher than usual across the fleet.

The day ended with JT top of the pile, Buzz sailed well to pip Mike Weston to second by a single point with Ken in 4th, Derek 5th, Snackers 6th and Liz in 7th having had a great days sailing.

Prizes were handed out as were the overall series prizes. So that concludes the 2017 DF Racing TT Series and with more than 150 skippers taking part we’ll call it a success.

Next season kicks off at West Lancs in February when we will start another TT series.

Some of today’s winners pictured below along with the results sheet.

So if you’ve ever wondered how the DF Racing crowd take their social, let me tell you it’s seriously…..