DF Racing TT Series Overall Results to Round 4
Here are the overall results to round 4 at Gosport. Crazy to see that we have had nearly 90 individual skippers take part in at least one event so far this year. Fancy seeing your name on this list, well you should get involved!
DF Racing TT series, Round 6 Birkenhead RSPBC – DF95
Well that was a different day, there was a whole 40 mph less breeze today which made the racing almost like…well…racing! A big fleet of thirty boats gathered on the start and raced as a well behaved single fleet which made your start absolutely crucial and made or messed your race before you got up the first beat.
Things started as they finished yesterday with Tushy taking the first two races before getting mauled up the first beat in the third race which gave him his worst result of the day with an 18th. Race three also saw Yukio take his maiden win with the DF95, a stylish win for sure.
Tushy took race 4, 6 and 8, Pete Baldwin race 5, 7 and 10 . Mike Weston, sailing for a change took race 9 to his great delight! Tushy took 11 with Derek winning his only race with race 12, after that it was Tush all the way apart from 15 where he had issues!
As you’d imagine there were a good number of incidents throughout the day and turns were duly completed by the offenders which made the sailing good spirited throughout the fleet. As the day went on the weather got better and better with most people peeling off layers of clothing throughout the day.
Tushy of course won the day, 20 points ahead of a consistent Peter Baldwin with Derek in third spot three points back on 49. Buzz finished fourth with Tim Long in fifth spot after a testing mid morning session. Commodore John Brierley rounded out the top six. Results below.
Huge thanks to all at the Birkenhead club who gave their time willingly to allow us all a great weekend of racing at this prestigious club on the Wirral.
Next stop is the DF95 Nationals at Eastbourne in mid May, get yourself entered if you haven’t done so already.
DF Racing TT Series, Round 5 Birkenhead RSPBC – DF65
So there forecast was for it to be breezy, which at Birkenhead means it’s either up and down the lake and the sailing is good fun, or it’s across the pond which can be challenging to say the least. Today was up and down the pond….bingo!
So, C rig equipped we took to the water after a quick briefing from Mr Martin Roberts, our PRO for the day. Seeding races were held with club commodore John Brierley and Wayne Stobbs taking the wins. It was soon decided that we could probably rattle some races off better if we sailed as a single fleet which was how the day went from race two onwards. Liz Tushingham beat Wayne to the win in that race with John Tush in third.
John took the next two with John B taking the second spots and Buzz and Yukio taking the third spots. Race 5 saw local skipper Andrew Peter take the win from Liz and Jim La Roche.
It seemed that the trick was to get a good first beat, get round the top mark in good order and then try as hard as you could not to fall over down the run….this sounds super easy but trust me it wasn’t, even the pointy end skippers were having to concentrate a little bit today!
Race 6 was John T, John B and Buzzzzz, with John T taking 7 and 8 as well. 9 was John B with Tim Long second and Mick C third. ten to 16 were pretty much a clean sweep fro John T with Derek and Liz stealing a win apiece from him.
At the final reckoning it was John T taking a convincing win from John B by 21 points with Buzz a further 25 adrift of JB. A mere 4 points separated third to sixth, with Liz in fourth, Wayne in fifth and Derek in sixth spot.
Tomorrow promises a lighter day which might see the DF95’s sporting a B rig but we’ll see. For now some results.
DF Racing TT Series, Round 4, Gosport – DF95
So Sunday dawned bright and sunnybut once again it looked like another challenging day for the 52 skippers that turned out and also the race team. However after the briefing and a little delay and some mark moving we actually had a good days racing which was held on the far bank at the Gosport lake.
The wind was from the North or North West for most of the day, it backed West at times and there was no question of using anything other than an A rig today, which was handy as they were all over the other side of the lake!
The courses today were zig zag up and down during the morning, followed by some nice windward, leeward courses during the afternoon. There was always a windshift when you didn’t really want there to be one, it always favoured the side of the course you weren’t on but hey ho that’s just the rub of the green.
Seeding races eventually kicked off, three fleets again saw three seeding races, winners being Tjakko, starting well after yesterdays win, newcomer Craig Richards and Tim “Snackers” Long who was having his first outing with his new “Wonkaboat”.
Race two saw newcomer Craig take the bullet from Alex Cory who took that as his best result of the day, as he struggled with boat issues, and Ken Binks in third spot. A couple more DF95 newcomers in the shapes of John Taylor and Shaun Priestley took the first two spots in race three followed by Buzz Coleman, fresh back from a holiday somewhere warm and sunny.
Race four saw Tjakko take the win from Buzzzzz and John Taylor. Buzzzzz took race five from returning skipper Adrian Tomlinson and John Tushingham. The final race of the day was possibly the best, it was a three lap dash with lots of shifty stuff to make gains on, or lose out on. Tushy won it from Buzzz by a length with snackers a couple of lengths further back.
A couple of mechanical maladies saw Uncle Derek take an early bath, a misbehaving receiver and winch putting the stoppers on any challenge today.
So today’s winner was Buzzzz who was top of the pile with ten points, Snackers took second spot eight points back, having done just enough to beat Tushy who was equal third with John Taylor just one point behind on 19. Yesterdays winner was fifth, newcomer Craig sixth, with Ken, Nigel Brown, Shaun and John Brierley rounding out the top ten. Points wise there wasn’t a whole heap in it and you could have thrown a damp tea towel over fifth to tenth.
Huge thanks to the Gosport Club and the race team on both days for allowing us to turn up and hold some racing at one of the UK’s most iconic clubs. There were many volunteers on both days who quietly got on and made the whole thing work. Thanks guys, without you we wouldn’t be able to enjoy our racing quite so much. Thanks also to Chris Watts who had the hardest job of the weekend in setting courses and getting the racing underway as our PRO on both days, he made the best of what he was dealt and most of the time it was pretty good bearing in mind the terrible direction we had all weekend.
Next stop Birkenhead at the tail end of April.
I’ve written enough now, I’m off to bed!!
DF Racing TT Series, Round 3, Gosport – DF65
Well, Friday practice should have given us a clue to what might happen during Saturday’s racing. On arrival at the club at 0830 Saturday morning we were greeted by a pond full of lovely looking water, it was very flat, not a ripple on it and no breeze to speak of. The forecast was for 9 – 10mph from the North East clocking round to East….ish which is possibly the most tiresome direction for the organisers at the Gosport club.
After the briefing there was a short hold whilst the wind tried hard to fill in which it sort of did. We started the seeding race from the far end of the big lake which was the only real option, a triangle course was laid, relaid and the race began. The three seeding heats were won by Tjakko Keizer, newcomer Simon McCarthy and Uncle Derek in some very shifty conditions. DF65 National Champ Alex Cory took the second race followed by another newcomer, George Simmons in second spot and dad Keith in third. The third race was Tjakkos followed by local skipper Nigel Brown and yet another newcomer John Taylor. The fourth race took us to, and beyond lunch with C and B fleets sailing an increasingly challenging course at the bottom end of the lake with a break for lunch and then A fleet sailed another challenging course at the top end of the lake which was won by Simon with Derek and Tjakko in second and third spots.
The wind directions and the available control areas made for a really tough days sailing trying to spot your boat in what was usually a gaggle of boat at the top mark which was right over the other side of the pond in what was usually a very shifty bit of pond.
I guess you’re getting the script here, it was as difficult for the skippers as it was for the race team who worked very hard to give us the best possible course to race on. We had holds on starts as the wind shifted a good 60 – 80 degrees then re settled where it had started from.
Race 5 was Simon once again with Ken Binks in second and Tjakko in third.
The course was then moved back to the near bank at the top end as the wind died, moved and then returned. This, of course, made the top mark another strain for the eyes with a number of collisions causing issues throughout the fleet. John Tush took race six (he’s not been well you know) with Nigel second and Keith third.
We managed a seventh race which was to be the last of the day which saw Nigel, Alex and Tush take the top three spots.
A genuinely tough day at the office but with three fleets and little to no breeze the race team and the skippers did well to complete seven.
So the winner was……..Tjakko, newcomer Simon was just one point behind in second, Nigel was a point adrift in third, Alex was 4 points back in fourth, Derek and Tush were a couple more behind in fifth and sixth with Ken in seventh, newcomers George and John Taylor finished eighth and ninth with Wayne Stobbs rounding out the top ten.
I’m certainly looking forward to a beer or two after a shower to warm me up, it’s been a chilly day, there have been a good number of Southern skippers sporting “big coats” even I had to add a layer today.
Tomorrow promises similar but the sun might be out and we’ve another ten skippers as well.
DF Racing TT Series, Round 2, West Lancs YC – DF95
Just one Sue photo today, it was too cold to be out taking photos!
Once again there was an element of surprise this morning as the assembled skippers were greeted by another dose of “hard” water, perhaps a bit harder than yesterdays water too. Luckily Alan was on hand in the ice breaking rescue boat and after a half hour or so of blatting around the lake with varying degrees of crunching he had broken the majority of the ice into tiny bits and we were ready to go racing.
Race officer Tushingham was in charge today and after a briefing and some course setting the 35 skippers were ready to go racing. As yesterday we were in two fleets but the course was a tricky beat out into the lake with a difficult windward mark and spreader which caused issues throughout the day for both fleets.
So, top rig equipped the fleets took to the water for the seeding race which saw Derek take up where he left off yesterday and Dave Burke take the win.
Race two saw the racing take the usual A & B fleet form with the top six from B fleet being promoted to A fleet and then the bottom six from the A fleet race being demoted back to B fleet. A tough bouncy day for some skippers who braved the cold more than anyone.Peter Baldwin took the win with Dave Burke looking strong in second with Mark Dicks in third spot.
Race three saw Derek take the win from Tim Long and John Brierley.
The sun was out and began to make the difficult windward mark even harder for the skippers, it was a long way out and difficult to judge the layline, you either overstood by a country mile or you tacked too early, didn’t make it, tacked again onto port and collected the starboard boats. The key to success in these conditions was to go with the overstand and foot off and blast round the windward mark usually leaving a muddle of boats behind you.
By race four most had realised that this was the case and learning from the previous race John Brierley took the win from a somewhat off colour Buzzzzzz Coleman and Ken Binks.
By now the wind had begun to clock round and getting a clean start was becoming a very important part of your race and if you could find clear air you were winning. Derek did this in race five having recovered from B fleet with Dave and Tim not far behind in second and third.
Race six was one of two halves, the B fleet sailed the original course however it wasn’t right so PRO Tushy made the decision to move the course to the bank outside the clubhouse, a good call indeed, it made sighting everything just that bit easier for all involved. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and perhaps if the course had been shifted over the lunch break we might have got to eight races and two discards rather than just seven and one. No matter, the new course was good and the wind was building…..why is this always the way, the best sailing is always at the end of the day!
Ken took the line from JB and Dave Burke.
The final race of the day saw the wind build even more during the B heat, boats fell over, people couldn’t tack and the wind didn’t leave us for the A fleet either, PRO Tush even gave the fleet 5 minutes to change rigs if they wanted to. A couple did and it really paid for Gordon Bailiff who scored a 4th place finish in the last race of the day. Derek, Peter and Chris More, also sporting a B suit took the top three spots.
So that was it, an earlier finish to Sunday’s racing to allow the travellers to do just that, and with skippers from all corners of the UK, from Scotland to Gosport and Abersoch to East Kent I reckon we had it covered.
With four wins it was Derek that took the day but only on countback from John Brierley as they were both tied on 18 points. a handful of points behind these two was Tim Long in third on 25 with Dave Burke in fourth spot one 29 and Peter Baldwin just one point adrift on 30. Full results below.
Talking of ties there were no less than 5 points ties on today’s score sheet, testament to the class ethos of close racing.
More thanks to West Lancs YC who have delivered in spades this weekend, they overcame two mornings of frozen lake, kept us fed and watered and generally offered us the usual warm welcome that they always do when we call in for some racing.
Did I mention it was cold……..
Next stop is Gosport in March. Entry is open on the MYA website, I’ll post the details on this site very soon.
DF Racing TT Series, Round 1, West Lancs YC – DF65
So there are many things that you’d expect from a trip to West Lancs, great hospitality, a superb lunch from the galley, some great racing and one or two other things besides. However on arrival at the club this morning for the first round of the DF Racing UK TT Series we certainly weren’t expecting to find a frozen lake and no breeze.
Hard water and no breeze…..bother!
As it turned out the “hard” water was actually more slushy water but in the end it was the lack of breeze that held up the racing on what turned out to be a really rather nice February day. Although it was initially a chilly start the sun shone brightly and warmed things up and by 10am we managed a briefing to explain the delay. As John Tushingham finished his quick chat to the fleet about boat prep the club wind indicator started spinning, albeit slowly, and the breeze started to appear.
35 boats pitched up for the racing and after a reasonable delay PRO Tim Long had a starboard rounding course set and by 10.50am we were ready to hold the seeding race. Much like last season it was the usual suspects at the front with Derek Priestley and Buzz Coleman winning the two heats. The wind was forecast to clock round through the day so there was some course faff which was sorted out by Alan and Colin who braved the cold and spent much time moving marks throughout the day. A quick tweak after the seeding race and a reschedule of the heat board by the ever efficient Judith and we were off with races two and three which Buzz took with Nigel Brown in second spot and Derek and John tush taking third spots.
A fleet action
Another course tweak and races 4 and 5 saw Derek in top spot with John Brierley and Ken Binks taking seconds and Mick “ooh have you seen my new car” Chamberlain and JT taking thirds. With the wind still clocking slightly we had another tweak of the course which allowed more traditional port roundings possible and this made it a little better again and we were into race 6 where Buzz was back at the top once more with JB and JT in second and third.
It wasn’t until race 7 that JT found his mojo and took a race win from Derek and JB and it was to be his only win of the day. Perhaps he hadn’t had enough red wine on Friday evening, maybe breakfast didn’t fill him up, whatever it was it seemed that JT was having a rare off day. Race 8 saw Derek at the top of the pile with Nigel in second and Buzzzzzzz in third.
The final race, 9, saw JB take a win with Lincoln’s Dave Burke in second and Peter Baldwin in third spot to round off the day.
In the end it was Derek that took the win from Buzz by just a single point, 14 to 15, JB sailed a solid day to finish third on 23 points with JT in fourth on…..wait for it ……..23 points. Fifth spot was Nigel on…..23 points too, some epic countback for those three spots.
As ever in the DF65 fleet the close racing was all the way up and down the fleet, with my personal highlight being Ralph Wilkinson sailing an amazing B fleet race and making it up to A fleet, not too shabby for someone who is 83 years of age.
B Fleet action
Thanks indeed to Judith who ran the fleetboard and made my day as PRO a reasonably painless one, thanks to Colin and Alan in the course boat, lots of mark moving and re laying. The final thanks go to all those skippers who braved the weather to come and enjoy a days racing, it was fun, so much so that we’ll have another go tomorrow when we crank up the DF95 fleet for the first time in 2019 with another 30 odd skippers due to appear lakeside.
But first it’s an evening at a local hostelry for a few sherberts with friends old and new.
And finally, you’ll see we have some lovely pictures of people and boats, these are courtesy of the ever lovely Sue Brown, yey Sue photos again, thanks Sue!
Full HMS results below.
Results!
DF Racing UK Class Association 
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