Hoorah, we’re back at it with a fresh for ’21 results page. Find details of TT events below.

2021 TT Overall results.

DF Racing TT 7 & 8, West Lancs YC

So, I’d written this report, saved it as a draft and lost it. So this report will be infinitely shorter than the last one as I’ve just wasted an hour of my day which I can ill afford. So, West Lancs, YC. It’s a great place to sail, the sun can be an issue at times at this time of year but whatever the weather we always get a warm welcome from the club.

No sailing on Friday as it was a bit windy and clubhouse was cosy. Friday social was fun but not too silly which is unusual for us!

Saturday saw the fleet sail a short first beat towards the sea wall which caused issues at times then down to a gate in the middle of the lake which caused issues with visibility due to the sun.

There were seven different winners from the 9 races and a great day was had by all. Results below.

Some social was had on Saturday evening, lots of us went to an Italian which was very lovely as ever and some of us retired to the hotel bar after that.

Sunday was a different direction and there was quite a bit of course re jigging throughout the day which caused some delays.

Five race winners from the 8 races, some big shifts and holes in the light breeze that we had during the day.

As ever we had Sue Brown taking photos of the weekend, check them out by clicking here.

So, thats the end of the 2021 season, it was a little compressed but we had 8 events and there were 131 skippers took part which gives you a good idea of the strength of the two classes going into 2022. sorry I’ve not written more but I’ve lost the will to live having lost an hours work this morning……..stupid technology!

DF Racing TT 5 & 6, Eastbourne &DMYC

Let’s begin of Friday, it was a lovely day, plenty of warm autumn sunshine and a great day for sitting at The Perch café opposite the club and chewing the fat with friends as they arrived. It’s also a great place to enjoy a snack or two, plus a beer or two and a coffee….or two. Unfortunately there was very little or no wind so practice was somewhat limited.

Friday night involved some beers and some curry which was very pleasant.

Saturday dawned chilly but sunny and the 22 skippers assembled on the far side of the pond for the morning briefing which gave us all the info we needed for the day. Unfortunately there was, once again, very little in the way of breeze which was to be theme of the weekend.

With 22 DF65 skippers we sailed in one fleet which meant we were in for lots of races. Wayne Stobbs to the first race from Ken Binks and Jimmy La Roche. Ken went one better in race 2 taking the win from Tushy and Tim Long. Three was Tushy from John “The travel agent” Cleave with Ken in third spot.

So the pattern was set with Tushy and Ken trading wins with the odd interloper making an appearance on the top step, Wayne had another win but Jimmy La Roche, who has never won a DF race before can now claim two race wins in quick succession during the mid afternoon session and with a series of top six finished throughout the day he was having the day of his racing life!

After 22races, yes 22, it was Tushy at the top of the pile and well clear of the chasing pack. Ken and Tim were separated by just two points with Ken on 81 and Tim on 83. Wayne was 20 some points back in fourth with Jimmy scoring his best result in fifth spot on 116 just one point ahead of Dorian Crease from Two Islands. Liz Tush, Andrew Barnes, Trev Binks and Bryn Holland rounded out the top ten.

A quick wash and brush up and off to the pub for the other 50% of any race weekend. Lots of banter as usual followed by another excellent meal at the Tomato and Cheese Italian, which does amazing food washed down by a bottle or 5 of fine wine.

Sunday morning and a North wind was forecast which never really made it. There was enough to race with for most of the day but it got a little light at times and the cloud prevented breeze from making a proper appearance and no amount of weather app surfing could provide any hope of improvement. So, far side of the lake for the 32 DF95 skippers and another briefing about the day’s activities.

A selection of windward marks was set to allow for the shifting wind and all four were used at some point during the day as the breeze tried to clock round further North, but alas it never managed to stay for any length of time.

Startlines were busy and it was important to be on the front row otherwise in the light breeze you were buried and it was a monumental task to claw your way back up the fleet. With 32 skippers we sailed in two fleets so the first two heats were the seeding and it was Tushy and Ken taking the top spots with Craig and Tim in second spots with Dorian and Jimmy in third.

Race two saw Tush, Craig and Tim make the best of the available breeze, Craig, Ken and Dorian were the top three in Race 3 with Ken going one better in 4 taking the win from brother Trev and Dave Andrews. Craig took race 5 narrowly beating Tim and Tushy before Tush stamped another win on his card from Tim and Craig in 6.

It was then Ken’s turn top win again from Tushy and Craig. Race 8 was Liz Tush’s by a margin, she sailed an epic race and couldn’t be caught. Craig and John Tush looked unusually slow in second and third.

Race 9 saw another new winner in Alan Hounsell from Tushy and Ken. The final race of the day was held in what was to be the last of the day’s breeze and Tushy took the win from Craig and Dorian.

At the final reckoning it was as tight at the top as it has sounded with Tushy taking a two point win from Craig with Ken four points back on 20. Tim was a distant fourth on 34 points with Dorian in fifth on 42. Wayne, Alan, Trev, Dave Andrews and Andrew Barnes rounded out the top ten.

An enormous thank you to the race team at Eastbourne, headed by Jes Collier who worked tirelessly to give us the best courses to sail. The scorers and observing team made our racing possible and without you we just couldn’t do it. Thank you one and all.

Also a note here about the scoring system we used over the weekend, it was a new system developed by a club member and this was it’s first “big outing”. It’s operated on a tablet and updates scores in real time without the need for manual entry. Scores taken on the finish line tablet then upload to the main one and sort the heat board and scoring. Jes reckoned it perhaps gave us another hour of racing time on Sunday. It seemed to be faultless.

Prize giving sorted and drives home began, some short, some slightly longer. As I write this on Monday morning I think Bryn Holland is probably having breakfast on top of a mountain somewhere in mid Wales!

Another great weekend of friendly, fun racing interspersed with occasional drinking and comedy banter.

Next time it’s the last of the year at Southport on the 13^th and 14^th November, plenty of info on  www.dfracinguk.com perhaps we’ll see you there? We saw plenty of new faces this time out.

DF95 Nationals @ Fleetwood MYPBC

So, where do we start with this one, the 2021 DF95 UK Nationals? Well, I suppose there are a few things that stand this out as a great event.

First the most excellent welcome that the fleet received from the host club, Fleetwood MYPBC. In the last five weeks they have held three national championships and that task falls to the same few people who go above and beyond to allow us skippers to sail. Fleetwood stalwarts Derek, Bob and Peter along with Judith and the kitchen crew of Maureen, Elaine and Jackie were the people that made it work for us all. Thank you, without you guys and gals none of it would be possible.

Second was that the D rig was finally used at a UK Championship, it wasn’t used by everyone and it wasn’t used for long, but it was used.

The third thing that stood this regatta out for me was having judge Gordon Davies on hand at his judging table. He was keen to have skippers ask rules questions and was more than happy to explain how those rules worked in practice. He was also swift at dealing with the few protests that occurred over the three days.

So there are three stand outs for the regatta.

Let’s start on Thursday morning and the breeze was up and the wind was pretty much as good as it gets at Fleetwood. As competitors arrived there was the usual conversation about which rig to put on and how your journey had been and tea was drunk and boats were rigged. Most went out on a C rig for some informal racing after Derek and Tim had deployed the adjustable start line and moved some marks about the place to approximate a course. During the course of the morning the breeze piped up a bit and some tried D rigs to stretch them in and make sure they’d be right if needed over the next three days. By 1500 Tushy was given the stage in the clubhouse for a brief history and tuning talk on how to trim your smaller rigs. This was followed by Gordon and Derek who presented a rules talk in the hope that issues could be avoided over the weekend. Back to the pond for a few more races, this time with a B rig. That done it was time to check into hotels and head off to The Mount for some food and beer and wine and more chatter.

Friday morning arrived and the breeze was, as forecast pretty much the same as Thursday and at the top of C rig, which was handy as we’d all tuned that yesterday!

Seeding races away with John Tush, Pete Baldwin, John Brierley and Dave Potter taking the top spots. A quick board reshuffle and the race proper began with the wind still strong and straight but with enough shifts to make gains, or losses, up the beat. Tushy looked fast in the second race and took the win from Craig Richards (remember that name) and John Brierley. Race three saw Craig and Tushy swap first and second spot with Potter in third. Race four was once again Tushy from smooth Swede Ulf Lindburg and Peter Baldwin. Craig took race five from Jonas “ black sails” Samson who was scoring well on the quiet, Tushy finished third. Race six, the last of the day was going well with Jonas taking the win from John B with craig finishing third. Further back ~Tushy and Potter had an incident which saw them both having to start Saturday in B fleet.

Tushy held a very small one point lead from Craig going into the overnight with third spot being more than ten points behind.

A quick freshen up and off to a new Italian in Fleetwood where we took three tables for nearly 30 people. Great food, good wine and another comedy evening in the books without mishap or incident.

Saturday morning saw a short postponement as there was no wind on the racecourse which gave everyone a chance to get their heads together and change their rigs to A for the day. It was light but when it came the wind was once again pretty straight and the racing went off well with the adjustable start line being tweaked on numerous occasions to offer a fair line. Peter took the race win in seven with Micky C and Fleetwood’s own Gordon Bayliff in second and third. Both Tushy and Potter suffered and stayed in the B fleet. In race eight Jonas took the win from Peter and John B.

Nine saw Tushy back on form with Jonas and John B close behind. Ten saw Gordon go two better and win a race at the Nationals, always a good feeling. Wayne Stobbs took time out from looking at the Isle of Man and took second spot with swede Thomas Enwall taking third.

The final race of the day was Peter’s with Chris Nichols and John Taylor rounding out the top three. Craig took a four point lead into the overnight from Tushy.

A quicker change than Friday night and some of us headed to the event dinner at The Venue in Cleveleys where, from the top floor you could most definitely see the loom of the Isle of Man….definitely…. An Uncle Derek quiz, some nice food and a few drinks later we headed back to The Mount for another beer or two and an early bath for most.

It rained on Sunday morning and once again the AP went up and we waited for the wind which couldn’t really make its mind up all day and when racing started there was much to be gained and lost by being in the right, or wrong, place on the racecourse.

Race twelve saw Potter take the win from Chris Nichols with Tim Long who wasn’t having his finest weekend in third spot. Thirteen saw Tushy back on top, beating Potter with Gordon Allison in third.

Fourteen was John Taylors race from Thomas Enwall and Chris Chatfield.

So at this point the wind has gotten up a bit, A rigs are still the thing but only just, it’s got a whole raft of lifts and headers in it up the course with an added washing machine spin cycle in it about a third of the way up the pond. To say the least conditions were testing. The top two are Tushy and Craig with Craig needing to bee Tush by more than four places to take the trophy. So the race was all important for those two skippers, as well as Peter who was in a solid third spot but didn’t need a bad race.

Race fifteen, the final race. Peter is in a comfortable lead down the first run only to become entangled in a crab line bringing him to a stop. Four places back and Craig becomes entangled in the other end of Peters crab line, also halting his charge. The race win was Tjakko Keizer’s who had a troubled weekends yachting but finished strongly. Second spot was Chris Nichols with Jonas in third.

The aftermath of the crab line incident was handled very professionally and competently by the race team who offered the options of re running the race or not. The decision was not to re run and Peter and Craig were given average points for the race.

I’m not sure we’ve seen a closer finish to a Championship with Craig taking the trophy by just 0.1 point from Tushy. Peter finished a very strong third overall. Jonas sailed well into fourth with fellow Swede Thomas in fifth. John T came home sixth, Ulf seventh, John B eighth, Goran Uggla ninth with Potter rounding out the top ten spots.

Every time I write these reports I feel it necessary to point out the groups of three to five boats who are all separated by only a handful of points. Racing is tight that’s for sure and Sunday was really hard with the conditions as they were. Credit once again to the race team who coped with the conditions, making course changes and adjustments where required to give us the best courses to race on through the weekend with the hardest job being Sunday where there were lots of adjustments made throughout the day.

Prizegiving was a strange affair with Tushy not coming to the table last to collect the trophy, instead Craig Richards of the Windrush club accepted the 2021 DF95 Nationals trophy and he couldn’t have looked happier. Whilst not perhaps the way he would have wanted to finish his regatta it was the fairest way to proceed and he sailed a consistent weekend in all conditions only counting one double point score. Congratulations Craig.

Full results below.

Once again huge thanks to Derek and the Fleetwood team. Rob Walsh got involved as ARO and did a fine job helping Derek over the course of the weekend, thanks for donating your time.

Everyone had a fun weekend and despite a few boat related issues most of the starters on Friday finished the race on Sunday, they were ably assisted by Mike Weston who had a van full of spares and an abundance of knowledge.

Fleetwood’s own Alan “Smithy” Smith was awarded the Percy trophy for completing every race throughout the weekend but finishing down the field….but certainly not last! Well done Alan, you’re what the sport is about, getting on with it. Apparently he has a new pit crew for next season……

As well as this report there are several other available on the internet, John Taylor has daily ones on Facebook, Jonas has one (it might be in Swedish) also on FB. Sue Brown has now edited her photos and they can be found by clicking here.

We’re off to Eastbourne in two weeks for a TT event with 65’s on Saturday and 95’s on Sunday, join us if you fancy some good racing and some great social.

DF65 Nationals 2021 @ Poole RYC

After our last outing at Weecher back in July the DF65 Nationals @ Poole RYC would be the first run out for many of the UK’s skippers since West Lancs waaaay back in February 2020 before the world changed. Luckily for us the great organisation from the gang at Poole RYC made us feel safe and welcome.

A bunch of keen people turned up on Thursday afternoon to scope out the location and the local drinking places as well as resting up from some pretty long drives to Poole from all corners of the UK and beyond.

Friday dawned with little breeze, which became a theme, and as the club came to life the usual suspects emerged and started setting boats up and taking to the water to see if they had remembered how to sail after the long layoff. Some informal racing took place then it was back to the hotel and pub for a debrief before dinner was had and stories of the last 18 months were regaled along with brave talk about weekend performances.

Once again Saturday dawned a little hazy ( both weather and heads) with not much promise of breeze from any specific direction. Tea was drunk, stories were told, more new faces introduced themselves and before we knew it it was 0945, briefing time. PRO Peter Wiles introduced himself and his team and we were given the details of our day. Obligatory skipper photo taken and we all headed out onto the big lake for the seeding races to decide who would sail where.

Unsurprisingly John Tushingham won his race with Peter Baldwin winning his and DF Fleet newcomer Jerry Ibberson taking the win in his race. None of those races were easily won. The outer lake course was shiftier than a shifty thing that has just been appointed head of shifts at Oxford University, you get the picture. Pressure from the left, head there, it dies so you head right hoping to make it there before it dies and you have to go left once again. Why not stick it up the middle then I hear you say….well there was less than no pressure there as well as the washing machine of doom where the wind went round in circles.

The race team made the best of their lot and set us fair courses for what prevailed but it was a game of snakes and ladders for the first couple of races. Then, as if by magic, the sea breeze kicked in and we enjoyed racing from the far end of the club lake towards the seaward end for the rest of the day. Not as brisk as perhaps forecast but a great deal better than the morning breeze. It paid to go out to the catwalk but you could futter up the middle hoping the breeze would allow you to tack back out before the port entrance to the mark was really required….it rarely worked that way.

So into the heats proper and with three fleets and the light breeze anywhere between 40 – 50 minutes was required to complete a full race. Race 2 was won by Norwegian Odd Stray who showed well the week before at the IOM Nationals in Fleetwood and had come down on the train. Second spot was Dave Burke who would, over the weekend be quite effective but quiet as a mouse on the racecourse. Third spot was retired Swede Ulf Lindburg who spent the weekend in a lounge chair enjoying the late summer sunshine looking smoother than melted butter!

Race three and Tushy found his feet and took the win from Ken Binks and Alton Water’s Malcolm Price who was looking racy in the light stuff. Tushy, Peter Baldwin and Odd made hay in race four. The final full race of the day was , once again Tushy’s with Ulf in second and Gosport’s Nigel Brown in third.

Race 6 C and B heats were held in dying breeze and as the six o’clock deadline for racing rolled by it was clear that the A fleet would take whatever they got first thing on Sunday. Fish and chips by the lake were very welcome and well organised by the club and as the sun went down it saw Tushy leading with Odd second, Peter third, Tim Long fourth and a strong looking Malcolm in fifth spot. Back to the hotel / pub combo for a few easy pints and an early bath for most.

Sunday was almost a repeat of Saturday and we started with A fleet on the big lake and another game of snakes and ladders where some of the top five took big scores and ended up back in B fleet hoping that the wind would somehow get better. C fleet went on in similar conditions and then B fleet had a left, right race which saw Tim Long staring at a demotion to C fleet until he gambled it all on right and overhauled a whole bunch of boats to get promoted back to A fleet quite comfortably. It wasn’t to be for a few others.

With the wind not helping the race team it was decided to take an early lunch at 11.25 and make the move back to the club lake and wait for the sea breeze which kicked in just after another splendid ploughman’s lunch expertly prepared by the ladies in the galley. Underway less than an hour after the stoppage it was almost like PRO Peter and his team have done this sort of thing before,

So on to race 7 and Ken was at the pointy end of the race followed by Tushy and Buzz Coleman who had spent most of Saturday telling himself he couldn’t do it and his boat wasn’t right. Well it was now. 8 Was Tushy’s from Nigel and Mickey Chamberlain who hadn’t made an impact up until now but would go one better in 9 and take second from Tushy with Dave Burke in third spot.

With top spot assured Tushy could ease off in the final race but you could have thrown a blanket over place 2 – 10 and not known the outcome. Dave Burke took the final race from Lincoln’s Peter Walters with Tushy making sure he had a discard to play with in third. Error of the day came from Tim Long who managed to make an epic mess of the finish which had he done it properly would have seen him finish the Championship third, however, tiredness and a lack of nightclub action had caused the issue and there were no other guilty parties in his own incident.

Some boat faff and tidying later we had a great prizegiving with the top seven in reverse order, Mick Chamberlain, Jonas Samson, Nigel Brown, Ken Binks, Derek Priestley, Tim Long and Odd Stray in fourth spot.

The top three were Tushy at the top of the pile, a slightly pleased Buzz Coleman in second and Dave Burke in a very well deserved third spot.

As ever you can look all the way down the results sheet and see clusters of close scores and close competition that the class promotes and thrives on. Nine points separated second to sixth spot and it was clearly a very nip and tuck championship played out in testing conditions and stunning late summer skies, if you weren’t there then you missed out.

Well done Tushy who, once again gave us all a good spanking and made it look easy. A bigger thank you however to those new faces that turned up and got stuck in at something you’ve not tried before, a great effort from all of you.

The biggest thanks of all however got to the Poole RYC and the oodles of helpers that pitched in and helped out so that we could all enjoy our racing. The race team made a great job of giving us challenging courses to race on, the boatman made alterations as required, the galley crew fed and watered us and the behind the scenes crew who stuck it all together. I certainly left the club for my 6 hour drive home having had a jolly good weekend.

Thank you Poole RYC.

Results and rogues gallery of winners below.

As things are back to normal we also had Sue Brown, ably assisted by the lovely Ness taking photos this weekend. They can be found by clicking here.

Don’t forget the DF95 Nationals in Fleetwood at the end of the month, places available, get in touch!

DF TT 2021 Rounds 1 & 2 – Weecher

After a sixteen month Covid break, the DF Racing UK Travellers Trophy series eventually got back on the road for the first two rounds at the Keighley club high up on the Yorkshire hills. 

Saturday morning was a shock to the system, after the recent heatwave the temperature came plummeting down, gloves and hats were much in evidence, unthinkable the day before. Despite the cold, race officer John Sharman got the fleet of 23 DF65s away in what was an awkward wind direction, A+ rigs were the order of the day, but the gusts proved very challenging at times with steady thumbs required downwind to keep the hull under the rig, a true test of boat control but great fun nonetheless.

The fleet was split into two fleets using the tried and tested HMS scoring system and the winners of race one, the seeding heats, were John Brierley and Jim La Roche. From race two on it was the usual names of Derek Priestley and John Tushingham who shared out the rest of the race wins, closely followed by the very consistent John Brierley who only once scored outside the top four in any race. It was a day for those that had visited their opticians recently, by necessity the leeward mark was rather distant but it did set you up for a good long beat back up the lake and despite the length of the course there were some incredibly close finishes, not least in the final race ten where runaway leaders Derek and John were scrapping it out for the overall win with Derek just managing to to get across the line in a near photo finish to put them both equal on points, but winning the event on countback with five wins against John’s four.

We were happy to see the sun come out in the afternoon and lift the temperature to a more acceptable level. So, racing over for the day everyone retired to their hotels for the evening for a bit of R&R in preparation to do it all again the next day.

With the DF65s packed away it was the turn of the DF95s to strut their stuff. Unfortunately the wind was only around 8mph and blowing from the north, which meant the race officer John Tushingham gave the fleet a long walk to the new race area. The breeze proved a bit fickle, coming and going and throwing in large shifts to keep things interesting! At least the sun was out and temperatures were back to something like normal.

Twenty four boats took to the water and despite the size of the fleet the race officer decided to run just one fleet. Despite a slight forced bias to the start line there were only a few general recalls throughout the day. Dave Burke following up his good form from Saturday with a bullet in race one, followed over the line by yesterday’s winner Derek Priestly with Askerns Dave Darwell of to a good start in third. Peter Baldwin scored tthe first of his four race wins in race two, with Derek following up again in second. Race three saw Dave Darwell put in yet another good race to take the gun from Dave Burke. Peter Baldwin and John Brierley took the bullets in races four and five before Dave Darwell found yet another gear and took out the next three races to carve out a strong overall lead. Chris More then found some excellent form taking four second places and a last race win to put together an excellent run in the afternoon session.

At the close of play Dave Burke scored a couple of second places in the final two races to take the day from a very happy Dave Darwell by a slim two points followed up by a close battle between Peter Baldwin and the fast finishing Chris More. Derek Priestley had an uncharacteristicly inconsistent day but still managed fifth overall from John Brierley.
Throughout the weekend it was great to see so many new faces to the DF TT series and a refreshing new look to the top of the results sheet on Sunday. Congratulations to DF regular Dave Burke achieving his first overall victory in the series.

The series takes a short break now before ‘big September’ which kicks off with the DF65 Nationals at new venue Poole and rounding off with the sell out DF95 nationals at Fleetwood.

Visit www.dfracinguk.com for more details.