Please find the results and reports for the 2022 DF TT series below.

Results to round 14 – End of Season

DF95 Ranking list 2022 to end of season

This table will be used to offer places to skippers for the 2023 Globals

DF Racing TT Series @ Barton’s Point

The end of season gig, and for this we chose a new club, East Kent RSC, who haven’t ever held a big event like this before. However, knowing those involved I’m not sure there was ever any doubt that the event would run like clockwork….and it did.

So, the venue itself is about as exposed as it gets out there on the Isle of Sheppey on the banks of the Thames estuary, courses can be set from almost every direction and there is a strange lack of trees anywhere near the pond. Ample parking and camping is always a bonus for events like this but to have an epic cafe on site too was a massive bonus for hungry and thirsty skippers and wags.

Friday dawned and some light breeze arrived and as the day wore on there were more arrivals, registrations and practice as well as some long overdue catchups with good friends. It wasn’t long into the mid afternoon before people started to get thirsty so we retired back to the team hotel around 10 minutes away and had a bit of a drink and a natter before retiring to bed at a reasonable hour.

Saturday morning at the pond saw a course being reset a little, lots of hungry skippers being fed and watered by the cafe team and not a lot of wind. It was forecast to get to B rig at some point but over breakfast there was a lot of talk of A plus rigs. There were some club members who knew what was coming and went straight for the B rig without even thinking about anything else….it’s like they’d sailed here before! Sure enough by the time the first start went off at 1000 we were all happy with the B rig choices.

We were split into two fleets and with the wind playing ball we got underway. Seeding races were won by Ken Binks and John Tush. Race two saw Peter Baldwin take line honours with JT and Tim Long on the steps. John Brierley took races 3, 5 and 7, proving to us all that he’s enjoying sailing the DF65. JT took race 4 from Jerry Ibberson and Dave Burke whilst in race 6 Ken Binks was victorious from JT and a jubilant Oliver Knowland.

At the end of the day it was JT on the top step on 12 points, JB was next up on 19, Buzz Coleman was third with 23, Jerry scored well to come home 4th on 32 closely followed by Tim on 32. Ken was 6th with 37. The top ten was rounded out by Dave Burke, Simon Fairman, Mick Chamberlain and Liz Tushingham.

Results below along with prizewinners.

Back to hotel and pub for debrief and food along with some drinks, however it seemed we’d done well the night before as they were out of several key ingredients for the drinks bit….quite hoe w you run out of Guinness in a pub I’ll never know.

Sunday dawned sunny and with light breeze from the same direction as Saturday but it was dues to drop out a little towards lunch and make a big shift which would ultimately require a course reset. 43 skippers meant that three fleets were the order of the day and the race team would need to build on their experience from Saturday and rattle as many races off as they could.

Seeding races went off well with all the fleet in A rig it was Ken, Peter and Dave Potter who took wins in the seeding races, race two saw Nigel Brown take the top spot with Ken and Craig Richards on the steps.

Race three saw local club skipper Peter Jackson in top spot with Mick C second and Babycham Dave rounding out the top three.

Race four would be the last of the original course and saw Buzz on the top spot, a rare appearance from Derek Priestley in second and John Brierley in third.

Race five, and there was a bit of a delay whilst the course was reset parallel to the near bank. C and B fleets sailed well however when it came to A fleet there were plenty of general recalls, a startline reset followed by a couple more GR’s. It ended with 30.1 being introduced and the race got away with around 4 boats being called over. At the end of the race there was some confusion as to how the rule had been implemented and it was decided that the heat should be re-sailed. This left no more time for another race and that was the end of the 2022 DF Racing TT series.

Winner on the day was Buzz on 14 points from John Brierley on 16 and Ken on 20. Dorian Crease also scored 20 but lost the countback and came 4th with Babycham Dave in 5th spot on 25.Peter Baldwin lost out by a point and came 6th . Adrian Tomlinson, Mick C, Malcolm Price and Nigel Brown wrapped up the final top ten of the year.

Results below along with prizewinners

As ever Sue Brown was on hand with her camera and she took a lot of photos, check them out here.

Huge great thanks go to all the members and helpers from East Kent RSC, Alan Hounsell especially who ran around all weekend making sure things were just so. Everyone else that helped over the weekend, you were all awesome, huge thanks from all the DF skippers, events wouldn’t run without your dedication.

So, that’s it for 2022, a great season for many skippers both old hands and new recruits, I’m sure there will be a 2023 calendar appearing before too long.

DF Racing TT Series @ Fleetwood

I had rather expected a report from Fleetwood but I haven’t had one and the scores needed posting so I’ve made a bit up. Everyone turned up, some racing happened and Tushy won it all. I think that probably covers most of the weekend. Results below.

Sue Brown also took some photos of the racing. Check them out by clicking here

DF65 Nationals 2022 @ Eastbourne

A total of 29 skippers came together at Eastbourne over last weekend to compete for the DF65 Class National Championship.

The usual names were present including defending champion John Tushingham, local hope Ken Binks and other notables including Dave Burke from Birkenhead and Buzz Coleman from Coalhouse Fort RSC. A very welcome international flavour was added to the field by Swedish skipper Stig Stromqvist.

The forecast stayed true to it’s word and an 8 – 10kt WSW backed nicely to SW and built to a healthy 18kts gusting 24kts for the duration of the afternoon. The direction allowed for a championship sized windward – leeward course, and by the close of play a total of thirteen races had been sailed. John Tushingham revelled in the fresh conditions and was top of the leaderboard going into the next day.

Competitors were also presented with a display by the Red Arrows, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a very aerobatic and noisy RAF Typhoon and a number of other aerial attractions as the events on the Princes Park lake were coincidental with the annual Eastbourne Air Show – all free!

The Sunday dawned with a calmer outlook than the previous day and A+ rigs were pressed into action and stayed on to the end of the competition in an 8 – 10kt SW wind. John Tushingham did his best to cement his advantage from the previous day but the fickle Princes Park shifts did not always materialise in the same place and he collected a discard or two as his pursuers were keen to capitalise and close the gap.

Going into the last race, local skipper Ken Binks found himself on equal points with Dave Burke for third and needed a good result to lock Dave out, but pre-start manoeuvres led to a recall for OCS from which he was unable to recover the initiative. Buzz Coleman sailed a solid final race to finish second overall. In all a total of 22 races with two fleets were completed.

The whole event was very well mannered and PRO Jes Collier complimented the skippers at the prizegiving for their good behaviour on the water and the great boat handling skills on display.

Sue Brown was in attendance and she took another set of lovely photos, click here to take a look.

DF95 Nationals 2022 @ Two Islands RYC

I’m pretty sure that this event will be talked about for some time to come.

So the early arrivals got to the lake on Friday lunchtime for a bit of a natter and some practice, well we would have if there had been any breeze but it was from the direct opposite direction that was forecast for the two race days so most of us had a good catchup and played out the tiime before we could legitimately go to the pub, which turned out to be about 1500. As the evening rolled on more competitors arrived and added to the ever growing pile of glassware on the tables. One notable non attendee was John Tush who had suffered a back injury and didn’t make it for the weekend.

Saturday dawned as a cloudy day with enough breeze from the SW to make a great day’s racing and practice was underway before the briefing and it was plain to see there was an issue. Weed, and plenty of it. The race team gave their briefing to the assembled 61 competitors and racing got underway with the seeding races.

From the first seeding it was plain to see that the weed issue was going to be a big player in the weekend, you knew immediately when you picked it up and depending on where you were on the course you had two choices of “pit stop” crew who would lift your boat out, de-weed and re launch for you, a service that became invaluable as the day wore on. My first race involved a particularly slow four stop strategy which saw me in C fleet. The biggest casualty of the seeding races was Buzz Coleman who found himself in D fleet, where he stayed for a couple of races which put any chance of a good result out of reach before lunch on Saturday. Buzz retired on Saturday evening, and he was not alone.

We completed five races on Saturday and with a reschedule we were down to three fleets.

At the end of day one Craig Richards was on top of the pile with fleet newcomer Ben Harker second and Peter Baldwin in third spot.

It was clearly time to make another pitstop, this time at the bar.

Sunday morning dawned overcast once more but with lots more breeze we were all hopeful that the remaining weed had blown down the course overnight. It had not. So, with the briefing done and the B fleet on the water it looked ok, however for me I was sat comfortably in a promotion spot all the way up until the last third of the final leg when I got weeded and finished 15th. This was enough for me and I retired along with another competitor.

After the first round the wind started to ease which made rig choices easier but brought the weed back into play once more. In the stronger breeze you could at least drag it along and get to the “pits” for a de-weed. With the falling breeze it became harder to do this. After race nine the wind came round such that it wasn’t feasible to set a course from the bank without major undertaking and then it started to rain.

At the reckoning Craig retained his title for the second year and finished the event with a very creditable 23 points, second spot was Peter Baldwin on 34 with Alton Waters David Hope on the podium on 44. Nigel Brown was a point behind in 4thwith Dave Donin in 5th spot. John Taylor, Wayne Stobbs, Mick Chamberlain,Peter Jackson and Adrian Tomlinson rounded out the top ten.

Whilst the conditions weren’t the best it was clear to see many skippers having a great time, this was in no small part due to the Two Islands club who, as ever put on a stellar event and supported PRO Darin Ballington and his race team very well throughout the weekend. Every effort was made to try and mitigate the conditions on the course but ultimately it was way out of their control. The boat boys did a grand job too but my man of Saturday was MYA Chair Phil Holliday who spent all day in the water as pit crew. How he doesn’t have trenchfoot I’ll never know but it seems that everyone who was assisted by him will have no issue paying MYA fees in the coming year.

Full results below.

Next stop is Eastbourne later in August for the DF65 Nationals. Always a fun place to go.

DF TT’s 7 & 8 @ Dartmoor 18th – 19th June

Once again I was unable to attend the Dartmoor round of the TT series, however it looks like there was some breeze on both days and it seems that Tushy has regained his mojo and had a bumper weekend with both boats. John Taylor has posted a lovely Sunday report on the MYA downwind page on Facebook.

As always Sue Brown was in attendance and she has taken another great series of snaps for you to take a look at. Click here for the photos.

The up to date series results are posted at the top of the page.

Results for the two days posted below.

DF TT’s 5 & 6 @ Weecher 28 29 May

Our intrepid reporter was not in attendance at Weecher for a number of reasons and we have not yet had a report for the event. However, we have had a lovely link to the photos that Sue Brown took – Click here to take a look at them.

We also had an updated results version for the current overall positions in the series which are shown at the top of this page.

Results For the two days are shown below.

DF TT’s 3 & 4 @ Lincoln RSC 2 – 3 April

Less than a month on from the great event at Gosport we found ourselves heading to the middle of the country to Mick’s place. Not an amazing chippy as the name might suggest but Scotland Farm and the truly amazing Lincoln Radio Sailing Club. There were an early crew who pitched up on Thursday to make sure the pub was up to scratch before competing or helping out with the RG65 TT event on Friday.

Another glut of skippers arrived throughout Friday to witness RG racing in most of the weather, but mainly snow, cold winds and general chilliness. By the end of the day it was definitely time for a warm in the pub….again.

Saturday morning rolled in and after scraping the ice of the van windscreen, a trip to Greggs and McNasties we headed down to the farm where we were greeted by an idyllic scene with stunning reflections from the water, lots of eager competitors and not much wind. Mick took on duties as PRO and set us a long old course out towards the middle of the lake with starboard rounding which made good sightlines from the South bank essential.

Briefing completed the seeding races got underway for the 39 skippers. Buzz, Dave Potter and David Nickerson were victorious in these races which took quite some time due to the wind coming, then going due to the really quite spectacular weather that was going on.

Lets take a minute to give you Saturday’s weather in a nutshell. Lovely, sunshine, hail, rain, lovely, sleet, snow, hail, sunshine, hail, sunshine, night time. In terms of breeze we had, nothing, some, nothing, lots, too much, nothing, some, nothing, some, night time. It was a funny old day that’s for sure.

Race two saw yodelling Jerry Ibberson take the win from Peter Baldwin and Dave Adams.

The course was now needing a change or two and the breeze had squared a little off the bank…or had it, yes…no, and it’s gone again. Luckily there were enough marks laid at the top end of the course to allow Mick to utilise the best two for the conditions and it was the gat and startline that took most resetting during the day.

Tushy found his mojo (it was rather cold….) briefly for race three and took the win from Buzz and Potter.

Buzz went one better in race 4 to take the win from Jim La Roche with Potter putting in another solid finish in third spot.

Race five saw Peter Baldwin take the win from Tushy with Dave Adams in third.

Race six…..no wait, there wasn’t a race six as we’d run out of time and people had become cold, although Tim Long and yodelling Jerry were still braving it out in shorts , tough Northern lads that they are.

At the reckoning there just six points between the top five skippers on a day where every race had to count otherwise there was little chance of any glasswear at the end of racing.

Top spot by a single point was Buzz on 10, Dave Potter took second with 11 points, Peter Baldwin was third with 13, Tushy was one place and one point behind on 14 with Dave Adams two points back in fifth spot. There was a 7 point gap to Tim Long in sixth spot on 23, seventh, eighth and ninth were all tied on 27 points but Jim La Roche was the best of the three with Keith Simmons in front of Dorian Crease. Bob Conner rounded out the top ten on 30 points.

After a hot bath and a dice with death over the A46 it was another comedy evening in the pub. Many lies were told, much alcohol was consumed, to the point where the pub ran out of gin, and lots of friendships were made and renewed, just as a good DF social should be.

Checkout, ice scrape, fuel stop, Greggs, McNasties and we are back at Scotland Farm for another days racing. We were, once again, greeted by another stunning vista of the morning mist rising from the pond, lovely to look at but as a skipper it’s not the best scene. As a PRO it’s a positive nightmare, but on the Darin Ballington and his team took in their stride.

West bank for the first seeding then a decamp to the South bank for the next two. Coalhouse Fort’s Glenn Meekoms very nearly had a nosebleed after winning the first seeding race, having completed the same thing back at Gosport. We’ll keep an eye on this throughout the season, can Glenn win his first race at every meeting? Who knows but perhaps there are good odds at your local William Hill office….,.

Other seeding race winners were Yodelling Jerry Ibberson who had turned up dressed very much like Papa Smurf and Dave Potter who hadn’t seen any side effects from an evening on Peroni.

There was then some breeze that appeared down the West bank which came up quickly enough to catch out Mike Weston and his gazebo which tried hard to escape into a neighbouring field. This new breeze caused a bit of a reset as the wind was forecast from this direction. The time was well spent by Darin as it set the basis of the day’s racing.

Race two saw John Brierley take the win from Peter Baldwin and Ken Binks. Ken clearly had the measure of the new course and learned from his last race and took the race three win from Potter with John Brierley in third.

Sundays weather was rather nicer than Saturday. The sun shone for most of the day, the clouds were big and fluffy but didn’t deposit any moisture onto the 52 skippers which made life a little easier.

Race four was the one that Tushy won with Buzz second and a below par Derek Priestley in third spot.

The final race of the weekend belonged to Peter Baldwin from Ken and Potter.

Once Judith Baldwin and Jen had counted scores there was a clear winner by two points, Uncle Kenneth Binks, a stalwart supporter of the DF classes since the word go and today a worthy winner at Lincoln RSC with just 8 points. Second spot went to Peter Baldwin two points back on 10. Birkenhead clubmate Dave Potter was a point behind in third with yet another Birkenhead skipper, John Brierley in fourth and six points adrift on 17. Tushy was back in fifth spot on 22, John Taylor was sixth on 26 points. Askern’s Chris More had a great day to finish seventh just two points behind John Taylor on 28. Buzz could only manage eighth today with 30 points. Ninth was Nigel Brown who had sailed the weekend on two lots of borrowed rigs having left home without remembering to put any of his in the campervan…..remember Nigel, count to 5 before you leave home! Rounding out the top ten was Norwich’s Vinnie Zammit on 38 points.

Another day where you had to be at the top of your game to take home the chocolates. Difficult shifts, tricky starts and lots of tactical decisions to make on every leg of the racecourse. You only have to look at the scoresheet to see that there were several of the usual suspects who weren’t fairing too well in the conditions.

That was that, one weekend, ten races, lots of chat, quite a bit of booze, some awesome vegetable soup, several Greggs sausage rolls, eight hours in the van and a mere £103 of diesel consumed.

Huge thanks must go to Lincoln RSC who managed three events in three days. They provided a different full race and support team for each day and there were certainly no complaints from me on how it was all managed. If the wind had been constant in direction and strength we might have had a few more races each day but the reality is that we haven’t worked out how to control that just yet. Thanks guys and gals for the huge effort you made for us.

Next stop is Weecher up on the moors above the Aire valley, a stunning bit of water and well worth the trip at the end of May.

DF TT’s 1 & 2 @ Gosport MYBC 12 – 13 March

Well, it seems like quite some time since I was sat in my shed on a Monday evening writing about a DF TT event. In reality it was November last year, however it has essentially been dark outside since then and I for one haven’t done any sailing since then. So it was awesome to begin a TT season properly for the first time in two years. We were due to at Gosport the weekend before the first lockdown…..how long ago does that seem?

Anyhow, despite the long gap we once again found ourselves on the South coast in Gosport at the Cockle pond and one of the UK’s historic model yacht clubs. There were some early travellers who arrived on Thursday for a bit of a drink but nothing too strenuous, it’s always best to ease yourself back into it gently.

Friday saw a few skippers join the club DF95 races where it rained and we got wet. Later Friday afternoon the weather got better and we all went off to the pub, which worked for some of us but left others with a sore head on Saturday morning.

So, Saturday morning arrived and despite the forecast it was quite a bonny day with breeze from the far side of the pond, not ideal but manageable for the race team who set our course as best they could to give us some good racing. With nearly 40 boats it was a three fleet affair which saw around 17 boats on the start in each heat.

The breeze was something that caused an immense number of rig changes over the course of the day, was it A plus, was it A, we even saw a B rig at one point and it did reasonably well! I started on A and finished on A but had one race with A plus but the choice for many was a real head scratcher as the day wore on as it was right on the cusp of being too much for the A plus on the run at times but there were soft patches towards the finish area where gains could be made with the bigger rig, or not if it blew a bit and you dipped your boom. Oh the confusion!

Seeding races underway after the briefing and the winners were Glenn Meekcoms (winning his first TT race ever), local skipper David Donin and Birkenhead’s John Brierley. A board shuffle to get everyone into the right fleets and away went race two which was won by….Glenn once again who was now ready to go home after winning the first two races of the season. Fine work Glenn and he did indeed stay for the rest of the weekend. Second spot was John Tushingham followed by Ken Binks

Race three saw fleet newcomer Bob Conner take line honours followed by fleet newcomer Dave Potter with Ken in third spot. Local skipper Nigel Brown took race four followed by Tim Long in second spot and Tushy in third.

Five was taken by yet another fleet newcomer Jerry “Lederhosen” Ibberson from Derek Priestley in second and Potter in third spot.

By this point the wind had clocked left a little more and allowed a slight change of course to allow a better run on the windward leeward course we had been sailing. It didn’t help at the windward mark on the first lap though as you often had a dozen boats arriving at the same time with several port tackers causing pileups which saw one or two people taken out, perhaps not to recover in that race. It was tough to view the top mark but with the conditions it was unavoidable and the view became better as the day went on. The second beat was always better as the pack had spread a little and there were enough shifts to make spotting them an important part of your second beat strategy where you could make good gains, or significant losses due to the close racing that these boats inspire.

To race six which was won by Nigel from Dorian Crease with fleet newcomer David Donin in third spot.

Seven was Tushy’s with Ken second and veteran skipper Terry Connell in third spot having sailed an exceptional race.

Eight was a family affair with John beating Liz Tushingham, third spot was for Tim. The ninth, and final race of the day belonged to Derek Priestley with Ken in second spot and John Tush in third spot.

We’d raced to the time limit so with boats packed away it was time to have a quick beer with the prizegiving. With two discards available who had made them count?

A very generous prize haul from the club saw the top three with engraved glass tankards and the rest of the top eight with a lovely engraved whiskey glass, great job Gosport crew.

And the winner was… John Tushingham on 18 points and a clear 14 points ahead of Ken Binks who finished on 32. Tim Long was 4 points behind Ken on 36 with Derek Priestly just 1.6 points behind Tim. John Brierley was 1.4 points adrift of Derek on 39. Three points back was Dorian Crease on 42, Dave Donin was next in the queue two points behind on 44 with Nigel Brown seven points adrift on 51.

Essentially you could have thrown a small blanket over the first ten skippers and every race counted on such a tight course as we were to find out on Sunday.

Meantime it was off to the pub for another relaxing drink or two and a bite to eat.

Sunday, and it’s time for the DF95 race day. Again the wind is on the cusp between A and B, I think B was right for the first couple of races but then it was an A day as the wind moderated for the rest of the day.

A not quite full entry of 57 skippers turned out on another very lovely Gosport morning with blue skies and another great breeze. If only we could have spun the lake by 90 degrees we’d have had a racecourse to behold. As it was it was square across the pond and the race team once again set us the best course available and added a couple of zigs and the odd zag to give us the best they could.

An earlier briefing on Sundays and the seeding races were underway by around 0930ish. Three fleets once again with very busy start lines with 23 boats or more on it all wanting the same bit of water. I think however we only had one general recall which was testament to how good the skippers were on the line.

Seeding races were won by “Babycham” Dave Lindsay, John Tushingham and John Taylor. A board reshuffle and into race two which was won by local skipper James Haddon from John Taylor with Derek Priestley in third spot.

Race three and the windward mark was causing problems once again with skippers piling in on port tack into a queue of starboard boats and causing an amount of consternation, I think most, if not all skippers were caught up in some sort of incident at the first mark during the weekend. It was tough sailing for sure. Derek won it with Potter second and Ken in third.

Before race four the skippers had been given some stern words by the PRO about the windward mark and coming in on port so it would be safe to say that there wouldn’t be anyone coming in on port…or would it. No, probably not, but perhaps there were less skippers taking the risk.

Potter went one better and took race four from Derek and Tushy. Racing was close once again with the added pressure that this years DF95 TT finishing positions will dictate whether you are offered a spot at the 2023 DF95 Globals at Fleetwood. Everyone wants a spot so it was a good plan to hang around and keep racing for the full day even if your initial results were pretty shocking…… (personal experience talking here)

Potter doubled up and took race five as well with Babycham Dave taking a solid second spot from Tushy. Six was Tushy’s from Dorian Crease who had a torrid first few races, with John Brierley in third.

Race seven saw current DF95 National Champ Craig Richards kick into gear and take his first win of the day, Derek took a second and James took third. On to the final race of the weekend and Craig once again took a win with Tushy in second and Babycham Dave in third.

Racing over for the weekend, boats packed away and another awesome prizegiving in the Gosport clubhouse. Winner for the day was Tushy on 14 points from Derek who was only three behind on 17. Another three behind was Craig on 20. Fourth spot, also on 20 points was James. A bit of a gap back to John Brierley in fifth on 30 points but then 6th to 8th spot were all tied on 31 points and the places were awarded on countback. Dave Potter, John Taylor and Peter Baldwin were the lucky three on the same points!

So, the same name at the top but a plethora of different names in the other pot winning places and good to see. If you don’t count the seeding races there were five different race winners in Sunday’s racing. Not too shabby.

And finally an enormous thank you to Gosport MYBC who provided us with an awesome weekend of racing. Countless hours behind the scenes to make sure the skippers could enjoy the racing they have travelled for. From the PRO to the chap who made many cups of excellent tea to the ladies who made scrummy cakes to the guy who manned the observers table and everyone else who helped out I would like to offer you the thanks of the whole class for putting on an excellent show. Enthusiastic clubs like yours with enthusiastic class captains will continue to grow our sport.

Finally finally, remember that Sue Brown was lurking with either a very happy dog or a camera and she took some brilliant photos of both days. there is a lovely sequence of 199 coming into the top mark on port and making a complete mess of it and he did end up at the back of the fleet in that race as he well deserved, what a foolish chancer…!

Check out Sue’s photos by clicking here.

Next outing for the DF Racing TT series in in Lincoln on the 2nd and 3rd of April. Check the events page for details.