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Zhik - Made for Water

DF Racing TT Rounds 5 & 6 at Eastbourne & District Model Yacht Club

by Tim Long 12 Oct 2021 10:39 BST 9-10 October 2021

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 22 races, 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 Adams 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 13th and 14th November, plenty of info on dfracinguk.com perhaps we'll see you there? We saw plenty of new faces this time out.

Overall Results:

DF65

PosSkipperSail NoClub/CityR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14R15R16R17R18R19R20R21R22Pts
1John Tushingham51 Keighley & District MES Ltd 42110712811111111511231238
2Ken Binks83 Eastbourne & District MYC 213110611116222282210132118581
3Tim Long199 Abersoch RYC 8366612728223635823384483
4Wayne Stobbs42 Gosport MYBC 18918113459464514344582922104
5James La Roche57 Coalhouse Fort RYC 37511162337832218114112136926116
6Dorian Crease683 Two Islands RYC 6512922989259576914645661117
7Liz Tushingham100 Keighley & District MES Ltd 1010107935101522197412833871473140
8Andrew Barnes661 Eastbourne & District MYC 1714444516631446954111471211148145
9Trevor Binks72 Eastbourne & District MYC 1616222111115111297210772101544312154
10Brian Holland795 Abersoch RYC 13111313210914411111631061216101118117181
11Alan Hounsell502 East Kent Radio Sailing Club 713815371041310811111512751917191313185
12Malcolm Clement958 Fleetwood MY&PBC 12191151517613617138221311676971915197
13David Nickerson165 Birmingham MYC 9419813414211022151517815159111516179224
14Terry Connell47 Eastbourne & District MYC 515171758181616351815921915913171522227
15John Cleave0 Ryde MYC 196231219172019131013220181619201451611234
16Jen Hand69 Lincoln Radio Sailing Club 151271214152115147141413181722171219132010258
17Simon Fairman666 ROFWAC 119141619161917515161016161317111720201016264
18Garry Box712 Manor Park Radio Sailing Club 1418151417181112171217171919102081410121817271
19Paul Turner507 Eastbourne & District MYC 2217162282012182218129144161322221610522274
20Leen Buurman97 Hampton Court MYC 1820222220141372016221212171918221818151214305
21Fred Coker95 Two Islands RYC 20211819182120191822182222212019181621212118367

DF95

PosSkipperSail NoClub/CityR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10Pts
1John Tushingham51 Keighley & District MES Ltd 114631232114
2Craig Richards5 Windrush RYC 221413328216
3Ken Binks83 Eastbourne & District MYC 1421461431420
4Tim Long199 Abersoch RYC 2367228104934
5Dorian Crease683 Two Islands RYC 3639957611342
6Wayne Stobbs42 Gosport MYBC 65142369655446
7Alan Hounsell380 East Kent Radio Sailing Club 678514714191856
8Trevor Binks72 Eastbourne & District MYC 71052161258121059
9Dave Adams358 Royal Temple Yacht Club 491031741111141666
10Andrew Barnes461 Eastbourne & District MYC 112178710916242088
11Jim La Roche57 Coalhouse Fort RYC 3121310818202927589
12Terry Connell47 Eastbourne & District MYC 81427141013101828693
13Darren Ellman‑Baker7 Hove Lagoon MYC 12811115111621262495
14Liz Tushingham100 Keighley & District MES Ltd 41312172323211171196
15Tim Denby987 Royal Temple Yacht Club 1020191213204121817105
16Paul Turner114 Eastbourne & District MYC 92218251981814137106
17John Cleave0 Ryde MYC 91816261817257913107
18Garry Box712 Manor Park Radio Sailing Club 517221525151391926115
19martin crysell52 Guildford MYC 7191721242512171015118
20Brian Holland195 Abersoch RYC 1732252212142913612121
21John Mursell1 Eastbourne & District MYC 8152013152015221621122
22Anthony Marshall268 Hove Lagoon MYC 511916203228202522128
23Peter Jackson928 East Kent Radio Sailing Club 17271527111624271523148
24Malcolm Clement958 Fleetwood MY&PBC 10162420322222242025158
25Jen Hand69 Lincoln Radio Sailing Club 11242620222627152319160
26Peter Kemp49 Eastbourne & District MYC 1332323227211728718163
27David Nickerson365 Birmingham MYC 12262930262426262228190
28Leen Buurman97 Hampton Court MYC 17233029302723232127190
29Mike Wilkie995 Hampton Court MYC 13282328282819252932192
30Simon Collyer85 Alton Radio Controlled Sailing Club 17322120213232323232207
31Fred Coker95 Two Islands RYC 14252824293230303032210

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