DF95 Winter Series event 8 at East Kent Radio Sailing Club
by Peter Jackson 15 Mar 16:05 GMT
13 March 2025
A 14 knot northerly and sunshine allowed 15 races in 8-11 degrees at the Isle of Sheppey's country park lake venue on 13th March before easing back to become light and shifty. Peter Jackson started with a win from Mike Brand with winter series leader Adrian Tomlinson in 3rd.
Adrian however disliked playing 2nd fiddle. After delaying the start to fiddle with his boat he hit the front in race 2. Peter hit a mark, dropping straight to 5th in the closely competitive fleet as Mike plugged in another 2nd of 3 in a row. Spencer Pope got his first of two podiums with a 3rd. Adrian then got on a roll with a series of 1st and 2nd places with Peter and Mike chasing closely, mostly, to keep him honest. Mike grabbed his first win in race 5 before slipping off the podium for the next 4 races as Peter posted another 1st followed by a row of podiums to keep the pressure on Adrian.
Alan Hounsell now also joined the fray after a slow start with a 3rd and a 2nd in races 6 and 7. Spencer got his second 3rd place behind Peter then Adrian in race 8 with Mike and Alan 4th & 5th. Rob Maunder was regularly in the picture but managed only two 4th places before lunch. Mike had stern words with his crew over lunch and they responded to give him his second win in race 10, from Adrian then Peter. The wind was now dying away and Adrians boat proved fast, winning races 11 and 12, again from Peter and Mike.
Peter managed to stay just ahead of Adrian to win race 13 and stay in the hunt. Alan picked up his fourth 3rd place but then reached a peak with a win in race 14. He then led all the way to the last leg in the final race. Peter then found a lucky shift to get to within 6" of the finish line in the lead, only to be taken out by Mike on port tack by the buoy. Mike managed a quick penalty turn to grab the win by inches, from Alan, Peter and Adrian. With rain looming and big holes in the wind racing then stopped with 15 completed.
Peter scored only podiums but Adrian scored only 1st & 2nd places after discards to take the event comfortably. Mike got to within 4 points of Peter, and things couldn't be more exciting for the overall series with Mike & Peter now on equal points behind Adrian with 2 events to come.
Overall Results: (top six)
1. 30 Adrian Tomlinson
2. 211 Peter Jackson
3. 875 Mike Brand
4. 380 Alan Hounsell
5. 32 Spencer Pope
6. 571 Rob Maunder