DF95 Spring Series at East Kent Radio Sailing Club - Week 4
by Peter Jackson 24 Apr 17:12 BST
16 April 2026
Start Line - B Rigs - DF95 Spring Series at Barton's Point week 4 © Alan Hounsell
Despite another ENE wind, at 13 knots up to 16, double figures again turned out for 15 races in event 4 of East Kent's DF95 Spring Series on the Isle of Sheppey on the south side of the Thames and river Medway.
Adrian Tomlinson set the course and Ralph Wilkinson was non-racing OOD, with skippers again taking turns to help and scoring average points. B rigs ruled, just Ed Coxon starting with an A but soon switching.
With few shifts and flattish water Adrian's mastery of the B rig showed as he won the first 3 races, two from Dave Adams then one from younger brother David Tomlinson (DT), part of a 4,3,2, sequence, when Dave did his R.O. duty. DT was R.O. next to spoil his progression, and Dave Adams plugged in two wins from Adrian to spoil his winning run.
Simon Thornton had started well with a 3rd then more 3rds in races 4 and 5 before fading back into the fleet. Normally near the head of the fleet Mike Brand, Jim LaRoche and Mike Weston were missing, and Peter Jackson was off the pace with 3rds & 4ths. Alan Hounsell also didn't get to grips with his B rig, with a string of 5ths and 6ths.One skipper doing better than usual was Andrew Nichols, eventually scoring a 3rd and three 4ths. Paul Woodward, back fit after falling down his front door step, finally managed a 4th & 2nd in races 12 & 13.
At the front end Adrian fought back against Dave, the pair swapping 1sts & 2nds up to race 11 when DT finally completed a full 4,3,2,1 sequence. Dave then Peter missed races with boat and rig breakages before Adrian showed his mastery of B rigs, winning 2 in a row, from Peter then Paul, to sew things up with 2 races to spare. Adrian & Dave shared the top two spots in the last 2 races, with DT then Simon on the bottom podium step.
The final top positions all had big gaps, Adrian won by 8 points from Dave, then 10 points to DT, 14 to Peter, another 12 to Simon and 13 to Andrew, now just by 1 point from Alan then 2 to Paul. Adrian cemented his lead in the series with 3 events in a row. By request of the fleet Adrian is away on holiday for the next event.
Week 4 Results: (top ten)
1. 30 Adrian Tomlinson
2. 65 Dave Adams
3. 750 David Tomlinson
4. 211 Peter Jackson
5. 665 Simon Thornton
6. 613 Andrew Nicholls
7. 380 Alan Hounsell
8. 20 Paul Woodward
9. 32 Spencer Pope
10. 007 Edward Coxon
Full daily results can be found here.