DF95 Summer Series at East Kent Radio Sailing Club - Week 2
by Peter Jackson 18 Jul 09:39 BST
16 July 2026
DF95 Summer Series at Barton's Point week 2 © Mike Brand
East Kent's second DF95 Summer Series event on 16th July saw 16 races sailed by 10 skippers in 12-16 knots from the NE, from over the Thames Estuary and North Sea so with few shifts. B rigs were the order of the day.
Alan Hounsell and Peter Jackson set the courses, with Peter & glamorous assistant Rob Owens on rescue duty. Radio sailing newbie Max Hunt, ex Minnis Bay with Peter now top Whitstable Laser sailor, joined the fleet, still overcoming the normal initial left/right stick problem! Skippers did RO duties in turn for average points.
Peter Jackson continued his form from the 1st event by winning race 1 comfortably, from Mike Brand and Simon Thornton. In race 2 Mike did RO and Peter won again, with Andrew Nichols getting his best ever placing of 2nd, and Ed Coxon also excelling in 3rd. This set a trend for the next 3 races as Mike chased Peter for the top 2 spots, interspersed with another 2nd by Andrew, then two 3rds.
Finally Mike got into gear to take races 6 and 7 from Peter. Alan Hounsell, after two 4ths, also got on the pace with a 3rd, before Simon got another 3rd. RC novice Max Hunt, had slowly improved with 9,7,6,5,5, and bagged a 4th. Peter was then back to the front in race 8 before lunch, from Mike, with Alan again 3rd and Simon 4th as Max did his RO duty.
After a 4th in race 2 Rob Owens was at 6's and 7's in mid fleet, in fact seven 6's & four 7's, with no speed. Changing to a 'c' rig didn't help as the wind responded by easing back a knot or two. Ralph was back racing after a break but not yet fully up to speed, with a 5th & 6th before retiring to be the dedicated RO. Spencer Pope had shown promise with two early 5ths then two 4ths before his rear winch block pulled out and the line carved the usual slice in the hull, sending him home. Ed Coxon followed up his 3rd with two 6th places before also retiring hurt.
At the front it was now a ding dong battle between Mike, 10 Red and Peter, 211 Blue (with a white square pattern). Simon Thornton (665 White) was also now well in the mix, scoring three 2nds and a 3rd. Andrew Nichols stayed on the pace, finishing 3,2, and Alan managed his third 3rd. Peter won 4 of the last 6 races to Mike's 2 to win comfortably overall. Both had only 1's and 2's to count, but Peter totalled 10 wins to Mike's 5 to take it by 5 points, and both the first two Summer Regattas. The gap back to Simon in 3rd was 22 points, then 5 to Andrew and 4 Alan. Max was a creditable 20 points off 5th, and Rob a slightly less creditable 6 points back in 7th.but with 20 points on the rest.
Top ten:
1. 211 Peter Jackson
2. 10 Mike Brand
3. 665 Simon Thornton
4. 613 Andrew Nichols
5. 380 Alan Hounsell
6. 963 Max Hunt
7. 479 Robert Owens
8. 56 Ralph Wilkinson
9. 32 Spencer Pope
10. 07 Ed Coxon
The full days results are available at www.eastkentrsc.com/2026