DF95 Autumn Series at East Kent Radio Sailing Club - Week 2
by Peter Jackson 10 Oct 07:01 BST
8 October 2026
20 seconds to the start - DF95 Autumn Series at Barton's Point week 2 © Michael Speakman
A record 17 members plus race officer Ralph Wilkinson competed with mainly B rigs. It was the last chance to practice for the global championships in South Africa for Dave Adams, Mike Weston and Jim La Roche. David 'DT' Tomlinson set & adjusted the course. Michael Speakman was assistant R.O.
Fast out of the box after a break was Mike Brand, leading Adrian and Dave Tomlinson home ahead of Mike Weston. Adrian then went on the rampage with perfect settings and a row of five bullets. Colin Honour led the chase with 2,6,3, 3,5. Mike was 2nd then 3rd before a servo failure but returned to win race 7. Dave Adams was slow at first but consulted Adrian on settings, putting in a 2nd and 3rd before an issue and 2 DNC's.
Colin was consistent with 2nd places in races 4 & 5, then DT took over with 2nd & 3rd in races 5 & 6. Mike Weston was consistent in the minor places. Jim La Roche hit Peter Jackson fighting for race 3 podiums and neither boat recovered for a while, Jim out for the count. Simon Thornton got it together with 2nd in race 6 then a 4th. Alan Hounsell put in an appearance with 2nd to Mike B in race 7 with Dave Adams again 3rd as both Tomlinson brothers retired with problems.
After lunch it became largely the Ade & Dave show with three top 2 places in that order, only Mike Brand spoiling the party with 2nd in race 11 of the 14 sailed, followed with 3,6,3. Mike Weston had plugged in his only podium with 3rd in race 8 but also suffered two retirements, as did Colin Honour before another 3rd in race 13. Paul Woodward was ultra consistent, just avoiding the podium and ending up 6th. Peter Jackson, with broken ribs, finally got on the podium, leading one race before eyesight failure then scoring a 2nd & 3rd. No others troubled the podium. Alan ended up just 2 points behind Peter.
Dave Adams finally got the measure of Adrian, finishing the last 2 races in that order with 3rds for Colin and Mike Brand. DT was 4th in both to take 3rd overall by just 1 point from Colin Honour, 8th in the last race, with Mike Brand another 2 points adrift. But this tight bunch were 25 points behind Dave, who trailed winner Adrian by 17 points. Adrian and Dave are now level with a win each in the series but Dave leads on countback.
A mention in despatches went to Spencer Pope, first to risk an A rig as the wind eased a little at the end, scoring 6,5, and beating his pal Andrew Nicholls, ahead of another tight bunch within 3 points, Max Hunt Mark Sanders and Ed Coxon.
Week 2 results:
1. 30 Adrian Tomlinson
2. 65 Dave Adams
3. 750 David Tomlinson
4. 48 Colin Honour
5. 10 Mike Brand
6. 20 Paul Woodward
7. 11 Mike Weston 380
8. 665 Simon Thornton
9. 211 Peter Jackson
10. Alan Hounsell 20
11. 32 Spencer Pope
12. 613 Andrew Nicholls
13. 13 963 Max Hunt
14. 981 Mark Sanders
15. 007 Ed Coxon
16. 004 Andrew Nannery
17. 57 Jim La Roche
The full day's results are now available to view on the club website, www.eastkentrsc.com/2026