A chilly, misty, calm morning treated the 4 Skippers for Round 1 of the Frozen Fingers Championship. on a day that would turn out to be anything but cold.
The strong sun warmed up the fort very quickly and it soon became very hot, particularly with a lack of wind. On a positive note, it appears the water level has risen a couple of inches. A DF65 with short keel can now float next to the bank in half a dozen places. Glenn also proved that a long keel could also be sailed as he accidently left his short keels at home.
As the wind started to fill in from the East, South and West, sometimes together, sometimes one at a time ranging between 0 and 4 knots. A small course was set using a thrown in (Green) and a bank stick to start, 15p, 10p finish green and bank. This was extended to 2 laps for some races when the wind decided to put in an appearance.
Rig choice was an easy selection today. All helms opted for the A+ rig. The first race set the expectations for the rest of the day. Phill (299) got a great start and held a long lead all the way past no. 10. only to get caught by a nasty wind shift in the last few meters allowing the other skippers to close the gap, dropping Phill to 3rd place.
Despite the wind conditions and how spread out the fleet were during the races, all the boats bunch up on the last short leg leading to some very closing finishes in slow motion.
16 races were achieved in what turned out to be a lovely day down by the lake. There were no breakdowns, and no on water incidents, just close, competitive but fun racing by all!
Well done to Chris who took the overall win today despite it only being his second appearance in the DF65 fleet. Phill took second place by 1 point to Glenn in Third, with John taking fourth place.
Thank you everyone for a great first round!
The 1st November is the second round of the DF65 Eastern District Championship at Chelmsford. So the second round of this winter championship is programmed for 29th November. It would be great to see as many of you as possible at the next event.
Discover more from Coalhouse Fort Radio Yacht Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
