DF95 Autumn Series event 4 at East Kent Radio Sailing Club

DF95 Autumn Series event 4 at Barton's Point © Peter Jackson

Sunshine and mid to max wind for A rigs turned up with 11 skippers for the 4th event of East Kent's DF95 Autumn series at Sheppey. A perfect SE direction meant no shifts, but clean starts were essential. The lake was also still weed free.

Spencer Pope, then Rob Maunder took the first 2 wins, from Mike Brand & Rob Owens. The usual culprits Dave Adams and Adrian Tomlinson filled those 2 podiums before hitting the front in the next 2 races. Mike Brand and Peter Jackson then completed the podiums. Dave, fresh from winning Gosport, then plugged in 3 wins in a row, from Mike & Adrian before Mike finally got his only bullet in race 7.

The photo shows Adrian (30) Dave (358) & Paul Woodward (20) OCS at a start, with International Judge Rob Owens trying a crazy port tacker. Rob didn't tack and mayhem ensued. Peter (211), fresh out of hospital, was beaten up by all, finishing 6th, helping in a bad day with just three podiums. Starting at race 8 Dave and Adrian each got 3 bullets in a row, only Mike challenging the top pair briefly with two more 2nds and a 3rd before falling down the fleet with a pair of 7ths. With no shifts there was no recovering once at the back.

Most consistent from the meat of the fleet were Rob Maunder, with a 3rd and string of 5th places, and Alan Hounsell, with four 4ths and a strong finish of two 3rds. Paul Woodward was up and down the fleet like a yoyo with two 3rds but also counting 7ths and 8ths. Robert Owen struggled badly, managing just one 3rd all day. Andrew Nichols, also back after a medical break showed the odd flash of speed & top half finish but his lack of practice showed.

The battle for the event win was taken by Dave with wins in penultimate races 14 & 15. Adrian had a consolation win in the last race but ended up 6 points off 1st. Mike was all alone in 3rd, 19 points further back and 18 ahead of Rob Maunder who held off Alans late charge by just two points for 4th. Peter finished just one point ahead of Paul, and Spencer had another 1 point gap on Robert Owens.

With the DF95 open approaching on Nov 7th the next event, so next three events, will be sailed at Barton's Point.

DF95 Autumn Series event 4 Results:

1. Dave Adams
2. Adrian Tomlinson
3. Mike Brand
4. Rob Maunder
5. Alan Hounsell
6. Peter Jackson
7. Paul Woodward
8. Spencer Pope
9. Rob Owens
10. Andrew Nicholls
11. Ralph Wilkinson