DF95 Winter Series at East Kent Radio Sailing Club - Week 7
by Peter Jackson 27 Mar 23:56 PDT
26 March 2026
Another sunny Kent day saw 13 boats competing in 5 to 14 knot NW winds which had blown over all England to get to Sheppey so had a few shifts & bends. A new system of each helm taking a turn as race officer and getting average points worked very well.
Adrian Tomlinson was let off the duty as he set the courses. Adrian took advantage by scoring anything BUT average points, seemingly putting the buoys in places only HE knew about, all 6" further away than they looked, not hitting a single mark He scored nine wins and three 2nds from the 14 races, discarding his only 3rd place (race 1) and ending up over 20 points ahead of 2nd.
Mike Brand took the first win from Mike Weston. In race two 2nd and 3rd behind Adrian went to Peter Jackson and Dave Adams. Peters jib clew had departed the rest of the sail so he used an old set. Then in race 3 he hooked a start mark then ran into a starboard Mike Brand (a close 2nd) damaging both to end their challenges. Mike Weston took advantage to record his only win of the day, from Rob Owens only 2nd place and Alan Hounsell's only 3rd.
Dave Adams was using an old hull, getting it going in race 4 to take the win from Adrian and Mike Weston, a podium repeated behind a 2nd win for Dave in race 6. In the interim Peter had scored another 2nd place, leading at mark 1 but hunted down by Adrian. This time Simon Thornton made the podium with the 1st of two 3rd places on the day. Race 7 started a run of 6 wins by Adrian, but with Jim LaRoche finally up to speed in 2nd ahead of Dave Adams. In race eight, after lunch those 2nd & 3rd places behind Adrain were reversed. Mike Brand, Peter Jackson and Rob Owens were pushing hard, and in race 10 Mike scored the first of two 2nds in a row with 3rd spots taken by Rob Owens then Mike Weston.
The wind was getting lighter in the afternoon but with little effect on the podium. Wins for Adrian in races 11 and 12 put him out of sight, and two 2nds for Dave cemented him in second. Jim and Simon took 3rds before Jim peaked in race 13 with his only win of the day, from Adrian and Mike Weston.
By the final race the podium was settled, but Adrian won again from Dave just for good measure, Mike Weston didn't need the last race for 3rd overall and Mike Brand finished in 3rd from Peter Jackson, all 3 passing Peter's crinkly sails on the last 2 legs. Mike Brands forced race 3 retirement left him 1 point behind Jim who took 4th in the event, 11 points ahead of Peter, with another 10 to Rob, 2 more to Simon and 2 more to Alan. 10th was a draw between Spencer Pope and Ed Coxon, which Spencer took with 7th in the final race.
All agreed what a great days racing it was and how well the race officer rotation worked in the ever growing fleet. The club is now running open 'Social Sailing' introduction, practice and coaching days 10am - 1pm on Saturdays (next one 11th April) for DF65 and ANY other models.
The EKRSC Winter Series was won comfortably overall by Adrian Tomlinson with Jim LaRoche pipping Mike Brand by 1 point for 2nd from Mike Weston and Dave Adams.
Week 7 Results: (top ten)
1. 30 Adrian Tomlinson
2. 65 Dave Adams
3. 11 Mike Weston
4. 57 Jim LaRoche
5. 10 Mike Brand
6. 211 Peter Jackson
7. 479 Robert Owens
8. 665 Simon Thornton
9. 380 Alan Hounsell
10. 32 Spencer Pope
Full daily and series results can be found here.