2022
DF65 Handicap - Round 7
Saturday 26th November 2022
What a brilliant day to end the Springfield Lakes Df65 handicap club championships today..... Temperature was a balmy 35° with not a cloud in the sky .....the predicted conditions were a light nor'easter, and whilst this prediction was correct for the start this completely reversed to a 20 kmh south easterly breeze later in the afternoon.....being incredibly testing for all of the A+ Rigs
Handicaps starting from scratch to 120 seconds.... 52, 18 and 423 namely Mike Ian and Roy started nearly 2 minutes behind the scratch starters, making for some challenging racing
The handicaps turned out to be absolutely perfect, with only 2 points separating 2nd place to 6th place .... a testament of how good and how close handicap racing can be
Congratulations to the podium winners, namely, Ian Ashe, Ian Watson, and John Heard.
This ends the Df65 club racing for the year with the presentation on 10 December to follow
Members, don't forget we have the DF65 Gold Coast Classic at Emerald Lakes next weekend...4 December.
Thanks to Shelley and John Heard who again did the calling and scoring, the handicap and Pro work and the great BBQ.!
Cheers to everyone who participated in the racing this year and a very Merry Christmas to you all
Mike J
DF65 Handicap - Round 6
Saturday 12th November 2022
11 starters for this round, and a welcome to newcomer Andrew Sexton, for his first comp.
Typical variable winds on the lake today, more or less from the West.
RO and Scorer for the day, Ian Robertson, with a big help from Doug Wells on the handicapping sheet and board..
1st, Well done Mike Jefferys on 18, even though he had a 100 second handicap at one point.
2nd Roy Wallace on 19.
3rd Doug Wells, also on 19.
Ian R
DF65 Scratch - Round 7
Saturday 22nd October 2022
Today was the round #7 of Df65 club scratch championships at Springfield Lakes…12 sailors managed to survive the torrid rain thanks to the Pergola.
Despite the torrential cyclonic downfall of rain we also had an interstate visitor Daniel Bergan …. Daniel is ranked as one of the top DF 65 sailors in Queensland…. So thanks 🙏 for coming along
Daniel and Mike gave instruction to our members on their sail trim ….in particular depth and shape for the A+ rig…. Thanks guys
Despite the lack of wind and the frustration felt for the first three or four races the wind eventually strengthened and we had some excellent racing in the afternoon with Daniel Bergan showing the way in a number of races with occasional brilliance shown by David, Ian, Mark, John and Garry … with the lead changing regularly
Congratulations to all the members who turned up despite the weather and we look forward to seeing you at the next event…. Hopefully Sunny and that marvellous BBQ sausage Springfield Lakes RYC is famous for 🌞
Results as above with podium winners Mike Daniel and David … congratulations 🥳
Videos of the day’s racing follow on Mikes YouTube channel here.
DF65 Sth Qld Championship
Saturday22nd August 2022
Absolutely fantastic conditions for the 2022 Dragon Force 65 Southeast Queensland Championships hosted by Springfield Lakes Radio Yacht Club at Springfield Lakes on Saturday 27 August 2022 …Sunny and 22 Degrees with a cool South-easterly made for the perfect stage for a great day with 22 boats registered from 3 separate clubs to enjoy some great racing on the Lake
Because of the large fleet David Black was called in to help record the results….thanks so much David …much appreciated. The event was extremely well run....everyone commenting “ it was a great day and extremely well run and organized” .
Competitors were relaxed despite the close starts and get to the top mark without any collisions….... with competitors strategized on which side to climb the ladder with “a loose rig and powered up main absolutely key to performance in the light wind conditions “... competitors said as they shared settings to help each other
The day had cool breezes which ranged from 3 to 12 klms per hour sometimes in the same race ….key to winning was to pick the right side of some very shifty conditions
If you put yourself in the right place and you had the right settings you did well.... Predicting the setup for each race was the key factor for success on this racecourse ...Combined with of course having a clean start, clean air and minimal contacts with other boats during the race put you in a great position to do well on the day...
“This was great fun day and a great experience to mix it with some of the best sailors in Australia.... it's not often you have 20 competitive boats racing in such testing light air conditions....a real learning curve for all competitors” remarked Daniel Bergan who came 2nd overall.. We had 3 clubs represented from Queensland, namely Redlands, Paradise and Springfield Lakes radio sailing clubs
As a one design fleet first places were shared between 5 different skippers from all 3 clubs represented, more important was the fact that the first five places of each race was shared between the top 16 boats.... A testament to how close this racing was....Also having a single fleet racing allowed for some 15 races to completed ….also new members in the sport enjoyed some very close racing….Lyn Hanlon (new to the class) from Redlands commented …”these are great boats to sail with everyone sharing setups and helping us beginners”…Lyn is a Champion Manly Graduate 14 Sailor with a very impressive resume in the MG14 class and new to the class but managed to get 3rd place in Race 2…well done Lyn!
None of these events happens without the efforts of the organizing club and committee…the event was superbly organised by SLRYC’s Ian Lobley and Ian Ashe as principle race officer 👮♀️...The Ian’s were able assisted by a number of volunteers and observers …Norm Gough, Ian Robertson, Ian Gordon, David Black (Scorer) and Kay Gordon (across the line scorer). Also a big Thank You to Ipswich City Council who organised a portable toilet for the day, fixed a broken PowerPoint last night so we had power on site and had the park looking beautiful for the event. Thanks again to a very switched on Council.
Importantly, the course was set brilliantly by Ian Ashe who commented how enjoyable it was to watch the close the racing.
Noteworthy performances on the day included Stephen Elkington, Daniel Bergan, Dudley Allard, Grant Lihou who picked up wins.... and finally Mike Jefferys with 10 first’s to enable him to take home first place for another year. Mike mentioned “the racing, sportsman and organisation was first class “... “this is a first class event were different clubs come together and share measurements and tuning tips particularly for beginners in the class”….”we also had near 50 spectators with numerous enquiries about joining in regular sailing on the weekend”
Overall results
Mike Jefferys (SLRYC) 1st
Daniel Bergan (PRYC) 2nd
Graham Cowling (PRYC) 3rd
Grant Lihou (SLRYC) 4th
Masters Champion -- Graham Cowling
DF65 Scratch - Round 6
Saturday13th August 2022
DF65 Handicap - Round 5
Saturday 30th July 2022
17 yachts turned up for spectacular conditions for round 5 of the Df65 handicap club championship at Springfield Lakes ….the DF 65 is a one design class radio yacht…. Great to see Don Horton from Redlands Club join in for this friendly day at Springfield Lakes
What makes this class so special is it is a strict one design yacht however you are able to add individual colours to make some beautiful yachts stand out on the water…. Check out race 1 below …. Amazing 🤩!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DF65OG/
A huge effort goes into designing coloured patterns on each yacht to make it individually easy to watch and find but more importantly to make it look individual and really spectacular on the water The gold star ⭐️ for a great looking yacht goes to 631 from our new member Steve Elkington from Springfield Lakes with splendid colouring
Sailing today was typical conditions on the lake with the breeze from the south east from 3 to 10 km an hour…. Making for some very challenging and interesting mark roundings
Gold star ⭐️ performances Ian Ashe 18, Garry Earl 221, Ken Godwin 365, Doug Wells 74, Mark Jents 161, Don Horton 86, Murray Walker 274… these guys all showed stunning performances during the day …. We had lots of different winners showing how great the handicap system work…. A new Video on how the handicap works will be posted on the club YouTube channel later.
Well done to Podium winners positions…. Doug Wells ,Garry Earl, and Ian Lobley…. Only points separating
Great friendly competition in a terrific venue …. Well done to all competitors
Note. Again this week the Sailors who did their turn at being RO received their average score for the day for that race. This week it was taken to 1 decimal point (as per HMS Scoring System)
Mike
DF65 Scratch - Round 5
Saturday 23rd July 2022
What a glorious day today at Springfield Lakes as we finally had the rain stop and the blue skies appear….
Great to also have the gun sailor Daniel Bergan from PRYC travel up from the border to compete….
Daniel who is ranked in the top 4 sailors in Queensland commented “this was probably the most challenging sailing I have had over the last six months….
We had 18 boats turn up on the day with three other new members watching the event and waiting for their new boats
With variability coupled with the occasional hole making for some testing conditions ”Yes we had a Zero to 25 kmh southerly" …. So some sailors decided to stay with the smaller A rig rather than the big rig ….this was a mistake as the A+ ruled…
The temperature was a relatively cool 20°but despite this the sun kept shining with everyone enjoying getting out and doing some serious racing with like-minded sailors in a jovial and warm-hearted manner.
Unfortunately, because it was from the South the courses regularly became a soldiers courses…. by that I mean procession sailing …With limited Windward legs ….this meant all of the sailors had to regularly trim their sails to maximise their speed….the cause for some large mark roundings
Congratulations to the podium winners Mike, John, Daniel and Roy.
Also great to see a number of new members come and watch the events ….we actually had 18 boats on the water at some stages but this is predicted to grow to over 20 soon
Thank you to our new member Bob who did a great job recording results and all the PROs …. Also to Ian who finalised the results.
Well done to all on a fun 🤩 day
Mike
Note from the racing committee.
This was the 1st day of the new sailing and scoring system, where individual entrants had their turn at being RO for one race. The order was taken from the sign on book and the sailor that did a turn had their average score for the day added to their score for that particular race.
DF65 Scratch - Round 4
Saturday 28th May 2022
With a fleet of 14 boats we headed west all day around #6 (5 was at the far end of the lake) then a gate between 1 and 2. Due to rather quiet conditions, we did mostly single-lap races to get in as many as possible.
A very nice day to be out in the fresh air and sunshine for a change.
Thanks to John Heard as RO, Ian R scoring with a variety of capable assistants, as they finished racing. As you can see by the results, consistency often wins the day, so congrats to Roy on this occasion, followed by (Dad) Marty and then Mark Jents. Notice also there were 8 different winners.
Ian R
DF65 Scratch - Round 3
Saturday 7th May 2022
14 boats but only 7 races saw Springfield show very quiet conditions again today.
Congratulations to Mike who once again showed us how to sail by winning 5 of the 7 races.
Thanks to Shelley Heard and Ian Watson for doing a fantastic job scoring the fleet across the line and John H for doing the Pro job again.
1st Mike Jefferys, 2nd Roy Wallace, 3rd John Heard
DF65 Handicap - Round 4
Saturday 30th April 2022
Today was absolutely splendid conditions at Springfield Lakes for the DF65 handicap club championships…. The lake was clean with a polished mirror sheen ….Making for a perfect reflection to confuse the direction your boat was sailing
Blue skies 25° with a soft 5klm south-easterly blowing made for testing conditions in the light airs …. We had 16 boats including a champion interstate visitor in Warren Norrie from Wollongong…. Warren is following The fleeing NSW grey nomads for winter and taking up in beautiful Queensland …. He commented “this is one of the best venues I have sailed at ….where you have close views and contact with the boats on a beautiful lake setting….also the competition is very experienced making for some extremely close racing , I really enjoyed making the trip for a great fun day out”
To the results and Mark Jents who is back from a stint away enjoyed some very good results and took home the first place well done and well-deserved…. Second went to Mike and 3 rd to Ian Ashe ….Others worthy of mention were Ken Goodwin Who sailed extremely well today … Of the eight races which were sailed we had four different winners with Mark Jents winning four of the races and Ian Ashe Ian Lobley and Mike Jefferys sharing one race each …
Thanks to John Heard who acted as principal race officer for the day and Ian Lobley who collated and produced the results which follow
Mikes pre-race setup video here
DF65 Scratch - Round 2
Saturday 9th April 2022
14 boats and 10 races for the day. Congratulations to Mike, Murray and Ian R for taking the placings.
A bit rainy at times and the wind dropping off inconsistently during races.
Thanks again to Shelley and Mark for doing a fantastic job scoring the fleet across the line and John H for doing the Pro job again. Also thanks to Mark for calling contacts during the day, we should do this more often.
DF65 Handicap - Round 3
Saturday 26th March 2022
Absolutely fantastic conditions with a 10 to 15 km hour south-easterly blowing down the Springfield Lakes making it perfect for everyone for the Round 3 DF65 handicap club championship
We had 15 competitors making for some very close racing ….sometimes with eight boats finishing within 10 seconds…. Of the 10 races we had seven different winners. First position was regularly changing as a result of a very tough and close conditions
Congratulations to the podium winners Mike Ian and John….But more importantly well done to all the members who had a very enjoyable day
Well done to Shelley and new member Bob, on an excellent job as race scorer with the assistance of John acting as principal race officer on the day
It was good to see Mark Jents back and we have a number of new members namely Garry Earl… winning two races today. Also Graeme Wimberley and Ken Godwin all having fun 🤩
We also had our five Ian’s doing extremely well today
DF65 Scratch - Round 1
Saturday 22nd January 2022
12 entries with one quick retirement made 11 races with 11 entries. Congratulations to Mike for leading the pack all day, followed by Ian G and Ian R. Some wild rainy weather but all sailed with A+ rigs all day. Thanks to Shelley for scoring across the line and Ian R for doing the Pro work. Ian R had moved some buoys during the week making the course better.
DF65 Handicap - Round 2
Saturday 12th February 2022
10 Races and 12 participants today in a very difficult and feisty wind. Congratulations to Ian Robertson who out sailed everyone, and to the place getters Murray Walker and Mike Jefferys. Thanks to Doug Wells who took over the PRO job and gave up his days racing.
DF65 Handicap - Round 1
Saturday 29th January 2022
13 boats and 10 races saw a good fleet sail today. Plenty of wind just right for DF65 racing. One race had to be scratched making 9 that counted.
Anyrate, it didnt matter as the unlucky winner of the scratched race was allowed by the fleet to win again! What sportsmanship.!
Back in the real world, congratulations to Mike once again who showed us that no matter what handicap you have you can still win. Also Congratulations to Ian L and Ian R for taking the minor placings.
Thanks again to Shelley Heard for doing a fantastic job scoring the fleet across the line and John H for doing the Pro job again.