A strong field of 15 skippers have now entered the 2nd Travellers Series event at Birkenhead on the 16th of April. These include last years national champion and the front runners from the first round at Watermead.

Still plenty of time to get your entry in.

NOR available here . MYA entry form here. Birkenhead club website http://www.birkenheadmypc.co.uk/

The entry is now open for round 2 of the RG65 Travellers Series, to be held at Birkenhead MYPC on April 16th.

After the successful event at Watermead, there are already 5 entries for Round 2. These include Brad Gibson, the current National Champion with his Electronica design, out to challenge the series leaders from Round 1. With a strong local DF65 fleet there should be plenty of racing for everybody with a good turnout expected.

The plan is for racing to start at 10:30pm with a finish time of 4:15pm. Full details to be confirmed.

Please can entries be made before Thursday the 14th April to give the race team time to prepare.

MYA entry form http://mya-uk.co.uk/event/nd-rg65-open-traveller/

Birkenhead club website http://www.birkenheadmypc.co.uk/

Brad (42) leading the way at the 2015 Nationals (Photo Sue Brown)

Driving through the snow, ice and fog it looked like it was going to be a challenging day for the 14 skippers who turned out for the 1st event in the 2016 RG65 Travellers Series at Watermead Model Boat Club on the 5th March.

As it was, the day turned out to be cold, with only the odd patch of rain and even some sunshine in the afternoon. As boats were prepared the wind was mostly light but the stronger winds forecast turned up at 11 o’clock as predicted by Clive Bardell, the RO for the event. The majority of the skippers took the break for a change to the course after the first race as a chance to change down to B rigs, which they stayed with for the rest of the day.

A gusty north west wind blowing off the shore caused some tricky wind shifts and dead patches close inshore from the control bank. Most people ended up going backwards at some point after tacking into a shift that wasn’t actually there. The race team moved the windward marks further offshore to account for this but after lunch it was decided to move to the whole operation to the jetty at the southern side of the lake so that the course could be moved into more open water.

Of the 14 boats, nearly all completed the day, Mike Chamberlain, after a good early showing with his Alex Corey designed Scram, had to pull out after lunch and Matt Riley had some range issues with his receiver which resulted in a quick drive round the lake to retrieve an errant boat. 16 races were completed in total, allowing for 3 discards.

Ken Binks scored 28 points to take the top spot with his Mark Dicks designed Sliver, Phil Holliday’s Argon placed 2nd with 31 points and Nigel Brown came third with 41 points and another Sliver. Ken, Phil and Nigel are also the top three in the Travellers Series points after this first event. Roger Dunklin was top placed RG65 and 10th overall and finally Kathrine Craddock was presented a prize as best new comer, this was her second ever event after getting her new boat for Christmas.

Full results are available at the RG65 Website http://www.rg65.org and a link to Sue Brown’s excellent photos is here https://flic.kr/s/aHskvH76bh.

As usual a big thanks to Clive and the Watermead team for keeping things running smoothly despite the conditions and providing an enjoyable days racing for all (and the pole for those who go too close to the bank)

The next round in the Travellers Series is on 16th April at Birkenhead, check the calender at rg65.org.uk for full list of events.

Congratulations to Ken Binks for taking first place in the first of the RG65 Traveller event at Watermead. Ken scored 28 points over 16 races with Phil Holiday and Nigel Brown coming in second and third. A big thanks to Clive Bardell and the Watermead race team for providing a great day of racing despite the tricky (and cold) north wind.

A full report, results and photos will be posted soon.

This means that Ken is also leading the points for the RG65 Class Champion Trophy. The next round is on April the 16th At Birkenhead.

The 2016 Traveller series kicks off with the RG65 Open event at Watermead MBC on the 5th March

This event sees the RG65 fleet return to the hosts of last years nationals and is set to be a good start to the new season. It will be the perfect chance for everyone, young or old, experienced or novice, RG65 or DF65 to get some competitive racing in in a friendly atmosphere.

The new trophy RG65 Class Champion trophy will go to the skipper with the best score from any five of the nine Traveller Series events, so make sure you sail as many events as possible (but at least five) to get the best results possible. For the rest of the series see the RG65 or MYA calendar's.

Briefing 9:45, first race to start at 10:00, No race to start after 15:30

Entries by MYA site or email to Watermead MBC Racing Sec, Clive Bardell - clive.bardell@ntlworld.com Can we have all entries by Thurs 3rd March please, to allow the race team time to prepare.

Entry fee £4 on the day. For directions and details of the club see https://watermeadmodelboatclub.wordpress.com/

The 2016 events calendar is now available on the class website. The "Traveller Series" eight events runs from early March to October and covers venues from Birkenhead in the North to Woodspring/Yeovil in the south.

The RG65 UK National Championship at Eastbourne makes nine top class events at good quality venues open to all MYA members with rg65 class boats which includes DF65's.

A new trophy for 2016 will be awarded, the RG65 Class Champion trophy will go to the skipper with the best score from any five of the nine open events, so make sure you sail as many events as possible (but at least five) to get the best results possible.

It should be a great year for this fast growing & friendly open class.

The RG65 Open Events for 2016 are :-

Traveller series (1) Saturday 5th March at Watermead

Traveller series (2) Saturday 16th April at Birkenhead

Traveller series (3) Sunday 1st May at Woodspring or Yeovil

Traveller series (4) Saturday 21st May at Lincoln

RG65 UK National Championship 4th & 5th June at Eastbourne

Traveller series (5) Saturday 23rd July at Birkenhead

Traveller series (6) Saturday 13th August at Two Islands (Milton Keynes)

Traveller series (7) Saturday 3rd September at Datchet Water (near Heathrow)

Traveller series (8) Sunday 9th October at Watermead

The best five results from any of the nine events above will count towards the 2016 RG65 UK Class Champion trophy.

Keep an eye on the class association website for more details http://www.rg65.org.uk

Nine skippers faced the possibility of rain & light winds at Watermead on Sunday, however the wind was fair most of the time (5-6mph from the North) and the rain did not come through until we were almost finished, so a good day was had by all.

Noel Donaldson & Roger Dunklin fought it out at the front of the fleet most of the day, with only 6 points separating the next 3 skippers.

The final result after 14 races and two discards was, Noel Donaldson (29) with 13 points, Roger Dunklin (66) with 21 points, Wayne Stobbs (542) & Sid Hunt (129) joint 3rd with 45 points, Keith Jackson (27) with 51 points, Philip Hardy (293) with 83 points, Peter Wood (14) with 90 points & Peter Pulford with 96 points.

Many thanks to Clive and all local club members and to those who travelled from Portsmouth and Milton Keynes for supporting the RG65 open events.

Watch the RG65 web site over the next month or two when we will confirm the "RG65 Traveller series" for 2016, and the RG65 Nationals dates & Venue, so plenty of time to get the dates in your dairy.

Please support this excellent class, and help it to grow in UK as it is worldwide.

After hosting the successful National Championships last month, Watermead MBC are back with the next RG65 Open on the 30th of August.

Briefing 9:45, first race to start at 10:00, No race to start after 15:30, entry fee £4. Entries by email to Watermead MBC Racing Sec, Clive Bardell clive.bardell@ntlworld.com Can we have all entries by Thurs 27th August please, to allow the race team time to prepare.

For directions and details of the club please see https://watermeadmodelboatclub.wordpress.com/

Saturday started well with 23 sailors completing registration and getting the seeding races underway in good time. The weather was sunny but with south westerly wind funneling up from the bottom corner of the lake, making it tricky to set a windward leg parallel to the control area on the bank. With a slight extension to the day, 11 races were held in to total. At the end of the day Brad Gibson was in a good position at the top of the leader board with John Tushingham and Ken Binks not far behind.

Saturday night entertainment was curtesy of a buffet dinner at the Phoenix restaurant which is handily right on the lakeside.

Sunday started a bit grey and damp but steadily got brighter with the sun finally coming for the presentations. The wind was stronger but still from same direction, most boats on to B rigs by the lunch break but some frantic rig swapping between heats later in afternoon as the weather improved. Wrong rig choice and unlucky shifts at the top end to the windward legs meant that a few big names ended down in B fleet for a time before bouncing back up again. We were also treated to a impromptu fly-past by the Avro Vulcan and Catalina flying boat.

In the end Brad Gibson dominated the racing scoring 27 points from 21 races with his new design Electrionca built by James Edward of Robot Yachts, who sailed his own Electronica into 8th place. John Tushingham with a Mark Dicks designed Sliver was second with 66 points. Ken Binks sailing an Argon was third with 82 points. Jorge Camilo from Portugal sailed his Argon in to 4 and rounding out the trophies, Mark Dicks, with his Mk2 Sliver came 5th. Full results are here.

As well as the Electronica and Mk 2 Sliver, another new design at the weekend was John Taylor's Fonix, two boats were racing, both with slightly different setups to decide on the final production specifications.

Big thanks to Clive Bardell and all of the team at Watermead MBC for the excellent organization even in the drizzle on Sunday morning.

A link to Sue Brown's excellent photos is here.

Brad Gibson, sailing his new Electronica, is the 2015 RG65 National Champion with an impressive score of 27 points from 21 races. Full results, report and photos to come..

When the online entry closing last Friday there were 21 sailors entered for the 2015 RG65 Nationals on the 27/28th June at Watermead. The full entry list is on the 2015 Nationals page. With some top skippers, including the defending champion, some hot new designs, as well as a forecast of 10mph south westerly winds and even some sun, it looks set to be a great weekend's racing.

The race team would like to invite all the skippers (and partners) attending the nationals to a buffet dinner at the Riviera, which is right next to the sailing area, on Saturday (26th) evening starting at 7.00pm. The cost will be £12 each.

Please could you let Clive Bardell clive.bardell@ntlworld.com know by this Sunday how many tickets you would like so that the restaurant can be booked.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Remember last entries need to be in by tomorrow, Friday 19th - The entry form can be found on the 2015 Nationals page.

Just a quick reminder that all entries for the Nationals on the 27th/28th should be in by next Friday 19th at the latest, when a communication from the host club will be sent to all those entered with important info (like skippers dinner etc. but also other things!!)

For more details ands a full entry list see the dedicated 2015 Nationals page http://www.rg65.org.uk/2015-national-championships.

First international entry is Jorge Camilo from Portugal with his Argon, who recently finished 4th at the European Masters event in France.

John Taylor of Taylor Made Yachts will be sailing his new Fonix design at the upcoming RG65 Nationals. The mould for this new boat was seen at the 2014 MYA trade show and continues the trend of narrow beam and a high bow for downwind performance. It will be interesting to see this up against Brad Gibson's Electronica and Mark Dicks' latest Sliver.

There is still plenty for time to get your entry in for what will be a great weekends racing at Watermead. Please submit your entry as soon as possible as this will help the organising club plan for the event and social evening.

An early entry for the RG65 nats is Brad Gibson who will be sailing his brand new RG65 design "Electronica. This will be the first competitive outing for this new boat, if it goes as good as it looks it will be hard to beat!! There will however, be plenty of skippers with many different designs trying to do just that as the entries are already coming in. Get your entry in NOW as this will help the organising club plan for the event and social evening.

The 2015 RG65 National Championships will be held at Watermead MBC in Aylesbury over the weekend of 27/28th June. Entry is open to all registered RG65 owners. Watermead have already held a successful open event this season and are sure put on a good weekend for the Nationals. For more details about the club, visit their website, https://watermeadmodelboatclub.wordpress.com/

A dedicated page on the website has been set up including the NOR and the online entry form. 2015 Nationals Entries by the 19th of June please.

The turnout should include several top skippers and their latest designs. It will also provide competitive sailing across all skill ranges. Watch the front page of the website http://www.rg65.org.uk and the RG65 Forum http://www.rg65.org.uk/forum for updates in the run up to the event.