I have been involved at the club for around 5 years now from memory, and today is the first time that I recall that a scratch day was devoted to the A Class. Hopefully a sign of more to come, with it being well received, and I think with three missing that all had legitimate reasons for not being able to attend.
We had six sailors turn up today, with a strong breeze forecast, which came through by lunch time – with gusts to 30 knots.
Six sailors, and six different designs – from previous century yachts to two that had their builds completed this year, immediately prior to the Nationals in February.
Unfortunately, two sailors got started, but failures had them back to shore without recording a finish. Nothing too serious, but work to be done in the workshop for both of them.
Of the four remaining yachts, some real close racing ensued, with three victors for the four races completed. Not sure about the others, but I really enjoyed the heavier conditions and the ability of the “A’s” to get on a wave and surf for long periods of time. Some really fun stuff.
A handkerchief could be draped over the four sailors by lunch time, with just one point between everybody, but unfortunately, with the club yacht having issues and Andrews borrowed yacht straining under the wind pressure, it only left Mike and myself able to resume after lunch, so we called the afternoon off and finished early.
With a bit more sailing, the yachts will become much more reliable and able to handle the heavier conditions with ease, but one step at a time.
A good sailing session regardless, and I am sure the sailors on the water really enjoyed themselves, as well as the members who came along to watch as well.
Thanks must go to Stuart, Les and Lisa for assistance with mark setup early on, and Pro duties. It is always appreciated.
Chocolates for the day goes to Mike, on six points, on countback to myself in second, on countback to Andrew in third – with Ray in fourth, just one point behind, on seven points.
Wednesday sees the return of the DF95’s to Montrose Bay, for the Monthly DF95 Handicap series, from 11am.

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​Arriving at the MBYC at 9.45 this morning, we were greeted with strong top of B rig NNW wind & choppy seas.
 
Looked a bit daunting, but with eleven skippers turning up, we decided to give it ago - a good choice as the morning progressed & the temperature increased, we enjoyed some great sailing in very testing conditions, which put a premium on boat handling.
 
Buzzy & Phil Jackman both had similar electrical problems & so took up PRO duties, setting some great courses with a downwind start to the southern distance buoy & then a long uphill slog back to the starting areas for races of one & a half laps. Justin suffered some rig damage early, putting to bed his day’s sailing. He’ll be raring to go in a fortnight though, when the IOM’s make a return.
 
Conditions were so enjoyable that we decided to stretch the racing out for another 2 races so we got in 10 altogether .
 
I think most of us had a go at the front of the fleet & came away with some satisfaction particularly as Montrose again turned on such superb sailing.
 
Ray came away with a convincing win today, with Andrew Wardrop and Stuart Dawes taking out second and third respectively

​This Sunday, we have the A Class yachts featured. If you have yours collecting dust, please bring it out for an enjoyable day’s sailing. A good fleet will look terrific on the water.
 
A reminder that our memberships are due. If you have yet to pay, please contact Les for payment – or to organise an alternative if you need. Should you be letting the membership go this year, please also let us know, so we don’t unnecessarily hassle you with invoices etc in the coming weeks.
 
Kyle

​A very good idea to go sailing today - mild conditions with a mid A rig breeze from the north with some westerly shifts that built up to B rig after lunch.
 
Everyone hanging onto their A rigs making for some fast sailing.
 
Again, we started with a running start to the southern distance mark with a long beat back to the gate marks back to the distance mark, and then again a long beat to the finish.
 
A good turn up of 12 boats including 4 fast woodies. Buzzy sailing his new Corby 5 was showing excellent speed particularly upwind. Good to see Peter Turner come along as he slowly gets to grips with radio sailing . Justin Rogers had a tune up prior to the after lunch races & was also going very well.
 
A good day 

​Seven skippers fronted for todays RM Scratch day. A nice relaxed later time off 11am for button press was welcomed by all, giving the day an extra hour to warm up.
 
We were greeted with a nice light NNW breeze, but as we were getting ready, it freshened a little, and B Rigs were decided to be the rig of choice.
 
Stu Dawes, in his recently acquired Scourge blasted out of the blocks, for a win on his first race with the yacht, and showed great speed throughout the day for a very respectable third place, with 28 points.
 
Fantastic to see Andrew Wardrop and his Indie combine for a very consistent day. He showed a lot of pace and with a worst score of 4th (after the two drops) showed the importance of consistency. He really kept Ray under pressure for much of the day, to come in a well deserved second for the day, on 22 points.
 
After a scratchy start, Ray re-discovered his Mojo and grabbed 7 bullets from the 12 races, to come out the winner on the day with 18 points.
 
Not to be discounted, yours truly, John Hall, Phil Turnbull and Rod Marshall all had dashes of brilliance during the day, all featuring in the top 3, but as always, we all need to keep working on both our yacht tuning and consistency of thumb work on the water.
 
I'm sure Ray will admit that it is great that so many of the other skippers are now pushing him much harder, and he needs to work hard to earn the rewards on the day. It seems gone now, the days of winning my a leg, and it really shows how all the skippers have improved over the last year or so.
 
This coming Wednesday will be IOM Handicap again, starting at 11am, and keep your eyes out for an email from John soon in regards to next Sundays sailing. It is scheduled for A Class racing, but we may be short on numbers due to work and other commitments, so a change in the class racing on Sunday could be likely.

​Something rarely seen by most clubs hosting a State Championship. We got in the full compliment of races for the two days. We abandoned the sail day last Sunday due to no wind, and was voted to re-sail today. We had a wonderful breeze most of the day, with A rigs being the order of the day. Might have been nicer if we got a few more degrees in temperature, but you can’t have everything.
Sailing got under way right on time, with the course set nice and early and all preparations completed in good time. Les and Rod gave a quick briefing and we were quickly under way. Stanza’s of three races and a break for much of the day.
Overnight leader, Lisa Blackwood had another very consistent day, but Stu Dawes made sure it wasn’t all her way, consistently challenging and his fair share of wins as well. Mike Hickman, after lunch, started to pressure Stuart, but couldn’t quite get close enough.
Chris Wood was a big mover today, surging from 7th to 4th overall, and David Jones also had a much improved morning, but slipped a bit again in the afternoon – still a massive improvement from 13th to 8th overall.
It was also great to see Justin getting a few good results during the day. A few good races today will bring some more good races the next day and consistency will come in time. Keep it up and I am sure that you will be challenging many more skippers into the future.
A fantastic day’s racing and looked like everyone really enjoyed it – even the runs up the launching ramp to be in position for the start of the races.
 
A big thanks to Les and Rod for their work as Pro over the championship. Really strict on the timing and weed checks, which had everyone on their toes and maximised what we are all here for – to sail. A really solid Pro effort and you both should be congratulated for it.
 
I’ll have some photos and video posted in the next day or so of today’s racing.
 
On other matters, just a gentle reminder that we are now in the new sailing season, and 2020/21 subs are now due. We are hoping to get fully subscribed by the end of this month, so please get the subs in if you can. If you are having any difficulty with it, please let myself or Les know and we can work something out for you. Likewise, if you would like to not re-subscribe this coming season, please also let us know so we don’t follow up needlessly.
 
Kyle

​Only seven dedicated skippers fronted on a rather bleak morning but we did have a fairly steady northerly to give us some very enjoyable A rig handicap racing from the southern point.
 
Course was from the start to the middle windward mark with a long run to the southern distance mark and  then another long beat to the finish.
 
Excellent racing with Jammy and Stu as the back markers, with the 3 woodies plus Kimbo Potter making up the rest of the fleet.
 
Peter Turner came along with his newly acquired V5 ( I think) but  a flat battery curtailed his morning. Thanks to those who made the effort to come along . 

After predictions of less than 10km/hr winds, we were greeted with approx double that in a WNW direction, so with the long fetch of water as well, the waves were up a bit as well, which provided quite a challenge for the sailors. Many hadn't sailed their DF's in a while and subsequently had issue with how the waves and wind can move the yachts around, which resulted in quite a lot of entanglements int he first few races. This abated after about four races, but the wind did not. Increasing to a healthy B rig by lunch time, but the Katabatic soothed somewhat after lunch to a light to medium A rig breeze.

Many sailors got podium positions thoughout the day, with 18 races being completed.

Looking through the preliminary day 1 results, it looks like Lisa Blackwood made the best of the conditions. Stu Dawes holds second position, 12 points adrift of Lisa, with Mike Hickman in third, 3 points further astern of Stu.

The interest does not stop there, with many close contests amongst the fleet. Rod, Ray and Wayne fighting close for 4-6 respectively, Chris, Phil, John, Justin and Colin all within earshot for positions 7-11, and not discounting Geoff or David, who will quickly rush back to the pack with some dnf's ready to discard shortly.

By the sounds of it at the end of the day, everyone really enjoyed themselves, and all yachts are in prime condition to continue tomorrow, with similar forecast predicted.

Big thanks, as always to our PRO's on the day. A difficult job at times, and Les and Rod carried out the task admirably.​

Looking forward to seeing what happens throughout tomorrows sailing.

RBRYC Results - IOM Mid Winter Challenge
Our first event post Covid, and what a success. 15 sailors turned out at MBYC for ht Mid WInter Challenge. After an initial debrief, we all got set for the first race in very light conditions. Unfortunalely, Andrews electrics failed him (hopefully back up and runing very quickly) and forced him out of the days event.
We were fortunate to attract a northern invader in Ted Stevens from the north of the state. He thoroughly enjoyed the comradare amongst the competitors and is looking forward to coming back to the next IOM event that we hold.
Racing was close throughout the day, and the results do not justify this, but the usual suspects did come out the most consistent over the 11 races, with Lisa Blackwood coming away with the win on 23 points. Clos by in second was John Cole-Cook on 26 points, with David Jones taking third place by countback from Mike Hickman - both on 35 points.
Welcome also to Justin Rogers, who has been sailing with us for a little while, but I believe this was his first "ranking" regatta. His enthusiasm was nothing short of fantastic, and we are sure to be seeing him becoming more competitive with every event he enters.
We are very fortunate, as a club, that we have a good number of very highly ranked skippers, as well as a plethora of very keen skippers keeping them honest. A good competitive spirit amongst all, which guaranteed a fantastically competitive and fun return to the bigger events.
A special thanks needs to go to Les Hanson for carrying out the PRO duties today, in what became very difficult conditions in which to set a course.
This Wednesday is the return of the IOM Handicap, starting at 10am, and we have our DF95 George Fish Memorial Tasmanian CHampionship next Saturday/Sunday , 11th/12th July. Please get your entries in as soon as possible. On line entry is now available on the RBRYC website under the Ranking Events tab.