2021 George Fish Memorial DF95 State Championship

Day 1

​Well, a tough days sailing today.

Very light breeze indeed, from a strange direction to normal. Normally, the prevailing breeze is from the NW, and it decided that a SW was going to be in for much of the day.

With the light wind, we only got five races in until we called it a day. Some make up time in the morning for the resumption of sailing though, in what we hope to be a real exciting second half to the championship.

Everyone found the light conditions difficult, but as usual, the cream rose to the top, with Mat Gray in control on 9 points.

Richard Fisher close behind in second, on 12, with Stu Dawes taking out the third spot so far, on 16 points - by countback to Michael Hickman.

Day 2

Well, we were hoping for a better day today, after the light conditions yesterday saw a premature end to the sailing. Unfortunately, best laid plans went by the wayside, and the 0900 start didn't eventuate with the millpond conditions.

A small amount of wind did appear, of only a knott or two, but oscillated every five minutes to nothing and back again.

By 1030, we had re-set a smaller course and tried our first race of the day. With a few lulls in the wind, we did get it finished, but it was very difficult in the zero to next to zero wind conditions.

We had a pause, waiting for the expected light breeze to arrive, and attempted another race at 1140, which started with some promise. Unfortunately, it died out again and once all competitors completed, we decided to rest up for lunch and see what the afternoon would bring for us.

During the lunch break, we were delighted to meet up with George Fish's wife, Jill, along with Jeremy's wife, Emily and daughter, Maggie. Some great stories were shared about George.

At the end of the lunch break, a quick consensus was sougt and the rest of the day was called off. The drizzle was getting heavier and more regular, and good old willy weather was telling us that there was little to no chance of any wind arriving.

That meant that the championship this year was limited to just 7 races, but they were held in great spirit and some fantastic reconnections between sailing friends were made - some stretching back over 30 years. Yours truly even finding out the truth behind a story given when sailing just 38 years ago (damn water rats!!).

A quick tally up of the scores revealled some fantastic results as well.

Third place over the weekend went to John Hall, on 25 points. One of the most consistent weekends I have seen from John. The look on his face as he was heading to the second last mark, approx 50m in front of second place was nothing short of priceless. The absolute joy of getting that perfect race was great to see.

Second place overall, was Michael Hickman, on 23 points. Also so very consistent, even when he came ashore for weed removal. Never complained and just got stuck back in and the rewards came.

Winner of the George Fish Memorial DF95 Tasmanian Championship for 2021 is "new to RC Sailing" Richard Fisher. Richard is a very experienced hand in dinghy sailing and keel boat racing, but decided to try his hand at RC sailing earlier this year with the DF95 class. His speech, when accepting the trophy, was very humble and emotional, especially given his own ties to the Fish family as well. He thanked Lisa Blackwood for getting him into the RC sailing, as well as her very helpful tuning tips and biggest advice "Just don't sail yourself into trouble" - a mantra that will always help a sailor maximise their abilities on the water.

On behalf of the event organisers at NTRYC, I'd like to pass on a big thankyou to all the competitors for such friendly competiton in trying conditions, as well as a thankyou also to NWRYC for their help in providing the rescue dinghy and extra equipment which was put to use today.

On behalf of the sailors, I'd like to thank the NTRYC for hosting the event. Quite a stressful experience for them, given they have not hosted one so well attended in many, many years. The venue was fantastic, the extra work put in by the property owner for shelter (and BBQ) was really appreciated. Andy and Geoff put in a lot of work to get the event up and running and we really appreciate your efforts.

Ted Stevens also deserves our full praise, coming along on both days to provide assistance whenever required. From calling finishes, untangling yachts in the rescue dinghy, and all official duties required. Without people such as you, events just don't happen.

Again, thanks to everyone, and we look forward now to the 2022 installment back down south.