2021 Tasmanian IOM State Championship

A bit of a cooler start today, but weather was fine regardless. A small and rare Easterly of about 3 knots to greet us, and a slight issue with the trees that were relocated from the course yesterday making another appearance. However, by the time racing started, one of them had moved off the course, so we were able to start unhindered.

13 races were completed today, and there was a bit of a shakeup to the standings from yesterday. 

Rod Jackman was a big mover, with 5 wins from the 13 races today, however, he had a bit too much to make up to get to the top three, who continued to sail well today.

Showing the level of competitiveness in the field, seven skippers took a win overthe 24 race championship, and amazingly, just 9 points covered 4th place to 8th place.

In the end, a supreme effort by Mathew Gray, overtaking Lisa on the leaderboard to win the State Championship for 2021, on 58 points.

Lisa Blackwood had a few issues later on in the day, but still managed to take out second place, with 73 points.

Ray Joyce also had a very impressive second day, thoroughly deserving his third place, on 84 points.

Although we had some issues with weed and light winds at times throughout the weekend, the championship seemed to be enjoyed by all competitors, officials and observers. There were a lot of positive comments from the general public during the weekend.

Weekends like this don't just happen, and all competitors thank our volunteers ver the weekend. Without you, the championship would not have been anywhere near as effective and enjoyable.

Les Hanson and Rod Marshall assisted with the PRO duties. We had David Jones, Andrew Wardrop, Peter Sylvester, John Murrell, John Short and Phil Turnbull helping out, whether that was as observers, rescue boat operators, start/finish line observers. It was all truly appreciated.

Back to normal sailing again now, with Wednesday being IOM Handicap, followed up with RM Scratch next Sunday.

Kyle