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A very warm day today at MBYC for the 2026 edition of the Australia Day Handicap Shield. A great turnout of 16 sailors to the day, with Andrew Wardrop and Phil Jackman kindly helped out with PRO and Observing duties today. The sailors made the task nice and easy for them, with just a few called on the start line and one race where a number of saiors went tot he incorrect windward mark, and corrected themselves without fuss. The format of the day was a handicap, with everyone starting off scratch initially, and handicap penalties of 15 seconds, 10 seconds and 5 second for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. The first two races were in very light northerly influenced winds, although I do recall the second race finishing downwind as the Sou' easter started to influence things. Later in the day, a nice sea breeze did filter in for us, which gave some absolutely fantastic sailing for everyone. All sailors got some time in the front half of hte fleet across the day, which was great to see. So many finishes were close enough to drape a towel over, so it really hurt at times when you may have been just 5 seocnds away from 5th for example, but took a 10th out of the race. That said, we did have some standouts at the head of the fleet, namely our first couple of sailors. Stu Dawes continued his long standing dominance over the fleet - even with handicap penalties applied 6 times across the day - a 70 second handicap at the end of the day!! Stu was the well deserved winner of the Australia Day Shield with just 12 points. Second place, earning 40 seonds of handicap penalties across the day was Lisa Blackwood, 10 behind on 22 points. Taking out third place (and attracting 40 seconds in handicap penalties as well) was Kyle Stewart, a further 11 behind on 33 points. On the handicap shield, having a quick look at it, since its inception - we have had 5 sail days completed and now have 4 different winners on it. Saying that, not everything is about who won on the day. It was great to see a lot of laughs on the waters edge, and a great turnout from our friends at the DSS - of which we had 5 along today. We also had representation from Puddleduck regulars and a visit from NTRYC in Malcolm Watson. I think it's fantastic to have so many that have initially come from other areas/clubs to join with us, not just in the day's sailing, but also joining the club as members as well. We are really gratefull to you all. Photos of todays sailing, kindly taken by Grant Wise, can be seen at the RC Sailing Tasmania Facebook page. It is public access, so if you don't have a FB Account, there is no issue and you will still be able to see it by clicking on the link. Coming Up:
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