You couldn't ask for better conditions to race Marbleheads at Risdon Brook today. On arrival, a solid NNW breeze of 15 to 20 knots or there abouts, blowing down the dam, covering the dam with whitecaps and some nice troughs to surf downwind, yee har! Seven Skippers turned up for the day and were eager to use the day as preparation for next weeks ranking event, the John Emms Memorial Trophy for Marbleheads. Andrew Wardrop broke the golden rule of "Bring ALL your rigs" and returned home to fetch his C2 rig as that was the rig of consensus, however one or two gambolled with the bigger C1 rig. Good also to see Jeff Byerley on the water continuing his World's campaign, today sailing the borrowed Dreadnought of Peter Sylvester. Stu Harris kindly volunteered his services for the day and a very big THANK YOU for that. Not all smooth sailing at first though with Ray Joyce sailing too far across the dam and loosing radio with his boat and an ensuing walk around to retrieve it as the rescue boat would not have had any headway in the conditions, and John Hall having winch troubles forcing both of them to miss the first race, John all bar one, and a broken jib head attachment for Wayne Behrens prior to Race 1 that fortunately was fixed in time for the button press. The course in these conditions was; start between 1 and 2, solid windward beat up to 5 then 6, good fast run back down to 2 into 1, back up to 5 and 6, second run right down to the bottom 0 mark and through the finish between 1 and 2, all marks to PORT. The breeze had started to ease just that little bit over the first few races but still solid and those that weren't, changed to the C1 rig after Race 3. After four races the F3 of yours truly had 3 wins and a second on the board, from Andrew Wardrop in second on 7 points and Ray Joyce in third with 10 points, who unfortunately rounded the bottom mark to starboard in Race 3 and gave away a certain win for a third, but redeemed himself by winning Race 4. Lunch was called after Race 5 and with the wind quite eased, a change up to B Rig for the resumption of racing. After 8 races and the second drop, the F3 led the fleet with another four wins on the trot and 6 points, from second placed Jeff Byerley on 17 points and third placed Ray Joyce with 19 points , on countback from Andrew Wardrop in fourth place. The last 2 races for the day were in a light breeze and the maximum sail area of A Rig was the go, along with a shortened course to the "small box". The F3 took the gun in Races 9 and 10 while Ray Joyce took line honours for the final race of the day in the final breaths of breeze before an Autumn afternoon calm off. Despite the final result, racing was fast and exciting and quite close as the battle for the minor spots proved all day. Final results and a resounding win for the F3 with 9 points, 16 points ahead of Ray Joyce with 2 wins and 25 points and Jeff Byerley in third place on 29 points. No doubt, I have used up all my "Ju Ju" and will be cursing the place next week. Till then, wet sails. Stuart Dawes.
A solid 10 to 15 knot norwester blowing down the dam for the midweek handicap series giving the 15 skippers in attendance a solid workout with the A Rig. Bruce Rose was PRO for the day and did a fine job. Kim Potter took line honours in Race 1 with David Murfet second and John Smith finishing third. Another podium for John Smith in Race 2, this time a win with David Murfet grabbing another second and Andrew Wardrop sailing up from the back of the fleet to claim a third place. Race 3 and a double on the board for John with another win from Tony Brewer in second place and the consistent David Murfet making up third place. Race 4 and veteran John Webberley got the TS2 across the line first from Rob Cooney finishing second and Les Hanson the minor spot. Rob did one better in Race 5, a long distance race, with a well sail victory from Les on the podium again along with Tony Brewer for third place. Race 6 went to front marker Wayne Turner followed by Kim Potter in second and Andrew Wardrop in third and the only backmarker to make a podium finish the entire 6 races. Winner for the day was Rob Cooney with 20 points from second place David Murfet with 21 points and third place to Kim Potter with 24 points. Sunday is Marblehead racing from 11:00 AM. Til Then, wet sails. Stuart Dawes.
A rather cool but sunny morning with calm to light NNW winds at first with a bit of SW in it later on in the afternoon making for some rather time consuming races over the long distance course. An average turnout of skippers with 7 IOMs and 2 Marbleheads keen to race, and later on the first appearance and sail on the Brook by a couple of DF95's with Kyle Stewart and his friend Ken, apologies, I didn't get Ken's surname. The two DF95's casually took part in one of the races with a reasonable head start and held their own considering the light conditions and the classes they were up against. Only 5 races were completed due to the slowish conditions, but a pleasant day's sailing none the less. Race 1 line honours went to Les Hanson with Peter Sylvester second and David Murfet third. Les was in fine form in Race 2 taking another win from Andrew Wardrop and Stuart Harris with his new Maxim finishing third. Race 3 and the lavender Maxim breezed to the finish line first with Les second and Andrew third. Race 4 and another win for Les Hanson from Stuart and Andrew, all on the podium again. The final race for the day and a slow start for the IOM's gave the M's a chance to haul them back and a win for the camera boat from Peter Sylvester second and fellow M skipper Ray Joyce finishing third. Run away winner for the day was Les Hanson with 5 points, clear ahead of second place Stuart Harris with 10 points and Andrew Wardrop third with 13 points. Next Sunday is Round 1 of the Marblehead Winter Series ahead of the John Em's Memorial Trophy for Marbleheads the following Sunday. Wet sails, Stuart Dawes
A pleasant autumn day at the Brook with light to very light variable winds between south west and north west at an average 2-3 knots with waves of pressure to maybe 5 knots every now and then in between patches of bugger all. Last weeks winner Peter Sylvester had the duties of PRO and did a splendid job I must say. A new boat arrived at the dam today, which, after some good humoured "critique" , i.e. took the piss out of, showed very good boat speed straight out of the blocks. Stuart Harris had a smile from ear to ear and must be happy with the new Maxim from the Byerley stables, as too Jeff himself who dropped in and to have a look and to take helm of the lavender coloured "Janet" for one of the races (might have been Race 3). No doubt after some fine tuning and a little more feel for the new design, Stuart will be a strong contender in future IOM racing at Risdon Brook. Another new IOM also had her maiden sail on the Brook today with Ted Lange's black with red pin stripped Joker design. I had intended to have a closer look but unfortunately didn't get around to doing, so I can't tell you any more about it. Back to the racing and back marker Wasabi took advantage of very little wind during the starting sequence to take line honours in Race 1 with a second place for the new Janet (not bad for her very first race) starting off 20 to go, and Bruce Rose finishing third starting on the gun as well. Race 2 and Bruce kept up the Race 1 form with a win from Peter Germein off 30 to go, and John Banks finishing in third place also starting at 30 seconds to the gun. Race 3 and dark horse Chris Wood starting at 40 seconds to go, claimed victory from John Banks starting 10 seconds earlier and Bruce Rose with another podium appearance in third starting on the gun. Race 4 and Denis Lees took the win from a healthy 1:10 start from John Banks in second off 40 to go and Kim Potter sailing well to finish third off 1:20 to the gun. The fifth and final race for the day went to John Deegan starting off 1:30 to go, from second place Peter Germein on the podium again and a fourth podium for Bruce Rose starting right back on the gun. With 4 out of 5 podiums, the series winner was Bruce Rose with 10 points, second place went to the new Maxim of Stuart Harris with 12 points (think you should send it back Stu), and a well sailed third place to John Banks with 15 points. Sunday is Long Distance and BBQ with racing from 11:00 AM. Till then, wet sails. Stuart Dawes
Round 1 of the IOM Winter Scratch Series and as far as wind strength goes, it certainly was "wintery" conditions. With a strong wind warning issued by the BOM, skippers were greeted with top end B Rig to C Rig conditions coming roughly down the dam from the WNW, varying from 10 to 30 knots and swings of around 90 degrees depending on which part of the dam you were on. With pleasant sunny conditions around the 20 degrees C mark, the day was promising some exciting IOM racing at the extreme! Eleven skippers initially turned up, however when it was obvious that the C Rig was the only choice, those of us without C Rigs wisely chose to sit this one out. "Every cloud..." they say, and with no one rostered as PRO, I put my hand up and organised the fleet, which was now down to 7 boats; one of them sitting it out till after the lunch break, onto the water just before a bullet came through at 40 to 45 knots, smacking the C Rigs flat. The course was; start between 1 and 2, shortish beat to 4 then into 3, crossover down to 2 into 1, 2 laps running down to 0 then beat back to finish between 1 and 2. Good Luck! Six skippers on the water for Race 1and Ray Joyce had the Britpop fizzing with a comfortable win from last week's Southern Champion Rod Jackman and the Silver Fox Peter Darcy third. Race 2 and Rod continued with his current form to win from Matt Gray sailing a V8 in second and Michael Hickman rounding out the podium. Race 3 and the Silver Fox out whited the fleet to take the win from Sir Rodney and Michael close behind. Race 4 saw another win for Rod with Ray second and Matt third. After the first drop, Rod had a comfortable 4 point lead over Ray Joyce on 8 points and Matt Gray 1 point behind in third place. Race 5 was the last before lunch and Ray Joyce was back at the pointy end with a comfortable win from Matt in second place and Michael in hot pursuit. Conditions eased slightly over the lunch break, so Lisa Blackwood joined the fleet with the B Rig installed and 32 points on the board in last place. The rest of the fleet still carrying the C Rig. Race 6 line honours went to Michael Hickman with Ray Joyce second and Peter Sylvester getting a handle on the conditions in third place, with Lisa coming DFL, unlike in Race 7 where the average wind speed suited the B Rig better than the C, and she took the gun from Matt Gray and Michael Hickman in second and third spot respectively. Race 8 and nearly a carbon copy in the placing's with Lisa's B Rig proving capable over the C's again and a double, Matt in second place and a double second as well, and Rod back on the podium after a hat trick of fourths. After the second drop, Rod still had the lead but by only 2 points from Matt on 15 points and Ray 2 points further back in third place overall. Michael Hickman was in fourth place with 18 points, Peter Darcy fifth with 24 points, Peter Sylvester sixth with 28 points and Lisa DFL with 33 points. Matty Gray cracked the whip in Race 9 and took the gun from Lisa in second spot and Peter Sylvester sailing well and on the podium again in third place. Race 10 and the wind had eased another 5 percent or so and had quite a lot of west in it warranting a change of course. A windward leeward course from a long starting line between the little white W mark close to shore and the bottom 0 (make the pin end attractive), longer beat up to outer mark nine, run back down to W, 2 laps finishing on the final run between 1 and 2. Even though the wind strength had moderated a little, the C Riggers persisted as there was still frequent "blasts" that would send the IOM's dancing so to speak. Despite this the B Rig prevailed over the C Rigs with Lisa taking a comfortable win from Ray Joyce second and Matt Gray third. Race 11 and the Silver Fox grabbed a win only just from Lisa Blackwood who stole 2 positions within 10m of the finish line to finish second within a boat length from Peter Sylvester and Ray Joyce. The leader board had Matt Gray on top with 23 points from Ray Joyce in second on countback to Rod Jackman, both on 27 points, 4 points in arrears. Race 12 and Lisa notched her fourth win in 6 races with Rod Jackman finishing second and Michael Hickman finishing third. His third and last win for the day for Sir Rodney in Race 13 with Matt recovering from a couple of "droppers" in the previous 2 races, finishing second and Michael in contention in third spot. Rod led the score board with 30 points on countback from Matt in second, a healthy 8 points clear of third place Ray Joyce. Race 14 saw another win for Lisa with Matt claiming the overall lead with a second place and Rod keeping him honest in third place, and 1 point behind in second place overall. Race 15 and the penultimate race for the day saw another win to the sole B Rig of Lisa Blackwood from second place Rod Jackman reclaiming the overall lead, and Michael Hickman fighting for valuable points. The final race of the day was Race 16, giving 3 drops to the skippers. The race was won by one of the Brook's masters Lisa Blackwood, taking a hat trick and 7 wins from 10 starts, with Matt Grey recovering from a droppable sixth in the last to finish in second place and Peter Darcy showing his stalwart competitiveness finishing in third place. Final results and despite Lisa's domination of the afternoon's races, the winner for the day was in form Rod Jackman with 34 points, on countback with 3 wins from Matt Gray in second place with the one win, and "consolation prize" third place to Lisa Blackwood with 41 points. Next Sunday is the first Long Distance Series of the new sailing calendar with handicap racing from 11:00 AM and BBQ lunch and a frosty or 2. I'll be bringing the Marblehead and the on-board camera, so let's hope for a bumper turnout and plenty of subjects for the video. Till then, wet sails. Stuart Dawes.
Reasonable conditions today for the first round of the Consistency Trophy. A 5 to 10 knot breeze coming down the dam with the usual "Brook" factor that at times could have been B Rig but most skippers electing to stay with the A Rig. Stu Harris kindly offered to take on the daily PRO duties in light of his new boat not ready, and John Banks with culinary duties for the lunch time BBQ. Format for the day was duel starting lines long distance around the cans, two laps for the first two races anyway, then 1 lap, single start line for the remaining races. Race 1 went to Peter Sylvester making use of his "favourable" handicap, with Rob Cooney second and John Banks third. Race 2 and Wasabi crossed the line first with Andrew Wardrop second and John Banks with another third place. Denis lees was the quickest home winning Race 3 from Rob Cooney on the podium again and Tony Brewer back sailing his Cockatoo in third place. Race 4 and another bullet for Peter Sylvester with yours truly second and John Banks on the podium once more. Final race for the day went to Tony Brewer with Peter Sylvester in the action again and John Smith keeping the chasers at bay to claim third place. Final results and next weeks PRO is Peter Sylvester, winning the day with 10 points, 4 points clear of myself on 14 points in second on countback from John Banks in third place. Sunday is Round 1 of the IOM Winter Series with racing from 11:00 AM. Til then, wet sails. Stuart Dawes
The Brook was in one of her usual moods today for the running of the 2016 Southern Tasmanian IOM Championship. When I arrived around 9:00 AM, a solid A Rig breeze was blowing down the dam from the NNW to maybe 6-8 knots with a few B Rig lines of pressure coming down every few minutes or so. Within half an hour the wind had strengthened to B Rig, 10 to 15 knots and it looked like it would stay that way for a while. Ideal conditions, one would suggest, however the forecast was to swing to the west and lighten later in the day. PRO for the day and commendation to Les Hanson who, although entered in the event, kindly undertook the duties of PRO as someone else had not organised one. Well done Les, you did a fine job except for one small omission in the provisional results, Race 13! (unlucky) With a fleet of fifteen IOM's the first race got under way a little after the scheduled time with all skippers opting for B Rig. The course was a standard windward leeward box course, start between 1 and 2, beat up to 6 to 5, run back down to 4 then into 3, back up to 6 and 5, run back down to 0 to STB then back to finish between 1 and 2. Race 1 line honours went to one of Risdon Brook's masters, Michael Hickman with Rod Jackman sailing to his usual standard in second and the wily Silver Fox, Peter Darcy in third. With a few lighter patches affecting the last half of the first race, and the wind easing more during the mandatory break after the first race, the fleet changed up to A Rig. Race 2 and Andrew Wardrop showed his presence with a good win from Sir Rodney again in second and John Hall getting amongst the action in third place. Andrew bagged a double in Race 3 with another win from Sir Rodney and a hat trick of seconds, and Chris Wood showing plenty of skill and boat speed to claim the minor podium. Race 4 and another win for Michael with another master of the Brook, Lisa Blackwood taking second and Rod with his forth podium in four races. After the first drop, no surprises who was leading. Sir Rodney first with 6 points, Andrew Wardrop in second place with 8 points, Michael Hickman third with 9 points, Lisa Blackwood forth with 12 points and John Hall rounding out the top 5 with 13 points. Race 5 saw the experienced Ray Joyce claim a win from John Hall on the podium again in second spot and Michal Hickman with a third. Conditions were now much lighter with quite a few patches of frustration and more frequent westerly shifts, so with the clock agreeing, lunch was called. Racing resumed with Race 6 and a win for Peter Darcy with Rod on the podium again as too Michael Hickman. Race 7 and Michael threw down the gauntlet with a strong win from myself in second and Lisa Blackwood in third. Race 8 and a double for Michael with Darcy sailing consistent again in second place and Lisa likewise for third spot. After the second drop the leader board had changed with Michael Hickman leading the pack comfortably with 10 points, Rod Jackman second with 15 points, Lisa Blackwood third with 24 points, the Silver Fox forth with 26 points and Ray Joyce rounding out the top 5 with 27 points. With the wind now more westerly, the course was changed to best suit the conditions using the two small white marks as the start, out to the wing mark 9, run down to 3, reach back to the committee mark, two laps, finish between 1 and 2 after the final rounding of the committee mark onto port tack , which would cause a few incidents as one would expect. Race 9 and the battle for top dog got better with Rod taking a good win from Tony Brewer coming to grips with the #8 Britpop in second place and Andrew Wardrop visiting the podium again in third place. Race 10 and not to lie down without a fight, Michael Hickman claimed another bullet with Lisa sailing well into second place and a minor placing for myself. Ray Joyce showed contention for overall results with a good win in Race 11, and Rod tightened the screws with a second place and Andrew Wardrop taking the third spot. Race 12 and the final discard for the series. The screws were now being countersunk with another outstanding performance from Rod Jackman taking only his second win for the day from second place Chris Wood and Michael Hickman fighting for every point he could in third place. After the final discard, Rod Jackman on 25 points had overhauled a 5 point deficit to led Michael Hickman by 2 points, both comfortably ahead of third place Ray Joyce on 46 points, Lisa Blackwood forth with 51 points and Andrew Wardrop fifth on countback from Chris Wood with 58 points. The final race for the championship and Lisa Blackwood took the honours from a consistent Ray Joyce and Sir Rodney driving home the final nail in third place. Despite the provisional results not including the final race, it did not change the results. The 2016 Southern Tasmanian IOM Champion is Rod Jackman with 28 points, a comfortable win in the end from Michael Hickman runner up with 37 points and Ray Joyce taking out third place overall with 48 points. Next Sunday is Round 1 of the IOM Winter Series (already!), button press at 11:00 AM. Once again, congratulations to (Sir) Rod Jackman, 2016 Southern Tasmanian IOM Champion. Wet sails, Stuart Dawes.
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