A bit of a cold start but a steady NW top of A rig breeze greeted the 10 skippers who fronted the starter. A box course was set in the bay with the usual mix of scratch & handicap races. The breeze slowly moderated during the morning & became a bit patchy & then strengthened again for the final 3 races. Ray was having winch problems so retired & took over PRO duties allowing the angry dragon (54) to make an appearance with its usual mix of good & bad finishes. In the 4th race Phil Turnbull made the most of a 10 sec H'cap start for a well deserved win. In the end David Jones took out the day & also managed not to fall in the water & admitted he enjoyed the day. Richard also had winch problems which is no way to reward a bloke who travelled from the Huon. In late morning the sun came out & made for a good day.
Andrew

Despite a dire forecast this morning, eight skippers fronted to a light northerley which contrasted with the moderate SW on the river. The breeze moved around quite a bit & after a few races decided to blow north or south or both. A rigs were the order of the day for the early short courses but later with the breeze predominantly from the South & increasing with the occaisonal savage gust we went to a longer 2 lap box course & enjoyed some excellent racing. The days "sheep station" was won by 60 with Ray second & Wayne Turner third.
Tomorrow at 10 am is DF95 racing at Montrose, Saturday is the Kelverdon Regatta at Swansea & Sunday at 10.30 the Marbleheads at Montrose 
​Andrew

Today was our 1st round of our winter DF95 series at Montrose. Racing started at 10 am with a top of A rig north westerley breeze which moderated slowly over the next 2 hours. 12 skippers fronted the start gun & races were alternating scratch & handicap which seemed to work well. A fairly short course was set in the bay & 10 races were completed. Weed was a bit of a problem but all boats were effected & it didnt seem to impact on the results or stop any boats from racing. The sun came out & we enjoyed some excellent racing in good humour. At the end of racing the day was won by Cliff (108) from Wayne (32 ) with Richard( 414 ) third Chris & Andrew tied for fourth & Peter Darcey 5th. Thanks to Rod M for PRO duties & a special thanks to Cliff & Richard for making the long trip from the Huon. Click on Photos & Videos under News above to see photos from today & dont forget that next Tuesday the DF95 circus moves to Franklin for a 10 am start next to Petty Sessions. Tank has guaranteed a fair breeze. 
​Andrew

Eleven skippers fronting for the first event of the 2017-18 season, the 2017 Southern Tasmanian IOM Championship. A fine and sunny autumn's day with light and variable winds, mainly from the west to south to around 3 knots, slowly building during the day to maybe 5-6 knots in the afternoon. With the variable wind directions, course setting was a challenge but all races had a windward/leeward component and generally short one lap races in the lighter airs and two laps when the breeze was settled. Despite the efforts of the awesome foursome on Saturday, there were still a few victims to strands of weed, and a few boats getting caught in the weed banks as well.

​David Jones started his regatta off well taking line honors in Race 1 with Peter Darcey second and Rod Jackman finishing third. Rod stepped it up a notch in Race 2 to take the gun with Chris wood in contention with a second and Ray Joyce showing he was sailing well with a third place, and indeed he was, winning Race 3 with veteran Lisa Blackwood on the podium in second place and David Jones on the podium again, in third place. Lisa took the gun in Race 4, closely pursued by David Jones and Rod Jackman. After the first drop, David Jones led the fleet with 6 points, Lisa Blackwood second on countback from Rod Jackman with 7 points, Ray Joyce in fourth place with 9 points and Peter Darcy rounding out the top five with 12 points. Lisa backed it up with another win in Race 5 with Rod Jackman sailing well into second place and Chris Wood on the podium again in third place. Back to back wins in Races 6 and 7 for Ray Joyce and coincidentally back to back seconds for Lisa Blackwood, and a third place for Peter Sylvester and Rod Jackman respectively. Lunch was called during the usual noon lull. With the resumption of racing, Rod notched up his second win for the day in Race 8 with the Silver Fox up at the pointy end of the fleet and a second place, and Lisa Blackwood sailing consistently well with another podium in third place. After the second drop, Lisa Blackwood led with 11 points from second place Rod Jackman on 13 points, third place was Ray Joyce with 15 points, Peter Darcey in fourth with 22 points and David Jones dropping to fifth place on the leader board with 28 points.

​Lisa strengthened her lead with another solid win in Race 9, the points gap to second place widening with Chris Wood on the podium again, and Kyle Stewart also in the mix with a third place. Unfortunately, Rod Jackman had to pull out of the regatta after Race 9, however late arrival Stuart Harris announced his presences with a win in Race 10. Lisa still sailed well to take second spot and Andrew Wardrop connecting the dots to take third place. Race 11 saw a solid performance from Chris Wood earn him line honors from Peter Darcey on the podium again in second place and Peter Sylvester with his second visit to the podium in third place. Race 12 saw Lisa take her fourth win for the day with Chris Wood making a late move on the points in second place and Ray Joyce improving from earlier races of the afternoon to take the minor podium. Ray and Lisa battled it out in Race 13 with Ray taking the gun from Lisa, and Darcey also improving with a solid third place. Stu Harris showed that his new hand crafted "woodie" of the Corby design, built in the Byerley workshop, had plenty of pace taking the win in Race 14 with Lisa ever competitive in second place and Darcey also up there again in third place. The final race of the day, Race 15 saw worthy winner Lisa Blackwood finish the day on a high with another solid win, as too Peter Darcy sailing well with another second place and Stu Harris' Corby competitive in third place.

​Final results and a very comfortable win from veteran sailor Lisa Blackwood with 24 points which included an impressive 5 wins and 12 out of 15 podiums. Second place went to the Silver Fox, Peter Darcy on a rather distant 47 points, Ray Joyce finishing in third place on 50 points, Chris Wood fourth  on 57 points and Peter Sylvester rounding out the top 5 with 74 points. ​A pleasant day's sailing was had by all with good close racing and good spirits. Thanks to Ted and Dave for helping me during racing, and to those that turned up just to have a look.

Wet sails,

​Stuart Dawes, PRO.