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.

​A Southerly breeze of between 5 and 10 knots made for smooth water and fast sailing conditions at the dam today.

A big fleet of 18 skippers turned up and there was close racing all day. It is great to see some who are returning to Wednesday sailing after a break over winter.

Two guest skippers joined with us today. Martin Svensen, who has bought Lisa’s impressive olive green Katun 2, and Guy Skinner who was borrowing John Cole-Cook’s second boat. A warm welcome to you both.

Wayne Behrens cam out on top a tight table today winning with consistently high placings. Well done Wayne!

Our guest, Guy Skinner took second place. Guy’s results included an impressive win in the last race.

I managed to take the third podium spot today with my boat sailing much faster this week after some rigging problems last week.

Thanks as usual to PRO John Banks who set good courses and kept the event moving well. John is hoping to get his boat back on the water soon.

Quite a few skippers will be heading to the DF95 State Championships on the weekend. The best of luck to all.

Club sailing will continue at Montrose on Sunday with long distance racing.

Next Wednesday’s handicap will be for DF95’s.

John S

​A bit of a difficult day for most today, with C rig conditions early, blowing to a C2 and then on to a B2 for those who had them.

We moved the start line back towards marks 9 and 10 to get away from the glare, which worked quite well. 10 races were completed today, with many sailors missing multiple races due to various types of maintenance issues, which always seem to come out when the wind is stronger. Some intemittent comms issues and book breakage soon dropped the field down to 5, with another coming off hte water with a few races to go.

Very consistent pace today with his F-6, John Cole Cook came out the winner on the day, on 12 points - winning half the races.

Nipping at his heels, was Ray Joyce, on 14 points for second place. Very consistent when one of his drops is a second!!!

Third place today went to Lisa Blackwood, on 19 points, also a very consistent performance.

I was also there to see Andrew Wardrop take a very commanding win in race 7. The gremlins he has been deaing with now in the past (touch wood).

Handicap results today gave just rewards to John Hall, on 3 net points (seeded 7th, finishing 4th) for the handicap win today. John Cole-Cooks performance was noticed as well, coming in second on 2 net points (seeded 3rd, finished 1st). Reward also for Andrew Wardrop, taking third on handicap with 1 net point (seeded 6th, finishing 5th).

A few of us walking away today to lick some wounds, but nothing too serious and the yachts will be set and ready the next time the RM's hit the water.

This coming Wednesday is IOMHandicap, at Risdon Brook Dam, and next Sunday is Long Distance, from 11am at MBYC, while our DF sailors also head up to Launceston for the George Fish Memorial DF95 State Championship. Good luck to all competitors.

Kyle

A gusty North Westerly of between 10 and 20 knots proved both testing and frustrating in the early races at the dam  today.

If you carried the A rig knock-downs were often – but if you carried the B rig you were left wanting in the frequent light patches.

Many skippers did several rig changes throughout the morning only to find that they had re-rigged with a poorer choice. Coping with the conditions with whatever rig you had on seemed to be the secret to success during the morning.

During the lunch break conditions moderated considerably. It was A rig conditions with wind shifts around the compass for the last four races.

Chris Wood was the winner today with his new V11. It was the first time at the dam for this impressive boat. Chris had no finish worse than 6th even before discards. Well sailed Chris.

Second place went to the ever-consistent Wayne Behrens.

Third place was taken by Rod Marshall with another boat new to our fleet. Rod’s Red Ant Blitz looked really fast under both A and B rigs.

Thanks as always to our Wednesday PRO John Banks.

Sunday’s sailing is for Marbleheads (10:00 at Montrose). Next Wednesday will again be IOM handicap at the dam.

John S

​A nice northerly Katabatic greeted us this morning for the RM State Regatta. Eight sailors made it to contest today, and all enjoyed great conditions prior to lunch, with C rigs initially, but reducing to B after the first four races. From memory, we got seven races in before lunch was called - just as the breeze died out.

After lunch, everyone chose their A rigs, and some great light weather sailing ensued. After a bit of a red hot, then cold sequence of races prior to lunch, Stuart Dawes really stepped up the pressure, and strung together a fine sequence of podium finishes, running away to be the very well deserved winner of the regatta. Six wins from 14 races and a total of 31 points.

Coming in second place, was Ray Joyce, not far behind, on 36 points. Lisa Blackwood rounded out the top three, on 46 points.

Big thanks today, to our officials, Les Hanson as our Pro. A more difficult breeze to set courses to today, but Les took it all in his stride ensuring good, long courses with heaps of opportunity to plan alternate paths to sail throughout the day. Both closer to shore, and much further out provided exciting alternates throughout, with both being the correct choice at different stages of the day. Thanks also to Anne Cole-Cook, for assisting with the finish line and the scoring duties. It makes it so much easier and quicker for the competitors to find out the results at the end of the day, and your assistance is truly appreciated.

Results for those who have issues reading the ones below can be found on the following link to mysailingresults website.

I was intending to get good photos from all the yachts today, but I have missed a few. Apologies to those skippers. I will make sure I have some good ones taken during the next few Scratch events.

A fleet of twelve DF 95s competed in todays handicap event. 

A North-Westerly of about 12-15 knots was blowing down the dam and A rigs were the universal choice.

Things freshened up a bit during lunch and B and C rigs were brought out for the afternoon, though the C rigged skippers found themselves underpowered in the lulls and changed up for the last couple of races.

The Gold medal performance today was that of Phil Jackman (3 wins and 3 thirds). Phil had his boat really well set up for the conditions and seemed to simply have more boat speed than most of us. Silver and Bronze went to Phil Turnbull and Richard Fish respectively. Congratulations to all.

New skipper, Ian Hay, brought his DF95 to the dam today. He sailed well in the blustery conditions and his two second places showed his potential. Welcome to the club Ian.

Thanks to Andrew for acting as PRO today and for getting us a good early finish so that we were all home in time to watch the Olympic gold medal race – Matt Belcher and Will Ryan taking the Gold for Australia. – Yay!

Sunday’s sailing will be the Marblehead State regatta starting 10:30 at Montrose. Wednesday handicap next week will be for IOM’s.

John S.