A hard day at the office today, with wind gusts at the dam exceeding 35 knots at times – spray being thrown up off the water on multiple occasions.

It wasn’t like that the whole day though – at times we were becalmed as well making rig choices very hard, and those with the right rig took a massive advantage.

Just the six along today – disappointing, but all we can do is host these events with the aim of returning the fleet to its former glory. At the moment, the numbers in the class are such that we cannot reasonably increase the sail days of this wonderful class, currently reduced to just 6 scratch days a year.

Anyway, the six that came along were keen for some good sailing and we certainly got a work out. C1 Rigs on the most part to start with, although they were over pressed at times. I got an early change to C2 by pulling out of race 2 when the rig just wouldn’t comply and gained instant results from it. The rest of the fleet changed after that race and someone stupidly kept their C2 on with most opting for C3 or lower – absolutely the right choice in the conditions.

Just the three races were completed after that to lunch time, where I pulled out with a leak, and Ted’s yacht fell on to the concrete causing a small hole in the stern, so things were looking a bit bleak. After a discussion through lunch and with wind increasing further again, we called the rest of the day off with safety of rescue being an issue if it was required.

On the rescue, Ricky and I went out in the Rib after race 6 to get my boat and the new rib with electric motor handled the conditions very well. Wet, but quite safe at that point in time.

After the 6 races, Ray had a stranglehold on first position, with just 8 points collected. A very worthy winner on the day with excellent rig choices throughout.

Second place went to John, on 13 points. Well sailed.

Third place, on countback, was Stu on 17 points, handling the rough conditions very well.

Interesting to note that after Stu, we had finishers tied on 17, then 18 and 19 points respectively. Although only six races for the event, it was extremely close.

One point of note for future ranking events, we did have someone call up yesterday asking if a late entry was allowed today. The committee decided a few meetings ago that we were going to hold close of entries on the NoR as just that, so if you intend on sailing, you must get your entry in before the close date, which is often just the Friday afternoon before the event. One part of this is that we have had a few Marblehead and A Class events recently with so few entries that we have had to call the sail day off, so we do need notice of whether we need to call such events off or whether we need extra prizes for larger fleets. It’s only a few days notice and is a reasonable ask of members to commit to a sail day just a few days out.

Coming up

Wednesday is DF95 Handicap at the Dam, button press at 1030​

Next Saturday is DF65 State Championship at Montrose. Entries close per the NoR on  Thursday, so please get your entry in if you intend on competing.
 
Kyle

Today we welcomed Nick Connor to the IOM fleet. Nick has just purchased Lisa’s V12. We all know the capabilities of this boat (and of Nick too) and Lisa proved again how good the boat is by finishing in 3rd place (out of 64 boats) at the National Championships last week. Nick put an offer on the boat to Lisa before she left for the champs which was a smart move as there were plenty of buyers making Lisa offers after her championship efforts.
 
Good course setting is difficult at Risdon Brook Dam when the conditions are Westerly but PRO Phil Jackman did a great job keeping us racing with inventive courses. Thanks Phil.
 
We sailed a shortened handicap programme in the morning. I managed to take the win during this series from John Penman and NickConnor who tied for second and third spot, John getting the nod on count-back.
 
During the afternoon we sailed a scratch series using Admirals cup scoring. There were three short (harbour) races, two longer (offshore) races worth double points, and then a marathon (Fastnet) race which counted triple points. To add the points to produce the results below races #4 and #5 have had their results entered twice and race #6 has had the results entered 3 times.
 
Buzzy Behrens took out the series with a great exhibition of consistent sailing in tricky conditions. John penman took second finishing the day really strongly. Alan Short was placed third - a great scratch event result from the rapidly improving skipper. Congratulations Buzzy, John and Alan.
 
Several skippers commented that the concept was good and probably would have been even better if conditions had been good enough to send us on our long distance course for the final race. One of the good things about this type of racing is that with the triple points the last race on the program you are still in the hunt for overall honours even if your day started badly.
 
Coming up:
Sunday: RM State regatta at Risdon Brook Dam. Enter online. Measuring from 9:00 for a 10:30 button press
Next Wednesday: DF95 handicap racing at Risdon Brook Dam 10:30 button press.
 
Cheers Shorty

​What a day at the dam today!!!!
 
Leaving home and looking at the river, I was a little confused. The forecast was for a good strong NNW today, but the river looked quite calm. Well that was very different at the dam.
 
On arriving, many sailors had their boats out but no rigs on. A bit of confusion whether we should be using B or C Rigs, and it wasn’t till about 20 minutes before button press that the universal call for B Rigs eventuated.

PRO Phil Turnbull got us started nicely on time, with 10 sailors on the water for the day. Thanks for your help as PRO today, it was really appreciated.
 
Awesome to see Simon getting a third in the first race today. Some time on setup and tuning yesterday as well as some good on-water placement gave a well deserved result.
 
It was soon clear that some other boats were tuned just nice for the 15 or so knot breeze, again with some smart course positioning, with Gary and Kyle’s Ceccarelli boats flying for much of the day.
 
With the usual break after the first race and some well timed breaks after every three races thereafter, we managed to get in 12 for the day. Thanks Phil for keeping things moving along so nicely.
 
We had some really good passing lanes, both upwind and downwind and a lot of opportunity to chase some extra pressure – sometimes with great benefit and other times a very hard lesson.
 
Between Kyle and Gary, they took out 9 of the 12 races, so no surprise in the end that the battle for first was between those two.
 
Gary took todays round with a total of 22 points – very well deserved with just one counted race that was not on the podium.
Two points behind in second was Kyle, on 24 points. A great days sailing, but just not quite enough today.
Ian Hey rounded out the top 3 on 39 points. So close it was there, that 4-6 were just one point each away from each other, such was the closeness for much of the day.
 
In Silver Fleet, Andrew continues to impress with his new Proteus, taking the round win on 13 points.
Murray Willis took second on 19 points, with Simon Delaney in third, on 23.
 
It was also great to see John Cole-Cook having a sail today as well after a bit of an absence from Sunday sailing. Hope to see you back again soon.
 
We had Grant along as well today taking some photos of the days action. Will be great to see with the B rigs in full flight in some fantastic sailing conditions. I’ll post them to the RC Sailing Tasmania Facebook page when they come through.
 
Coming Up
Wednesday is Super Wednesday at the Dam (I think it is some Long Distance racing, but could easily be wrong). Button Press is 1030
Next Sunday is the RM State Regatta at the Dam, button press at 1030. Please get your entries in as soon as possible for the event
Reminder also that the following weekend is the DF65 State Championship at Montrose. Entries are open for the event.
 
Opportunity for Members with order from Sailsetc
I am placing an order through Sailsetc tomorrow, so if there are any things you’d like added to the order, please email me and I’ll get it put on there for you.

The forecasted 'plenty of wind’ just didn’t happen and in fact when we arrived for IOM handicap racing this morning there was flat calm and reflections. 
 
A representative from TasWater came to meet with the club committee to discuss the possibility of improving our infrastructure at the dam. As this took some of our skippers from sailing we decided to have some scratch racing until they were ready to start. Phil Jackman set us a ‘gates both ends’ course and we did our best though the wind was barely enough to ripple the surface. 
 
We had three scratch races won by Jammy Jones, John Penman and Gary McCarthy before starting the handicap series.
 
The wind did fill in during the morning and we had about 4 or 5 knots of Northerly for the rest of the day but very variable and shifty.
 
All skippers managed to reach the podium at some time today but consistency was a common ingredient amongst those at the top end of the table. I managed third place today but let my brother Al sneak in for second just one point ahead of me. How could I possibly let that happen! Congratulations to him as he sailed with excellent boat speed today. But it was Ray Joyce who put on a light winds sailing exhibition. Ray also had excellent boat speed and seemed to be able to find wind wherever he went. Starting behind the fleet Ray said that he always looks for clean air on days like this. Congratulations Ray!
 
Coming Up:
Sunday: IOM Scratch Racing at Risdon Brook Dam. 10:00 button press – We are on a search for a PRO for this IOM Scratch. Please contact Kyle or Ray if you can help out.
Next Wednesday: IOM Super Wednesday. 10:30 button press

​I was not holding much hope this morning of getting sailing under way. Leaving home with zero breeze and glass on the Derwent on the way to the dam, and a weather report saying that not much was coming.
 
As we drove up the dam entrance road though, the trees were telling a very different story, and on cresting the hill, I saw a nice 6 or so knot Katabatic blowing down the length of the dam.
 
The eight sailors all got their acts together nice and quick and we were away right on the 10 button press.
 
We again welcomed Malcolm Watson from up north, who sailed his Blister 3 and we had 8 sailors all up sailing today, which was fantastic to see. Of the yachts in the south, I think we were only missing the club boat from the ones who have sailed this year.
 
8 races were completed today, under the watchful eye of PRO Ray Joyce with a pretty standard course owing to the consistent wind direction we had today. Normal start, 8-7 to 4-3 to 6-5, down to the gate and then finish. The last two races were shortened to 8-7 to gate and finish due to the lightening wind. At the end of the 8th, we agreed on an early finish because of the vanishing breeze, and called it a day.
 
The sailing itself was very close, with a mistake and subsequent penalty turn enough to spit you out the back and not be able to catch up again.
 
Awesome to see 5 winners in the 8 races with myself, Stu and Rod taking two each, with wins also to Lisa and Phil.
 
At the end of the day though, it was Stu that came away with the round win on 11 points – Very consistent sailing with drops of 4’s as his worst races.
 
Second place was yours truly, just two behind on 13 points, also consistent with a pair of 5’s as the drops.
 
Third place today went to Rod by countback from Lisa, who were both on 17 points. Rod did really well, considering he ended up with some extra ballast in the last two races, which was enough difference to fall away from Stu and myself at the end.
 
A welcome to A Class racing also to Ricky price, who sailed Tank Walters old Venom – all nicely done up and sailed really well. Fantastic to get another A on the water – also showing along with Stu that the Venoms are at no disadvantage to the Blisters.
 
All up, a great days sailing today.
 
Big thanks to Ray for his work as PRO for us today. Really makes it so much better when the sailors can all concentrate o their own thing with the PRO there making sure the courses are fair and that the day goes without a hitch.
 
Just the one thing for us all to be cognisant with – at the end of the day, please make sure all things are packed up and the transport to the boat shed is all handled with as much help as needed. We ended up a bit short on helpers with getting the boat on the back of Ray’s car and we (I) had put the electric outboard in a very awkward spot in the boat, meaning everything had to be pulled out to get the outboard in to the lockup in the shed. A little bit of thought and help goes a long way to help those who put the boat and equipment away.
 
As usual, Grant Wise has shared some fantastic photos of todays sailing, and Ray and I have also shared some video action. Ray with some races and I put up a run beck to the launch area of Lisa’s yacht after some comms problems and subsequent rescue. Amazing how far these boats will travel when tuned nicely – well past our long distance course and almost to the other end of the dam by the time we caught up with it.
 
Photos and video are posted on the RC Sailing Tasmania Facebook page.
 
Coming up
 
Wednesday is IOM Handicap at the dam, button press at 1030
 
Next Sunday is IOM Scratch at the dam, button press at 1000.
 
Lisa will not be sailing with us next Sunday at the dam. Instead, she will be representing the club at the IOM Nationals on the Sunshine Coast during the week. Best of luck Lisa. We look forward to the stories you will bring back and will be watching the results as they get updated.
 
Kyle

​Today’s IOM handicap racing was held in real winter conditions with a cool and very blustery North-westerly blowing in scuds down Risdon Brook Dam. The gusts were in excess of 15 knots but there were total calm patches as well. A-rigs were the way to go for their power in the light patches. A couple of skippers did try their B-rigs but only managed to demonstrate how much the big rig was needed.  
 
Phil Jackman again took on the PRO role. His efficient work allowed us to complete 13 races in the trying conditions. Thanks as always Trout.
 
When Trout handed over the scoresheet at the end of the day I asked him to pick the winner and he said it was too tight to call. He was absolutely right on that with the first four skippers separated by only two points and all skippers reaching the podium at some stage in the day.
 
Buzzy Behrens took third spot just a point ahead of Ricky Price. And one point ahead of Buzzy, Andrew Wardrop and Phil Turnbull were tied at the top of the table with Phil getting the nod on count-back by virtue of having two race wins.  Congratulations and well sailed Phil, Andrew, and Buzzy.
 
Coming up:
Sunday: A Class scratch racing at Risdon Brook Dam. 10:00 button press.
Next Wednesday IOM handicap racing at Risdon Brook Dam. 10:30 button press.
 
Shorty

It was calm and a little foggy this morning when we arrived for today’s DF95 handicap event at Risdon Brook Dam. We were all hoping that we would be able to race today as last month we had to abandon the event due to too little wind and the month before that was cancelled due to excessive wind. By race time there was just a whisper of wind and even though the surface of the water was still mirror-like and that was enough for PRO Andrew Wardrop to call us to the starting line. 
 
The wind was never above 2 knots all day and sometimes nothing at all but never-the-less we were able to complete 8 races for the day - only two of which were more than one lap of a small course.
 
John Hall always performs well in the DF95 class and took out third place today finishing the day with a nice win. Wayne Behrens took second place regaining composure after missing the first race and finishing last in the second. John Penman took out the day and was easily the most consistent of skippers today. Well done Buzzy and the John’s!
 
Coming Up:
Sunday: Df65 and DF95 Scratch Racing at Risdon Brook Dam. 10:00 button press for DF65 and 1300 button press for DF95

PRO for either or both the DF95 and DF65 isn't sorted yet, so if you're interested, please contact Ray or Kyle

Next Wednesday IOM handicap - Perpetual Shield racing at Risdon Brook Dam. 10:30 button press.
 
Shorty

​Eight sailors turned up today in nice warm conditions, however, the breeze was as it was yesterday, very light and shifty.
 
Our PRO for the day, Stu Dawes had us under way promptly and after the first four races (I think) we decided to sit it out for a while, as the wind decided whether it was going to pack up for the day or give us something. Apparently the Derwent was completely devoid of wind.
 
A small wait gave us our answer and we were back on the water.
 
Even with the break in proceedings, we got in 11 races for the day, which was a great effort.
 
Much of the day was dominated by Gary, Lisa and Ricky, although Bodge and Ray also chimed in for race wins as well.
 
Lisa came out as round winner today with an impressive 18pts from the 11 races with all races counted being podium positions.
 
Second place, four behind was Gary on 22pts.
 
Ricky took third spot, just two behind Gary on 24.
 
We only had a few in Silver Fleet today, however it all counts to end of year points tally. Andrew with the win from Simon, on 9 and 17 points respectively.
 
We had Grant Wise along again today taking photos for us. They have been uploaded to the RC Sailing Tasmania FB Page.
 
On the season points tally, it was asked a few weeks ago how it all worked, A quick explanation below (because it is pretty simple in theory).
 
We have a Season Tally on our master spreadsheet which counts each round sailed as a “race” with the round winner gaining 1 point and so-on to last place. If a sailor did not sail that sail day, they score the number of sailors in that sail day plus 1 point (as you would with a race). Example, John Hall was not able to sail today and we had 8 skippers sail today. John is given 9 points for todays round. After four rounds, a skippers worst score is dropped, and again after 8 rounds – just the same as the normal scoring system for a sail day. For IOM’s and likely DF’s, there is a Summer and Winter Series as well as the overall year score. For other classes (RM and A) with a reduced roster of scratch sail days, they have a year series score only, and the one-day ranking events are also counted as a scratch score for RM and A Classes.
 
Hopefully that may clear up any confusion, and if not, please get in touch with me and I’ll try to explain a bit better for you.
 
As far as Wednesday Handicap, the same scoring for the round result occurs for the Handicap series, with the first IOM sail day each month counted towards the series score, and all the DF95 Handicaps counted towards that series score. The actual handicap system is a piece of John Short’s design, which is working quite well and hopefully I’ll get him to write up a quick explanation on it. That said, it looks at amount of podium finishes a sailor has had on a particular day and assesses handicap from that, but further explanation will come for you.
 
Coming up
Wednesday – DF95 Handicap at the dam, button press at 1030.
Sunday – DF65 and DF95 Scratch at the dam. DF65 starts at 10 through to 1230, with DF95 starting at 1300 through to 1530
 
Kyle

​A wonderful day at the dam today. One could almost have called it warm. If only there was a little more wind.
 
That said, we did have breeze through most of the day, with it only abandoning us for the last race and a half, so can’t complain too much.
 
Seven skippers on deck today, and PRO Phil Jackman had us under way nicely on time with our “standard” course 3/4 to 8, in to 7, around 6 to 5, then 8 to 7, down to the gate 1/2 and finish between 3/4, which became our course through to lunch time.
 
By the time we had three races done, we had 6 skippers taking a first or second spot – some nice close sailing in the light conditions.
 
As we got to lunch, the nice consistent breeze had slowed down on us, bringing in some inconsistent and variable zephyrs around the dam. How quickly a sailor went from chocolates to boiled lollies – evidenced with Andrew winning a fantastic race in race 8, and bookending it the other end on race 9.
 
We got 10 races in before calling a close a little early because of the failing wind (last race around 25 minutes on a shorter length course).
 
Winner today was Peter Webberley, sailing his V8 very well today, a total of 25pts with the one discard
 
Second, just one behind was Andrew, also with a V8 on 26pts.
 
Rounding out the top 3 was Wayne with his Corbie 5, just two behind on 26pts.
 
Fantastic sailing today guys. All day, incidents etc were sorted out as they should be on the water without fuss at all. Makes the day not only enjoyable to sail in, but also to watch, as many walkers did as they walked past us (with many stopping to chat about the boats as well).
 
Thanks to Colin Hills for coming down to sail with us today. Although still sorting out the Alternative, we do hope you come back next round as it was fantastic to sail with you here.
 
I took some photos of today’s action, all posted on the RC Sailing Tasmania Facebook page.