A gusty Northerly of more than 15 knots made B-rigs the go-to choice of all skippers racing in today’s IOM handicap at the dam. The wind held strength throughout the day but backed towards the west as the day wore on.
It was great to see a couple of missing skippers back today, Chris Wood back after a bit of a break and Jammy Jones returned after spending the winter on the Sunshine Coast where he competed in local competitions racing DF95s and DF65s. Jammy had his new lime green V12 out today and Lisa Blackwood also launched her new deep blue V12. Both very much tuning runs today although Lisa chipped in for a win in race #6. Today was a bit of a day for equipment failure for many. I was out for the morning with electrics issues, (thanks Rod Marshall for fixing me up during the lunch break), Peter Turner also had electrical issues, Chris Wood missed a couple of races with a broken forestay and Bodge was also out for one race with rigging problems. Andrew Wardrop took out third place overall today with a lot of ‘useful’ third places in the mix. Chris Wood was second – welcome back Chris! And today’s winner was Buzzy Behrens who won by a clear points margin. He started the day with handicap 40 but finished on the maximum handicap of 90. Congratulations Andrew, Chris and Buzzy. Just a note on how the weekly starting handicaps are generated: The top third of the fleet have their starting time increased while the bottom third have their starting time reduced. Now with 12 starters you would expect the top 4 and bottom 4 to be the ones affected by handicap change. But skippers who don’t finish enough races do not qualify for a handicap review. (With 10 races sailed you must finish 7 in order to qualify for a handicap review.) Today Lisa, Pete and myself all did not finish enough races in order to qualify for a handicap review. This meant that there were in fact only 9 skippers who could qualify for handicap review. So the top third of the fleet consisted of the top 3 skippers and the bottom third consisted of the 3 lowest placed skippers once Lisa, Pete and myself were removed. Yes it is kind of complicated but it regularly produces weekly starting handicaps that seem fair and fortunately it is all coded into the computer which gets them right every time. Coming up: Sunday: IOM scratch racing at Montrose. Button-press at the summer time starting time of 1:00. Also remember that daylight savings starts on Saturday night! Our friends at Montrose Bay Yacht Club are having their opening day as well on Sunday. From about 11:30 they will be having a BBQ on site as well as a short opening ceremony for the start of their sailing calendar. It is a great opportunity to catch up with them in support of their opening prior to our scratch day commencing. Next Wednesday: DF95 handicap racing at the dam. Button-press at 11:00 And Sunday Week (8th Oct): The Southern Tasmania IOM Championships. We are hoping to hold these at Montrose. 10:15 briefing for a 10:30 start. We are hoping for a big list of starters. You can enter on-line (through our site). John S
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After a terriffic day's sailing yesterday, we could only hope for more of the same today - and the sailing gods delivered in spades for us. Starting out on B rigs with a good northerley comingthrough at about 10 knots, lightening to a change to A rigs after lunch, with a nor-westerley coming through, dropping to about 3 knots and increasing again towards the end of the day to about 8 knots.
Weed was also largely missing today, which allowed us to complete a great weekend of "champagne sailing". Certainly putting on its best show for our visitors from the north of the state (surely Ted can't be considered a visitor now though) and Queensland. Fourteen races completed today, to make 30 for the championship. By lunch time, Ray had faltered a little bit, and his 3 point lead fromt he day before turned into a deficit, with Kyle taking the lead. Stu Dawes and Lisa Blackwood had some electrical issues, unfortunately with Lisa bowing out of the event early in the day. After lunch, Ray had a good shot of energy, and stormed back, fighting neck and neck with Kyle for the lead, but with Ray's final 5 races netting just 8 points to Kyle's 15, it was enough to secure a =nother championship win for Ray, winning with 71 points. Kyle came in second, just two points adrift on 73, with Stuart Dawes takng out the third place on the podium with 93 points. Looking over the results, it was interesting to see that 6 skippers had race wins, and everyone enjoyed multiple races in the top 3. We were again blessed with volunteer help today, and with some of the reliability issues, were needed for some rescues. Big thanks to Michael Hickman, Ian Hey, Phil Turnbull and Lisa Blackwood (after having to retire from the event). Special thanks must go to Les Hanson, for his efforts as PRO over the two days. A fantastic effort. Thank you also to all the competitors. Racing was at times fierce, but always int he righ spirit, and I am sure everyone came out of the weekend having enjoyed it. Again, we had a lot of spectators watching the events unfold, showing the importance of being the example we strive for, which we should all be able to agree was upheld very well all weekend. Coming up Wednesday is IOM Mid Week Handicap at the dam, starting at 11am. Next Sunday is a slight change to the regular program, with IOM Scratch at Montrose Bay at 1pm (remember, daylight savings will ahve started then). The DF95 that was schedulled for next week will be rescheduled soon, so the scratch event will still occur. The week after, October 8th is the IOM Southern Championship at Montrose. If interested in sailing, please get your entries in as soon as possible. At the conclusion of this event, we will be having some nibbles and presentations, so please if you can, let's see you there to support some big milestones for the club. Kyle A nice, light NE breeze welcomed us today for day 1 of the Tasmanian Marblehead State Championship.
Eight skippers entered, including John Gower, from sunny Queensland. A rigs were the suit of choice for the start of the day. The nervousness of possible weed was wasted energy, with very little about for much of the day, although a few sailors did find a little bit here and there which affected their race at the time. Nine races were completed to lunch time - thanks to both our efficient volunteers and no-nonsense attitiudes from the skippers in between races. At lunch, Mat Gray was in the lead on just 10 points, with Stu Dawes in second on 18 and Ray Joyce and John Gower tied for 3rd on 25. After lunch, a wonderful sea breeze kicked in, and most of us changed to B rig for the remainder of the day. Another 7 races were completed to close out the day. Unfortunately, we lost a few skippers with some reliability issues, but hope to get them back on the course again tomorrow. At the end of the day, Ray Joyce jumped out to the lead, on 34 points. Close behind in second, was Kyle Stewart on 37 points, with Stuart Dawes rounding out the top 3 on 42 points. Big thanks to Les Hanson with his efforts as Pro today, and also to Peter Sylvester, who carried out start/finish line duties and observer throughout the day. Without guys like the two of you helping out, these events simply would not happen. Tomorrows sailing starts at 1000. Kyle A cool northerly of nearly 20 knots meant that all skippers at today’s IOM handicap event chose their B-rig. This wind did moderate just a smidge during the day but not enough for any skipper to consider changing rigs.
The racing was really close. If you even blinked at the wrong moment you could lose positions. Getting to the first mark with a lead was really valuable as the rest of the pack seemed to arrive in a bunch which often caused a bit of a melee allowing the leader to get away a little further. A lot of the races were won by the boat that led around the first mark. All skippers made the podium at some stage today. As far as the overall positions were concerned; I managed to take third and Ian Hey second. We both finished the day with 3 race wins a-piece but it was Andrew Wardrop who stole the day with less race wins but far greater consistency. Well sailed Andrew! Bodge’s second followed an emphatic scratch racing win at Forcett on Sunday and a DF65 series win at Puddleduck yesterday. A skipper in form! Coming up: Sunday: Scratch racing for Marbleheads at the dam (10:00 button.) Next Wednesday: More IOM handicap racing at the dam. (11:00 button.) John S When we first arrive the discussion was whether an A-rig or B-rig would be best for today’s DF95 handicap event at the dam. But by the time that racing started the wind built to a steady 25 knots. Those that had a C-rig chose it and those that didn’t have one wished that they did. In short it was a windy, squally day - there was plenty of knock-downs and nose-diving on the down-wind legs and and granny gybing on the upwind legs. A hard day at the office for some!
Special mention goes to David Woolley who was the only B-rigged skipper to finish all races today – well sailed Dave. Bodge was vying for the lead in race #5 but chose the outer mark (2) at the final gate only to find that the buoy had broken free of its moorings and he had to chase it before he could go around it! It probably cost him that race. Phil Jackman officiated as PRO today – huge thanks Phil. He gave Andrew Wardrop his boat to sail for the day. Andrew has been out of DF95 sailing for a fair while but has lossed none of his skills finishing the day 3rd - including a race win in the second race. Not bad especially as it really was a day for the C-rigged boats which took 1st, 2nd and 4th placings. Second went to Ray Joyce who spent much of the day giving all of the other skippers 30 seconds head-start. And today’s winner was Pete Sylvester who finished the day with an all podium scorecard, and minus 2 points overall, once bonuses and discards were taken into account. Congratulations Andrew, Ray and Pete. Coming up: Some will be travelling up North for the DF65 state titles but there will still be DF95 scratch racing on Sunday at the dam for those who don’t. Button press at 10:00. Please, if you are intending on sailing on Sunday, can you let either Kyle or Ray know as we will need a minimum of 5 sailors on site in order to have enough for the rescue boat if needed. Without acknolwdgement of enough sailors turning up, the day will be cancelled. Next Wednesday’s handicap will be for IOM’s at the Dam. Button press at 11:00 John S Not on-site today, but 7 skippers were,a nd conditions were light early with wind increasing as the day got on. Mat Gray won the day today, with 15 points. Ray Joyce was close all day, not etting Mat have it his own way - taking second on 17 points. Michael Hickman rounded outt he top three on 20 points. On handicap, Mat and Ray shared first place with 1 net point each, with Stuart, Ricky, Rod and Martin all sharing the 3rd place with 0 net points. This coming Wednesday is DF95 Mid Week Handicap, with button press at 11am. Next weekend is the DF65 State Championship in Devonport. If you are heading up to sail, please get your entry in if you haven't done so already. For those not travelling, we will also have DF95 Scratch at the Dam on Sunday, button press at the usual 10am. Kyle |
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