Scratch IOM was held at the dam last Sunday. 7 starters fronted in Northerley C rig winds. As myself & Kyle did not C rigs we sat out the first 4 races until the wind moderated a tad alowing the B rigs to get around the course.At times the water was lifting in the gusts & the afternoon was certainly an excellent practice in heavy conditions.
As usual when the conditions are tough the cream rises to the top with Rod winning from Lisa & John CC.
Next weekend is the Tasmanion IOM Championships. Saturday at Montrose & Sunday at the dam.

​Andrew 
 

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This afternoon we decided to put forward our start time to 2.45 pm as no one except Col Johnson had to work. 
11 skippers fronted for an enjoyable afternoons sailing in A rig sea breeze conditions inside the bay which caused some fairly difficult wind shifts. The bay is not ideal for a sea breeze & once the jetty launching option becomes available we will transfer to the course in front of the clubhouse where the sea breeze is much steadier. Elwick Park was very busy with many passers by stopping to watch the sailing. We had a few scratch races that were not counted in the results today . In the end Kyle Stewart won the bottle of wine (Bream Creek) donated by Peter S followed by Phil Turnbull, Peter Sylvester, Richard Barwick & Geoff Mathews. So congratulations to Kyle & the placegetters. Afterwoods we adjourned for a BBQ & beer in the clubhouse. Many thanks to Lynn Jones & assistants who arranged the refreshments & BBQ, it was much appreciated. 
​Andrew Wardrop

Today's Marblehead racing was enjoyed by a very keen small crew of skippers.  Three of our RM stalwarts had other commitments, hence only five met on the start line.  For the first race four of the crew went to their A rigs however Ray with his Katana went to his B rig, and each carried their choices for the 11 races.
Racing at Montrose Bay was a delight in so many aspects.  The consistent breeze, the visual pleasure of the River Derwent with the racing Sabres beyond, and a quite beer together after.
I can see Montrose Bay can become quite addictive.

There were a few hook ups around one of the starting buoys, and the VC takes responsibility for not adjusting the counterbalance line properly, when setting the course.  Sorry guys.

Never-the-less the racing was excellent, with a windward, leeward course twice around. The run-out tide was interesting to consider where you sailed up or downwind; a great lesson for the upcoming Nats.
Cookie's boat did a runner by letting go it's nut holding the keel on. The great seaman Cookie is, he took bearings of where it happened, and after rescuing his keelless Scalpel in the recovery tinny, he went back out and was able to locate the keel and tease the light end up with an oar and raise it again. 

John Hall's results would have been much better had he not keep too close to the shore on the run out tide. Ray came to grief too. All good lessons.

The results do not indicate how close the racing was, and several wins were achieved only after rounding the last mark to the finish.  At the day's end we all agreed how wonderful the Marbleheads are to race.
Ray.

A rather late report on last Thursdays twilight series at Montrose last Thursday. The series was raced with A rigs with a number of 360 deg wind direction changes moving from NW to South & then back a couple of times. At the end of racing we ended up with a southerley with flat water at top end of A rig which certainly suited the DF95's.
Tony Hurd happened to call in to be a spectator & was immediately roped in as the RO - so many thanks Tony
Final points were as follows Lisa 18, Wayne 23, David J 27, Richard 31, Col 39, Cliff 41, Kyle 49, Andrew 49, Geoff 53.
Next Thursday is show day so we will start at 2.30 pm & have a BBQ & a beer after. That well known fisherman  Peter Sylvester has put up a bottle of Bream Creek as a prize ( no scratch races counted ) so we have everything to race for & the weather forecast looks ok. 

The IOM State Regatta was held at Montrose Bay on Sunday 15 October.
 
This was the first serious IOM event at Montrose and the venue proved to be a challenge at times when compared to the flat water of Risdon Brook Dam.
 
We had waves and joggle and a tidal influence to contend with and a shifty breeze which eventually died away to be replaced by a B Rig seabreeze for the final 2 heats. 
 
The racing was run by Jeff Byerley of Mirage Radio Yacht fame and he was assisted by John Gard.  Wayne Behrens had a dual role of a competitor as well as moving the marks at times.  Thank you to Jeff, John and Wayne.
 
The racing was fierce at times, with incidents at mark roundings, willing starts and  occasional collisions and hook ups. Jeff Byerley made sure all penalties were completed by the transgressors.
 
At the end of the day, Michael Hickman proved to be the master of the conditions and had a clear win from John Cole Cook and Lisa Blackwood.  Andrew Wardrop did a fine job to finish 4th.
 
 
Regards
 Chris

L to R:  Michael Hickman 1st, John Cole-Cook 2nd, and Lisa Blackwood 3rd.

 
Our Vice Commodore had the scales out today with some interesting results for some skippers.  I think Ray should do this more often.
 
It was good to see John Smith back sailing again after a long rest during the colder months.  
 
10 skippers fronted the dam today with a mild NW breeze on the dam. Some close racing in the scratch racing with David Jones sailing constantly out in front.
 
In the first week of the summer handicap series 9 skippers faced the starters gun with good honest sailing.  WE should have had 10 but John Hall broke a stay and that was him done for the day.  Kim Potter was the next retirement with steerage problems Just after the first boat started racing.  Phillip Turnbull and Geoff Mathews had problems and didn’t finish all the racing, hope all boats will be back on the water next week.
 
The first 5 races prior to lunch were sailed with A rig with the last 2 with B rid due to the strong winds in the afternoon.  
 
5 skippers had a win on the day and most races were decided on the last leg.
 
The winner on the day was John Smith with some good sailing and he won on a count back from Rod Marshall.
 
John Smith and Rod Marshall 22 points, David Jones 20 points, Ray Joyce 19 points, With Peter Sylvester, Wayne Turner and Geoff Matthews, 17 points With Phil Turnbull on 13 points.
 
Hope we can get more skippers on the water next week.
 
Good to see Stewart Harris there today even just to visit 
 
Regards 
John Banks
Wednesday Coordinator   

The 42 degrees south regatta for the one design Dragonflite 95 class was held at Montrose Bay on Sunday 8 October 2017.
The regatta coincided with the opening of the sailing season at the Montrose Bay Yacht Club.  The season was formally opened by the patron of Montrose Bay Yacht Club, Adriana Taylor who is very interested and supportive of the radio racing yachts conducting events at Montrose Bay.  Adriana even had a sail of Ray Joyce’s DF 95 to get an understanding of the fun that can be had.
 
The sailing venue looked great with the new banners flying, and they could be clearly seen by drivers on the Brooker Highway.
 
The regatta was run by John Gard with assistance from David Murfet.  The observing role for on water infringements was managed by Les Hanson and John Banks.  They all did a great job. Thank you.
 
The weather for the races was  A Rig in a light to medium NNW breeze of around 6 – 8 knots.  Six races were held before lunch and the breeze died away for the final 2 and following a lengthy wait, racing was abandoned.
 
The official scoring system discards the worst performance after 4 races and then another after 8 races.
 
The initial race scoring on the day was calculated with 1 drop only, so the results after the 2 drops changed the results significantly as you will see.  Andrew Wardrop and Ray Joyce were the beneficiaries of the computer scoring system.  Commiserations to Peter Sylvester who was on the podium for a while.

Cheers,
​Chris.

The first of the daylight saving IOM scratch races was held at the Risdon Brook Dam on Sunday 1 October.
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The wind was a very gusty WNW, NW, NNW with gusts to around 30 Knots and then dead holes with the boats wallowing with their C rigs.   It was a testing day and some minor rig damage occurred with some broken shrouds and a forestay causing retirements and repairs on some boats.
 Wayne Behrens was the first to change up to his B rig as the conditions abated a touch.
 
When all went to change up a rig, some optimists chose A rigs. Big mistake for the A rigs as the big gusts reappeared and they all retired from that race.
 
At the end of the day, Michael Hickman again was the master at managing the shifts and Rod Jackman showed no rustiness after returning from his 21,000 km grey nomad adventure over the winter to finish 2nd.   Peter Darcey topped off the day for the Vickers designs with a well earnt 3rdplace.
 
John Gard as PRO and David Murfet did a great job of only losing their paperwork once in the big gusts and were also ably assisted by Les Hansen who oversaw any on water infringements.
 
 
Thanks
 Chris