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Not much to say today as I wasn't able to be at MBYC for long at all. The breeze was mid to heavy B rig for much of the day by the looks of it, although I think only one sailor used a B in the first race. Great to see some faces returning though, with peter Darcey, Chris Wood and Jeff Byerley sailing today. Chris must have been practicing a bit, having turned out a very good performance, winning the day on 22 points. Coming in Second was Mathew Gray, on 25 points. Rounding out the top three was ever-consistent Ray Joyce, on 31 points. On handicap, it was a daily double for Chris Wood, on a great net 5 points (seeded 6, finished 1st)/ Ray Joyce (seeded 5th, finishing 3rd), John Cole Cook (seeded 7th, finishing 5th), and Jeff Byerley (seeded 11th, finishing 9th) all came in on second place, each with 2 net points. This coming Wednesday is DF95 Mid Week Handicap, and we have the IOM State Championships next weekend. On the State Champs, we are still a few volunteers short for the event. Someone with a boat licence and happy to help with rescue duties would be greatly appreciated. I believe we have one boat handler for Saturday, but none yet for Sunday, otherwise we will be enacting Plan B with sailing suspended if we need to use the rescue boat, while competitors perform the rescue task. For those intending on competing, entries close today, so please get them in. Late entries can also be accepted, however, there will be a late entry fee in that as well. Competitors next week also need to note that we will be following ARYA's "Race Management Manual" which recommends the following for pre-competitoon checks, so be ready for the checks to be undertaken (Mike will be there from 0900 in order to get through the checks and allow himself time also to get ready).
Kyle  
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Today was a beautiful sunny day at Montrose. The first race was held in a North Easterly of around 8 knots but this breeze gradually died throughout the day. The wind was a bare zephyr for the final races of the day. PRO John Banks worked us late into the afternoon in order for us to get through ten races. An interesting feature of today’s results is that Chris Wood won the event without a race win. Similarly Mat Gray took second place without a win but the third place getter Ricky Price had four race wins. These results demonstrate well how important it is to maintain consistency in this type of event. Congratulations to all podium winners today. Special mention should also be made of Peter Turner’s racing today. While Peter had radio trouble that kept him from sailing in the afternoon his morning’s efforts – two firsts and two seconds - were particularly impressive. The last couple of weeks we have deviated from a strict formal handicap system in order to experiment with a few ideas. I feel that this has been to the detriment of Wednesday’s racing. Next week we will be sailing DF 95’s under the old handicap system and after that reinstate formality and rigour to the IOM handicap. There has been no news on the reopening of Risdon Brook Dam but we will keep skippers informed when this happens. John S  A bit of a difficult day today, with fresh and gusty winds, from all oints of the compass at times.. We only got six races completed inthe end, but of those sailed, the results were quite close and it was great to see some different names challenging at the top of the field. It was also great seeing some of the more experienced sailors helping others out with some tuning advice. This is how we get more competitive as a collective unit. Well done to all. Anyway, today we had Mathew Gray clean up in first place, with 9 points. Ray Joyce edged out Stu Dawes with the battle for 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Ray on 11 and Stu on 12. On handicap, Mat Gray and Phil Turnbull shared first place wit 4 net points. Mat seeded 5th, finishing 1st and Phil seeded 9th and finishing 5th, with John Hall coming in third with 3 net points (seeded 7th, finishing 4th). Coming up, we have our IOM Handicap sailing on Wednesday, currently at MBYC unless we hear that Risdon Brook Dam has reopened in enough time beforehand. Next Sunday is IOM Scratch, starting at 1pm at MBYC. Good preparation for the IOM Championship that will be held the following weekend. On that note, entries close for the IOM Championship in one week's time, so if you are intending on sailing, please get your entry in as son as possible. We are also always on the lookout for volunteers to help out over the two days. If you are able to help, please let Joh Hall or mayself know and we will add you to the list. Rescue boat operator (current boat licence required) and observers are all needed across the two days. One last note for competitors while I have your attention. Of late, we have had few people available at the end of the day to bring in the Rib. Recently, despite the best efforts of the people there, we sustained some damage to the prop on it with the people on-site having difficulty getting it stowed on the trailer properly. If at all possible, it would be really appreciated if people could hang around long enough after sailing so we can get some more hands on the retrival process in order to make it easy for everyone. It only takes a few minutes and is not difficult with enough help. Low tides especially need a few more hands to get the dinghy on the trailer effectively. Thanks all Kyle   What a fantastic Spring day it was today at Montrose. Six sailors turned up for the re-sail of the RM Winter Series Round 6, but unfortunately, one had electical issues and had to retire before the day started. We all started off with "A" Rigs for the first three races, with some fantastic close and enjoyable sailing. With the wind increasing, we decided on a short lunch break and rig change, and the A rig soon changed up to a C1. That added some extra excitement tot he racing, with some close racing again. John's C rig had some issues, so he went to change to a C2, but everyone else remained on the C1. Johns need to change was interesting afterwards, with the C2 seemingly underpowered in some spots, but holding out everyone elses C1's - showing that we have a tendancy to hold on to our rigs a bit too long. The loss of power downwind was made up for plus some with the much better pointing ability and less side slip in comparison to the C1 rigs. Unfortunately, Rod had some rig issues, and Andrew's second battery for the day ran flat, taking them both out of the last few races. John finished with four bullets to finish the day very strongly, winning with just 10 points from the 9 races. Kyle came in second today, with 13 points, wit Lisa taking third on 16 points. On handicap, John ran out winner as well (seeded 3rd, finishing 1st), but the change to his overall ranking will make it tougher from now on. Andrew came in a credible second (seeded 5th, finishing 4th), with Kyle in third (seeded 2nd, finishing 2nd). Thanks to John Hall today, for helping out as PRO for the day. Next up, we have the IOM Woodies day at Forcett Lakes on Saturday. Button press at 10am, with briefing 15 minutes prior. Bring your own meat, but BBQ will be on site for all to use. Then, a return of the DF95's at Montrose on Sunday, from 1pm and again to Montrose next Wednesday for IOM Mid Week Handicap. Kyle   Today’s handicap racing was held at Montrose due to the closure of Risdon Brook Dam for maintenance works. During the morning the wind was a very light North Easter and at times the fleet was little more than drifting. As a consequence we only sailed 3 races in the morning. After lunch there was a swing to the South East and a strengthening to a fairly steady 4-5 knots, which allowed us to complete 5 more races. Thanks again to John Banks for his excellent work as PRO today. A new buoy (buoy ‘B”) was positioned adjacent to buoys 11 and 12 but further seaward. This buoy will allow us to set good windward courses when the wind is from the South East as it was in the afternoon’s racing. As there was a much smaller number of skippers starting today we decided to abandon regular handicaps and simply have three handicap groups starting at 0, 20 and 40 seconds. Today’s winner was Rick Price whose tally included 5 podiums from the 8 races. Ricks current form should stand him in good stead for the woodie regatta on Saturday. Rod Marshall finished second racing his wooden Blitz and showing good boat speed. John Cole-Cook filled the third spot. He has featured regularly amongst the place-getters for Wednesday handicap racing. There is lots of racing to look forward to over the Show Day weekend: Thursday Marblehead resail (10:30 am Montrose) Saturday IOM Woodie regatta (10 am Forcett Lakes Lewisham) Sunday DF95 Scratch (1 pm Montrose) Wednesday IOM handicap (11am Montrose) Cheers John S  A good fleet of 18 boats turned up at Risdon Brook Dam today. The wind had a touch of Easterly in it which always gives rise to shifty conditions at the dam. As it was mostly below or around 8 knots A rigs were the universal choice. It was great to see John Banks back on the water today in his green hulled #29. Lisa launched a new boat today. This boat is a Nighthawk kit boat made in plywood using stitch a glue construction. Ricky Price did much of the work on the boat and it looks great. The construction method makes for a very cost effective way of getting a competitive IOM on the water. Lisa is hoping to have the boat well tuned for the up-coming Woody Cup. A rotating PRO was used today. Thanks to all who took on the duty without complaint. (The rotating PRO receives their average race points before discards for the race that they missed.) Congratulations to Ray Joyce who is today’s winner after picking the wind shifts particularly well in the afternoon’s races. Andrew Wardrop took second place recording five podium finishes for the day and finishing on a handicap of 80. Third place was taken by Rick Price who has been regularly finding his way to the top part of the tally table in recent weeks. I have been receiving some good feedback on how the new handicap system is working and some constructive ideas that we will try in future weeks. Tas Water have informed us that they will be doing works at the Dam in coming weeks and again it will be closed to the public. This will mean that we will have to relocate to Montrose at least for the next two weeks. There is plenty of sailing coming up with A class scratch racing on Saturday, Long distance racing on Sunday, and IOM handicaps next Wednesday even before the Show Day weekend of sailing. John S.  An enjoyable day at MBYC today, with a light to fresh breeze throughout. Nine sailors fronted today - a good RM field - and all started on their B Rigs. Nine races were completed for the day, with some real good racing amongst the fleet. About half way through, we had a short break and two of us opted for the A rigs, while the rest stayed on B's for the rest of the day. The move had immediate effect with the A rigs clearing out in the fllowing two races. Stu Dawes was the absolute standout today. Dropping a 3rd place showed the consistency he achieved througout. A well deserved winner on jusy 9 points. Ray Joyce similarly enjoyed a very consistent day, finishing in second, with 18 points. Lisa Blackwood came in third, on 25, also consistent with a highest counted score of 5th (same as Ray). Four different winners of races today showed the true closeness of the RM fleet today. On handicap, it was a clean sweep for Stu, a standout winner with 7 net points (seeded 8, finished 1st), with Andrew Wardrop and Phil Turnbull taking out an equal second place with 0 net points. Andrew ranked and finished 7th, with Phil ranked and finished 9th. This coming Wednesday is IOM Mid Week handicap at the dam. Next Saturday will have the A Class yachts racing a scratch day from 11am, with Long Distance Handicap next Sunday, also from 11am. We plan to have a BBQ for Sundays racing as well. Kyle   The venue was moved from the dam to Montrose Bay for today’s DF handicap racing. Apparently the recent rains have caused flood damage to the perimeter road surrounding the dam and so Tas Water closed the dam to the public. The ability to change venue is a great feature of our club and certainly was a day saver today. There was a Northerly wind with gusts of up to 15 knots and a bobbly swell at Montrose which made for testing conditions for A rigs during the early races. As the day proceeded the wind and conditions moderated. Today’s winner was Phil Turnbull (3 wins a 2nd and a 3rd) who was always among the leaders. Jammy Jones sailed really well in the stronger morning conditions to claim second place and Wayne Behrens placed 3rd overall with his usual consistency. Huge thanks are extended to Andrew Waldrop for generously acting as PRO today. And we had a brand spanking new motor on the rescue dinghy today but sadly it went unused! (Maybe that a good thing!) Next Sunday’s racing will be for Marbleheads at the summer racing time of 1:00 PM and next Wednedsay’s handicap racing will be for IOM’s but at this stage we are unsure of where the sailing venue will be. An announcement will be made by email as soon as we know. John S  Well, a pretty dreary day was expected weather wise, and we were very lucky in the end, with only a slight amount of drizzle for the entire day. The weather god also provided us with the full range of A rig conditions throughout, which was certainly enjoyed by the 12 competitors today. Our PRO for the day, Jeff Byerley, got things under was after a quick briefing, and managed to get us through 14 races for the day. We were also ably assisted by new member, Ian Hey, Phil Turnbull, David Jones and Andrew Price throughout the day for the rescue boat/buoy relocation duties as well as observers and scorer. We really appreciate all the effort these volunteers put in for the day, especially with such inclement weather threatening for much of it. Thanks also to Ricky Price, who came down and took some fantastic photos for us. The racing overall, was very tightly contested, with wins shared by 5 of the 12 sailors. The day was dominated, in the end, by deserved Regatta Winner, John Cole-Cook, with just 24 points (including an amazing 6 wins). The Venti showing fantastic pase, and if the IOM Nationals go ahead in November, would be sure to feature prominantly in the results there as well. Second today, was Lisa Blackwood, on 39 points. The Sedici also having a very fast and consistent day. Taking out third place, was Rod Jackman, on 45 points. It was great to have Ted Stevens again come down from Launceston to compete with us. Unfortunately, he had a bit of a jib blowout early on, and was not able to come back out with his A Rig. He resumed with his B Rig, but as the day wore on, found it very hard to compete with the extra power of the A rigs. Als great seeing Justin Rogers compete with his new Ellipsis. A few teething issues with it, but all easily sorted for the next sail day. A real highlight for him on the day was getting to the gate prior to the finish line in third position, before a mainsheet issue brought the yacht undone. It shows the yacht is on pace and he will be a really competitive sailor before long. Wednesday this week, is DF95 Handicap racing at the dam, with RM Scratch Summer Series Round 4 next Sunday, starting from 1pm Kyle  |