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Well, it has been run and won for 2025 and we have a new State Champion. After a night of repairs and adjustments for some, all 17 sailors were back on deck today in what looked to a a challenging day. Very light winds early and after the lunch break, it intensified to the interesting stage of whether we needed a B rig or be brave and hold on to A rig a bit longer. About 9 skippers went for the B rig with the remainder bravely holding on. The result was quite stark, with the wind dying right off after the squal had passed, and the A Rigs easily had it. Given the fact that we had just had our break in between sets of 3 races, it was a make or break decision for the skippers, with some retaining the B Rigs, and others racing to get an A on, with a few retiring from that race (26) to cut losses and change back to the A. We got another 13 races completed today, which was a fine effort, and there were a lot of really close matchups throughout the day. The excellent sailing and attitude of sailors on the course was a great example the sport would well be proud of. Congratulations to all skippers for their efforts across a very long couple of days. Quite a few changes on the leaderboards, with both some good luck and horrible luck stories around. After counting up the scores, we have ourselves a new State Champion in Gary McCarthy. Hardly heard around the course - just letting the sailng do the talking. A well deserved winner on 72 points. Second place came down to the wire, with a fast finishing John Cole-Cook taking the honours with 97 points. Third place was Lisa Blackwood, just two behind with 99 Points. Silver fleet similarly had some leaderboard changes today, however, one thing remained the same. Winer of Silver Fleet, with his new Orca boat, was Ian Dickinson on 70 points. A very well sailed couple of days while still getting used to his new boat. Second place went to Andrew Wardrop, on 76 points. Really sailing the Blitz 6 well. Third place was John Short, just one behind Andrew on 77 points. Showing how close the Silver fleet was, there was just 8 points in 28 races between 1st and 4th place. A big thanks and congratulatons goes to John Hall, who ran both days with efficiency, consistency and great sense of humour, especially when the wind was conspiring against him at times. Thanks from all of us for your efforts. Tristan Price was on site again today and has taken some more fantastic shots of the sailing. He has posted to the RC Sailing Tasmania FB Group, which can also be seen if you do not have a FB account. Big thanks to Tristan for providing some photos from the day's sailing. For those who don't have FB and cannot work it out, we will be getting some pictures from Tristan at some stage and will post them on our website. Kyle   
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An interesting day today for day 1 of the Tasmanian IOM State Championship. Wind direction from everywhere but the north during the day, and from nothing all the way to about 14 knots. Just as you consdiered changing to B Rig, the wind died off. A difficult one for PRO John Hall with course setting, but he did a wonderful job all day, and there was no fuss from competitors with the course changes or the delay just prior to the sea breeze coming in. Always best to sit it out when the wind has no idea what it wants to do. A very healtthy fleet of 17 sailors, with 9 in "Silver Fleet" which is very encouraging to see. For those not aware, Silver Fleet came about so the ones that are not quite at the pointy end of the field can also have something to chase down to win amongst other sailors with similar mixes of skill and boat setup. It is great to see some new sailors competing as well. I am sure you will come out of the champs with a lot of knowledge gained and friendships solidified. Also fantastic to see some of the more experienced sailors giving a hand to the less experienced when on land with boat setups. Also great to see 8 race winners in the 15 races run so far. At the half way stage, we have got a real contest at the top with Lisa Blackwood the clubhouse leader on 47 points, and Gary McCarthy just one behind in second on 48. Third to 5th is also very tight with just one point separating Stuart Dawes (66pts), Kyle Stewart (66pts) and John Cole-Cook (67pts). In Silver Fleet, Ian Dickinson has a comfortable lead with 32 points, from Peter Sylvester (39pys) and Andrew Wardrop in 3rd (43pts) Sailing resumes tomorrow at 1030 for the conclusion of the Championship. we will have the gate open from 0930 Tristan Price was on site today and has taken some fantastic shots of the sailing. He has posted to the RC Sailing Tasmania FB Group, which can also be seen if you do not have a FB account. Big thanks to Tristan for providing some photos from the day's sailing. Kyle  The annual Speak Up Stay ChatTY regatta was held today at Risdon Brook Dam. The event saw thirteen IOM skippers compete in a gusty and shifty North Westerly wind of 5 - 15 knots. A-rigs were the go-to choice for the morning’s session. The wind did pick up a knot or two over lunch which sent some skippers to their rig box for the B-rig. While the small rig did help maintain downwind stability it was the bigger rig that was the better choice as there were some significant calmer patches. Tom Mullane-Grant from Stay Chatty visited at lunch time. While a keen sportsman Tom admitted that he did not have much idea on sailing - radio controlled or otherwise. What he did say was that he was impressed by what he saw both from the sporting and club commeraderie aspect. While we enjoyed a BBQ lunch (thanks tong-masters Andrew and Lisa), Tom outlined the history of his organisation and told us of the valuable role that sports clubs like ours can play in fostering strong mental health. More of what Tom had to say will be written up in our next club newsletter. The regatta collected just on $ 200 in donations for the Stay Chatty organisation and our club will further add to that as we believe that the values of Stay Chatty align well with those of our club. A few of the skippers commented that they like the handicap system used. (All skippers start on scratch, then 15, 10 and 5 second penalties are applied for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placed in each race). The good thing about this system is that it is the same for everyone - all skippers start the first race on scratch - and so the winner of the day is the skipper who has genuinely sailed the best. I am not certain however that we should use the system every week as I am pretty sure it would lead to the same skippers winning each time. Great for a special event like today though. An honourable mention goes to David Woolley. ‘Sheep’ gave up a couple of races in the afternoon session when he realised he had the wrong rig up. He re-suited to the A-rig for the last race and lead the whole way around - even out-tacking Gary McCarthy in the last beat to the finish. Alan Short’s efforts are worthy of mention too. He was always in the mix today, was cruelly robbed of a race win by weed, but finished 4th overall which is reward for the dramatic improvement that he has made since getting his new boat. As far as overall honours are concerned the winning trio were a good street ahead of the rest of the pack. Jammy Jones took out 3rd place after having an excellent afternoon session. Ray Joyce secured 2nd place with two race wins on his scorecard. But it was Lisa who won the day deservedly with three race wins and even discarding a 4th place result. All up, some very close racing in the speak Up Stay ChaTY regatta. Coming up: Saturday and Sunday: IOM State Championships at Montrose. Saturday briefing 10:15 button-press 10:30 Next Wednesday: DF95 handicap racing at Risdon Brook Dam. 11:00 button press. Shorty     What a day today. A wonderful 12 knot E to ESE breeze, getting towards 20 at times, providing some real fun in B Rigs for the entire afternoon. No Pro today, and we sared the duties turn about, with the duty pro getting averaged points for the race missed. Worked very well with minimal on course intervention required, and the few that jumped the start quickly returned and re-started as soon as they were called. Thanks everyone for making the Pro job nice and easy. It surprosed me when doing the results to see that we actually had 16 sailing today. What a terrific effort. With such a good number along, it was equally good to see we got in 12 races in the allotted time, which I am sure evryone enjoyed with the fantastic breeze on offer today. It truly was Montrose showing its best today. A lot of close sailing today, which made it really enjoyable. Whether you were at the lead of the fleet, middle or towards the back, there was always some yachts close enough to have a real good challenge. We introduced Gary MacCarthy and David Woolley to Scratch racing today, with Murray Willis coming down from Launceston to have a sail as well. Simon Delaney had the first sail of his restored Britpop - the best presented boat in the fleet :) Looking forward to seeing you improve with the boat all fixed up, and now just some little adjustments needed to get it really firing. Eight boats sharing a podium finish today, showing how close some of the racing was. By the end of race 12, Gary McCarthy had shown us what true consistemcy looked like with 8 podium finishes, to win todays round with 25 points. Lisa Blackwood came in 3.4pts adrift of Gary, to take second on 28.4pts. Kyle Stewart rounded out the top 3, a further 4.9pts behind on 33.3pts. In Silver Fleet, Ian Hay dominated with 7 wins amongst the fleet, winning with 12.6pts. Second was Andrew Wardrop - Blitz sailing very well, 7.4pts behind on 22pts. 3rd place was taken by John Hall, on 3.4.7pts Well sailed everyone today. It was a great day on the water. Coming up Wednesday sees the annual Speak Up Stay ChatTY regatta. As previously this will be a handicap event for IOM yachts. We will be using the system where everyone starts the first race on scratch and then handicap penalties of 15 sec, 10 sec and 5 seconds will be applied to the place getters of each race. There will be prizes for the podium on the day and the club will provide a free BBQ lunch. If you have a friend from another club with an IOM yacht then feel free to invite them for this occasion. This is a charity event for a great cause so we are asking you to dig deep into your pockets to find a donation for the Stay ChatTY organisation. Let’s hope for good conditions, a big turn out and a great day. Button press at the usual 11am. Next Weekend the IOM State Championship on both Saturday and Sunday. If you have yet to enter, please get yours in as soon as possible. Registration and weighing/inspection starts at 0930 with briefing at 1015 and button press at 1030. Kyle  Another blustery NW breeze greeted 14 skippers at the dam today. There was sunshine but was quite cool with a little sprinkle of rain late in the day. Shorty was missing in action today as he took a week off to visit his son in WA and thus passed the baton to me to run the day. Rod Jackman decided not to sail today and kindly volunteered to be PRO for the day which I gladly accepted, and he did an outstanding job in keeping everyone under control. He was ably assisted by Andrew Wardrop who had rigging issues and decided to leave the boat in his car. Trout turned up after lunch so after thinking we were going to have a rotating PRO, we ended up with plenty of hands-on deck … thank you gentlemen 😊 The breeze was in the order of 12 knts plus so B rigs were the choice of the day especially when the occasional gusts 20+ knts hit. There were a few broken rigs (nothing major) during the course of the day. All in all, it was a very pleasant day with the usual banter amongst us all. Podium finishes were shared across the board but it was Ricky Price and John Penman tied for 1st place with Rick taking the number one spot on countback from JP. Third place today was John Hall. Well sailed by all skippers. 😊 Bodge PS Shorty, I am happy to pass the baton back 😊 Coming up:- Sunday 23/11/25 – IOM Scratch Racing at Montrose Bay, button press 1pm Prior to our sailing starting, Montrose Yacht Club is holding a "Come and Try Sailing Day" from 10am. If you have some time available, please come down for a look and even bring a boat for a sail as there will be people about that could be interested in RC Sailing Next Wednesday 26/11/25:- THE STAY CHATTY REGATTA Next week we will be holding the annual Speak Up Stay ChatTY regatta. As previously this will be a handicap event for IOM yachts. We will be using the system where everyone starts the first race on scratch and then handicap penalties of 15 sec, 10 sec and 5 seconds will be applied to the place getters of each race. There will be prizes for the podium on the day and the club will provide a free BBQ lunch. If you have a friend from another club with an IOM yacht then feel free to invite them for this occasion. This is a charity event for a great cause so we are asking you to dig deep into your pockets to find a donation for the Stay ChatTY organisation. Let’s hope for good conditions, a big turn out and a great day.  A healthy fleet of 13 yachts today at the dam, which was encouraging with the inclement weather forecast. Very light wind early on, with quite large shifts on display. After a slightly late start due to the wind not wanting to give us a consistent enough direction initially, Pro Phil Jackman got us under way. The very light conditions proved very testing and the experience shone out with those choosing the higher percentage course options, with some (myself included) chasing the wind that was apparently on its way, only to be cruelled by it not coming far enough across the dam to come in to play. Later on, the easterly influence made it more difficult and those who chose closer in lanes were able to catch the little lifts and made some great progress with them. We finished with just 6 races completed before we called it a day. The rain started to be a bit more persistent, and the thunder was rolling in on us. After the 6, we had a new round winner in Chris Wood. Sailing a fantatstic day today. Just the one win, but all counted races on the podium for a very deserved round win on 10 points. Second place, equally well deserved and consistent with 4 podium finishes was Stu dawes. Just two behind on 12 points. Third place today went to Rod Marshall (only as good as your last race??). A couple of 3rds and a race win giving Rod 19 points for the day. In Silver Fleet, Rod came out round winner on 10 points, followed by Ian Hay in second on 12 points, rounded out by visitor, Max Gluskie on 17 points, just edging our Peter Ross by countback. Big thanks to Phil Jackman for filling in as PRO today. It was really appreciated, especially with such challenging wind conditions and the effort put in to get as good a course as possible. Coming Up:
Christmas BBQ lunch and presentationsA reminder to everyone that on Sunday 21st december, we will be having a sail day, christmas BBQ and presentations at MBYC. A this stage, it looks like we might be sailing the A Class yachts in the morning, followed by lunch and end of season awards, then followed by some sailing in th eafternoon. Please add it to your calendar if you can. it would be great to get a good turnout for the last sail day of the year and get some socialising and frivolity happening amongst members before the break. Kyle  It was fairly breezy for todays IOM handicap event at Risdon Brook dam with a good 15 - 20 knots of North-wester prevailing. B rigs were the unanimous choice for the mornings sailing and at times the yachts were overpowered on the downwind legs. Phil Jackman again did the PRO duties and we thank you Trout for your work. Trout did say that he expects to be back racing very shortly which will be great. We welcomed Peter Ross (Rosco) to the group. Peter is a frequent sailor at Puddleduck and has recently purchased John Banks’ Noix IOM. It was his first sail of this boat today. This was a tuning run for Peter and as he only completed a few races his results were not recorded today but we did see enough to know that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future. We hope to see you regularly Peter. During the afternoon session the wind freshened a bit more and most skippers headed to their rig box and suited down to the C-rig though Andrew Wardrop and John Penman stayed with their B-rig. Fortune favours the brave is the saying and it held true for Andrew and John. Sticking with the B was the best choice and Andrew and John shared 1st and 2nd places for the last two races. John was particularly fortunate in the last race as his boat battery died just after rounding the final gate. Somehow the boat managed to sail by itself for the upwind leg and through the finish line to win the race! Just as race 10 finished a serious gust of perhaps 30 knots hit the fleet. While some of those with C-rigs were calling for more racing it was probably a good thing that we had completed our sailing for the day as the conditions had reached boat damaging potential. On a day where everyone reached the podium at least once, third place overall today was taken by Andrew Wardrop reaping the benefits of wise rig choice. Lisa Blackwood took out second with consistently good performances. It was John Penman’s day though and a particularly impressive one too as John had to miss two races with rigging issues. They were his two discards and apart from that it was an all podium finish for John. Congratulations to the podium trio - John, Lisa and Andrew! Coming up: Sunday: DF95 scratch racing at Risdon Brook Dam (1:00 button press) Next Wednesday: IOM Handicap racing at Risdon Brook Dam (11:00 button press) Shorty  A cool and overcast day today, but the 5 skippers who were able to make it got some very nice conditions as far as wind was concerned. A nice 10-20 knot N-NW breeze for the afternoon keeping us all on our B Rigs. A good high tide to make launch and retrieval of the yachts nice and easy. Nine races completed before we had a mast decide to shrink in length (epoxy failure on 14mm-12mm join, and a jib boom rigging break on another, which then called for a slightly early finish. Ray had a great day out, dominating as he has for quite some time, but didn't get it all his way with Lisa, Kyle and Stu also recording wins today. Ray came away winner with 6 wins (5 in a row) on just 8 points. Second today was Kyle on 14 points - a consistent day, just needs to work on those starts a bit more. Third place was Lisa Blackwood, on 18 points. Well sailed today by all competitors, and big thanks to Simon Delaney, for volunteering the Pro duties for the day. This rounds out the scratch series for the class this year, with just the State Championship to come. Coming up Wednesday sees IOM Handicap at the Dam, starting at 11am. Next Sunday will be DF95 Scratch at the dam from 1pm Kyle  With significant rain falling at the start of the first race and with the forecast of strong winds later the PRO’s Andrew Wardrop and Phil Jackman were keen to get through a few races quickly in case we had to curtail racing early today. Fortunately the rain eased and the wind was quite manageable with B rigs so we were able to sail to the day’s end and get our full complement of races completed. We welcomed visiting skipper Andrew Wallace who normally sails with the Seagull Lakes group near Geelong. This club sails DF65s and DF95s four days a week. Andrew found the waves a new experience today but enjoyed his sail. The B rig was universal for the first race but in the tuning break that followed a couple of skippers up-suited to their A’s. It paid dividends straight off for John Hall who peeled off a win and a second but then the wind freshened just a knot or two which was just too much and both A-rigged skippers floundered a little until the lunch break. There were three skippers who managed 1st place in two races. David Woolley won both the first and last race of the day. He is a much improved skipper this season as todays effort in challenging conditions proves. John Penman had a mixed day but managed back-to-back race wins early in the day. The other to win more than one race was Ian Hey who complemented his two race wins with a few other trips to the podium and earn himself second place overall. Heavy weather master Ray Joyce was of course hard to beat today and he took out third place overall. Ray’s boat speed sailing upwind with eased sheets is always remarkable. Jammy Jones took out the day without winning a race but sailing superbly and was consistently amongst the race leaders. So many great efforts today! Congratulations Sheep, JP, Ray, Bodge and Jammy. Coming up: Saturday: A Class invitation - as previously emailed, we have an A Class invitation happening this Saturday at Trevallyn. We currently have four sailors heading up there to join in with the north and north west sailors for some enjoyable sailing. Our club A is available of anyone who would like to come up as well and for those with A's, please consider it if you have time available. Gates are opening at 10, so we are welcome from any time after then. Sunday: Marblehead scratch racing at Montrose (1:00 button-press) Next Wednesday: IOM Handicap Shield racing at Risdon Brook Dam (11:00 button press)  A very warm day today, mid 20's for us, and a lovely 10 knot nortyherly filled in ........ at 3.40pm. Prior to that unfortunately, it was glass like conditions, with just the one race completed before the AP flag was hoisted. Unfortunately for the nine sailors present today, it was 2hrs of waiting in hope of something coming along, but was too late. Roddy, Lisa and Ray took the top three places in that race, but the day was abandoned. Yesterday, we had another round of the Woodie Challenge at Forcett. Ian Hey published the below report of the day Nine skippers fronted upto Forcett Lakes today to contest another IOM “Woodie” day. Forecast was for mild sunny conditions with a NW breeze 5-10 knts, swinging around to a SE sea breeze which was a welcome change from the ugly weather conditions that we have endured during springtime. A rigs were the obvious choice of the day with the format for the day involving a handicap system of 15 sec for a win, 10 sec for second and 5 sec for third with one dropped race over 10+ races. At the end of the day all nine skippers ended up with a handicap, with close racing being the order of the day with 7 different skippers taking line honours from the twelve races. Racing was extremely close with no major incidents and it was the skippers who sailed the most consistently that came up trumps. After 12 races there was only 5 points separating the first 5 boats. 4th& 5th place tied 48 points with Phil “Trout” Jackman taking 4th place from Lisa Blackwood on countback. Wayne “Buzzy” Behrens took 3rd place with 45 points and there was another tie between Rod “Commodore” Marshall and Ian “Bodge” Hey for first place both on 43 points. Rod took the chocolates on countback. Well sailed to all skippers for an enjoyable day. Special thank you to Stuart Harris for taking on the PRO duties it was greatly appreciated by all. Stuart was ably supported by Leigh Behrens on had the main job of calling boats crossing the finishing line with some very close finishes. Also thank you to Pete Webberley for supplying rescue boat, and the BBQ, it was greatly appreciated by all who attended today. We look forward to next Woodie day which maybe held up north of the state at Trevallyn Dam (if we are invited) Coming up Wednesday sees DF95 Handicap at the Dam, starting at 11am. Next Weekend is an A Class invite at Trevallyn Dam as emailed yesterday. Gates open at 10am, so come along any thime you can after then through to when we have had enough. Next Sunday will be Marblead Scratch at Montrose from 1pm Kyle  |