Best fleet (20) of the summer fronted the starting line today in fresh generally B rig NW conditions with some interesting changes in wind directions exacerbated by the low dam level, but it does seem that the drop in level has slowed.
Inside buoys 3 & 5 were moved out a few metres to allow for weed. The usual scratch commenced at 10 am with some close racing. When the handicap started the fleet was split between A & B rigs, with most changing to B rig as the wind increased. Ray, however, stayed with A rig up to lunchtime, which was the foundation for his win today.
Final results saw Ray 1st, Silver Fox 2nd & 112 3rd. Wine today goes to Ray & Rod J in 4th, which is a bit of a travesty as he doesn't drink the stuff. A bottle of wine was also awarded by the PRO, John Banks to the “best & fairest”, Rob Cooney, who came today after a long absence dealing with health issues - good to see you back Rob.
Many thanks to John Banks for a well run series.

A bit of a sad day as well, as we bid farewell to a true gentleman Tony Brewer, who with wife Kim has decided to return to New Zealand after many years in Tasmania. I think you will all agree that it has been a great pleasure to know & sail with Tony & we wish he & Kim well in the future. If they find they can no longer understand the odd language in Kiwi Land, we would surely welcome them back.

Finally I have just been sent a spread sheet by the GCC showing that the installation of the pontoon at Montrose will commence on the 6th of March & be completed by the 26th of March - which year ? your guess is as good as mine. Fingers crossed

Andrew ​

A successful launch of Andrew Wardrop's new Indie today, giving Ray's Grunge a bit more of a fight, along with John Hall, Phil Turnbull and yours truly also providing a challenge at times. In due course, Andrews Indie will push Ray's Grunge a bit further, and will not be long before it really heats up towards the front of the pack.

Of the "Classic" yachts, for lack of a better word, John Hall's Fuzzy Logic proved too consistent, on 18 points, narrowly edging out Kyle Stewart's Boogie on 19, with Phil Turnbull's F-2 just two points further behind.

At the pointy end though, Ray might have been challenged, but he returned a perfect score, to win on 6 points, with Andrew in second overall, on 15 points - a very promising start for the "Porsche".

​Next week is the annual George Fish Memorial DF95 championship, at Montrose Bay Yacht Club. Please get your entries in as soon as possible, so we know who will be coming to this great annual event. Andrew Wardrop will not be sailing this event, but has very kindly offered the services of his yacht to any interested member.

​A good fleet of 17 IOM’s at the dam today for our usual day of an hour of scratch racing followed by the handicap series. Water levels have fallen again which means it is wise to keep away from the bank as the weed is more exposed. Of course a few people did not heed the warning & found the weed easily. 
The fleet started the day in a mix of A & B rigs in gusty & very cold northerly conditions but fairly quickly all changed to B rigs. Course was set from the start at 5-6 to 7-8 then to 2 & the finish through the start. We didn't use mark 1 as it is a bit close to the weed bank. Had a visit from 2 members from the Kawana club who we met at the AWBF, one of them is the developer of the handicap system that we now use. 
 
Rod J clearly won the majority of the scratch racing & Kyle will no doubt come up the results from the handicap series.
Many thanks to John Banks for again undertaking the PRO duties & running a tight series. Also thanks to Peter & Chris for collection & return of the dinghy.
 
A good day.

This morning we made the decision to run the handicap series at 10 am in view of the anticipated very hot temperatures from midday onwards, that didn’t quite eventuate.
Fifteen skippers fronted the start line in a steady NNW A rig breeze in fine and warm conditions. A course was set by our guest PRO John Banks from 4,5 to 8,7 & either 4,3 or the gate to the finish. The breeze was generally steady but picking the shifts was quite tricky on that last windward leg to the finish. 
Eight races were completed interspersed with some drink breaks. Our trout fisherman come farmer showed that he had the mastery of the shifts. Second was Stuart Harris, who sailed very well for the day and didn't grizzle once about the handicaps. 
A deserved 3rd went to Dennis Lees with his quick V10. A lack of willing scratch boats saw the cancellation of scratch sailing after lunch.
Congratulations to the place getters, who will be feeling pleased with themselves, and to those who didn't win but thought they should, or were entitled to win here is a little song in commiseration
https://youtu.be/NtkobPZ-pQw
Thanks to John Banks for PRO’ing for the day. It is really appreciated.
Andrew

​The endless summer rolls on with another excellent day of sailing at the dam with 16 IOM’s racing in ideal  conditions with a mid A rig southerly which morphed into a sea breeze.
An hour of scratch racing was keenly contested before the 8 race handicap series started at 11 am.
The silver fox was sailing his new Britpop with some pretty good results. Geoff Mathews was also sailing, and with a little adjustment to his rather harsh initial handicap had some good races. John Banks came along, and we hope to see him sailing soon. Thanks to those who acted as PRO’s & we hope to continue the excellent sailing conditions next Wednesday. 
Congratulations to Tony Brewer, taking out the day’s even, closely followed by Phil Turnbull and Ray Joyce.

Today was a good sailing day at the dam. We had 18 boats sailing, including 6 woodies - who had a special photo shoot by Rob Gavin and Ray Joyce for publicity shots to promote our woody fleet that will be displayed at the upcoming wooden boat festival. 
Don Ash bought along his very quick Alternative, Wayne B was sailing Peter Germeins Scar, Chris & Andrew their 2 Corby’s, Dennis Lees V8 & Stu Harris’s Corby derivative ( can’t remember the name). Whilst the photo shoot was on, the other yachts were sent off on a longer scratch course. Don’t know the results, but certainly Tony Brewer’s V9 was going very well - someone should buy that boat. It is quick.
At 11.00, the handicap started in a solid sea breeze from 5-6, to 4-3 to 7-8 & finishing at 4-3. Handicaps ranged from -40 secs to + 40 secs. As usual the wind shifts towards the finish line were quite tricky with many places gained or lost in last 100 metres of the race.
Kim Potter came out a clear winner, with Don Ash comfortably in second. Third place went to Rod Jackman and the other places within the top 10 were all very close to each other.