A good turnout today with 9 skippers sailing. A few apologies due to ilness and being close contact.

Looks like some really close racing, evident by the fact that 2nd to 4th place was tied up and had to be separated by race wins and 2nd places.

Rod Jackman won the day today, on 20 points.

Ray Joyce edged out Mat Gray and Stu Dawes - all on 23 points.

Ray taking second with two wins, two seconds, a third and two fourths on the day.

Mat Gray also taking two wins, two seconds, a third and one fourth - so second on countback to fourth place results.

On handicap, Mat Gray took the day out on 3 differential poits, with Rod Jackman in Second place, with 2 differential points. 3rd was a tie between Ray Joyce, Phil Turnbull, Andrew Price and Martin Svensen - all on 0 differential points.

Wednesday is IOM Mid Week Handicap at the Dam, button press at 11am as usual. Fingers crossed the weather gods are more favourable to us this week.

DF65 Tasmanian Championships are coming up at the end of next month. We ahve the entry form on the RRYC website in the Ranking Events page. There have been some issues with registering with the ARYA portal, but hopefully they ahve been fixed up. If not, shoot me an email and I'll get your entry put in for you.

​The shortest day of the year presented itself as a lovely sunny day.

The 14 skippers who arrived at the dam were, however, disappointed to find not a breath of wind.

Eventually about 5 of the skippers launched and drifted their way around the course in a few casual scratch races.

A very light northerly eventually rewarded their persistence and the last couple of their races were contested in a quite decent breeze.

It was good to see Peter Webberley and John Cole-Cook back at the dam today.

While official results were not taken today Pete Turner did particularly well in the early drifters with his Mad Max and Rod Jackman who is always hard to beat claimed the last couple of races.

This Sunday is a return to DF95 Scratch, at Risdon Brook Dam. Button press at 10am.

John S  

Very light conditions for most of the day today, with the wind playing with us, coming from most points of the compass - especially early on.

Eight competitors made it along today, and we were initially met by dead calm, and super foggy conditions. Visibility of about 100m. This caused a half an hour delay before we had any sense of wind, and we soon went out to the point to get started. Just five three completed prior to lunch. Stu Dawes and John Hall in the top two at this stage.

After lunch, the light wind continued initially, before we finally got some good wind after race 5, with a change to B rigs - which lasted for the rest of the day (may have been a bit lazy to go back to the A rigs).

By the end of the 12 races, Stu Dawes was the one who came out on top, on 29 points. Ray Joyce was hot on his heels in second, just one behind on 30, and John Hall rounded out the top 3 on 36 points.

This Wednesday sees the IOM Mid Week Handicap at the dam, with a start at 11am as usual.

Kyle

​After the rain lifted there was a very light northerly blowing and, as eight skippers had turned up, we decided to have some casual scratch racing today.
 
The wind never amounted to much and by the time that we had completed three races it had deserted us altogether.
 
Today’s race tally awards a tie to Phil Jackman and Chris Wood that cannot be separated by count-back as they had exactly the same race results. Well done to both.
 
Some of our regulars and their partners will be heading off for extended road trips this week: Rod Marshall to Port Douglas, Ian Hey on a half-lap of the country via Uluru, and Chris Wood to Birdsville, Yeppoon then down the East Coast. We wish you all safe and happy adventures.
 
Let us hope for some more favourable weather for next weeks racing.

This Sunday is RM Southern Championship. Our on-line netry is currently having issues, so if you intend on sailing on Sunday, can you please let Kyle or John Hall know so we can write you down as an entry.
 
John S

A cool day to welcome in the first day of winter and many of the regulars decided to stay at home. So with only eight skippers fronting it was decided to shelve regular DF handicap and instead have some casual scratch racing. Casual but keenly contested that is.
 
By rolling the racing quickly from one race to the next we were able to have 10 races in the morning beating the impending rain.
 
Rod Jackman showed why he is the current National champion winning four of the races. Congratulations Rod. Great also to see Stuart Dawes making a Wednesday fixture and taking second spot. Wayne Berhens, who looked unbeatable at the start of the day taking three early wins, completed the podium
 
Competitors please note that the usual ‘bonus points’ offered for handicap sailing were removed when tallying todays points.
 
Next Wednesday will be an IOM handicap sheild day 11:00 AM at the dam.

Saturday has MBYC hosting some A Class rsailing from 10am for those who are interested.

Sunday’s Sailing will be for IOM's at Montrose with button press at 10am, followed by the club's AGM.
 
John S

​Ideal conditions today by the sounds of it, with the exception of the bitterly cold breeze.

Seven sailors turned up today, and from what I ahve been told, many of the races were extremely close. 

Wind started quite fresh with many feelin they should ahve been on B rigs, but it slowly abated as the day wore on, and by 1pm, it looked a very good idea to pack up, with the wind just about completely gone.

Stu Dawes was the winner today, on 22 points. Rod Marshall just two behind in second, on 24, with Ray Joyce rounding out the top three, on 29 points.

On Handicap, Rod Marshall won the day, with 3 differential points. Adrew Wardrop took out second with two differential points, and Stu dawes and Phil Turnbull tied in third on 0 differential points.

Wednesday is DF95 Monthly handicap at the dam, buttom press at 11am.

Next Sunday is IOM Scratch, followed ass soon as yachts are cleaned up by both the Special General Meeting and then Annual General Meeting. The meeting documentation was sent out a few weeks ago, but if you have misplaced the email, please get in touch and I'll send it to you.

Kyle

There was plenty of fog and just a hint of frost about as we made our way to the Dam this morning but a sunny day was forecast and a katabatic North-Wester of about 8 knots greeted us when we arrived.

PRO Pete Turner got us off well on time and with the thought that the breeze might die conducted 6 races before lunch. Pete set some great courses today and made a good course change call when the wind shifted late in the day. Thanks for your work today Pete.
Who would have thought that we would get a sea-breeze a week before the start of winter? But by the end of the first race after lunch a meek but persistent sea-breeze had filled from the South-West.

Race 9 turned out to be a bit of a debacle when some of the leading boats failed to finish correctly after thinking that there was another leg. In addition to this the PRO’s pen ran out as other boats were finishing correctly. It was consequently decided that the results for this race should not be counted in today’s tally.

It was the middle-handicapped boats that did well today with Phil Jackman taking the honors with consistent high placings. This was demonstrated by the fact that both Trout’s discards were 5th placings.

John Hall took second place and always seemed to be amongst the leaders today.

I managed third overall today getting a couple of race wins early but then finding the handicap penalty a bit onerous.

Incidentally the partial data recorded for the cancelled race 9 data was: 1st - John Hall,   2nd – Phil Jackman,   3rd – Ray Joyce,  4th Wayne Behrens. When I input this into the tally sheet there was no change to the first two places overall Trout wins from John Hall but Wayne Behrens jumpped into third.

And not to rob Trout of any glory but I think that most skippers would agree that on a beautiful day like today ‘Radio Sailing was the winner!’

Next Wednesday’s handicap at the Dam, being the first Wednesday of the month will be for DF95’s.

Sunday’s sailing will be RM Scratch at Montrose with button press at 10am.

John S

A return of Long Distance sailing at the dam today, and we couldn't ahve asked for a better breeze. All day, close to 10 knots from the north. The katabatic at its best.

Eight hardy sailors fronted today. Although the wind was near perfect, the cold associated with it was rather biting.

A mix of an RM, a few IOM's and 5 "A's" on the water, with the "A's" also contesting their scratch series round 3. Eight races were completed in all, with an enjoyable lunch break with a few Sav's and a social chat.

In the Handicap series, the IOM's set the pace all day, with Stu Dawes running out a clear winner, on 8 points, with Andrew Wardrop coming in second, on 12 points. Lisa Blackwood rounded out the top three on 15 points.

For the A Class Scratch Series, Lisa again came out the winner on the day, with 8 points, with Kyle Stewart in second, on 12, just edging out Michael Hickman, third with 13 points.

For the A Classes, the day was particularly enjoyable. A very long upwind beat with not much between the yachts at all, and some fantastic tacking duels amongst every race.

There was some discussion today about the sailing calendar, sailing locations and yacht classes supported. Some ideas around MBYC (radio sailing division) taking on the A Class series monthly on a Saturday to free up the Sunday calendar were discussed. Another one discussed at committee level for consideration was extending the DF days to 4hrs and including both DF65 and DF95 on the day. For example having 8-10 DF65 races, followed then by 8-10 DF95 races for the day. If any members have any thoughts or suggestions they would like to bring forward, please email Kyle so it can be discussed at the first meeting after our AGM, so we can maintain a calendar that best reflects our members wishes. If MBYC were to take on a class or two as a regular sail day on a Saturday, then the Sunday calendar could become more concentrated to fewer classes, enabling more sail days for those with one class of yacht. All just suggestions and the committee are keen to hear any feedback.

One thing the committee agreed to at the last meeting, was that we, as a club need to be a bit more flexible in where we sail, based on conditions. For example, if tides are really poor, or weed is a significant issue, then we will in future be decamping for the day from Montrose and relocating to the dam. This may or may not happen next week, but the premise will be there as will be mentioned below.

On Wednesday, we have our regular IOM Handicap at the dam. 11am button press.

Next Sunday, 29th, we have RM Scratch at MBYC at 10am. We will inspect prior to sailing, and if we have an unacceptable amount of weed, we will decamp to Risdon Brook and start the sail day at 11am, for the same three hour sail session (scheduled finish at 2pm if we go to the dam).

We are working on an sms setup, so we can advise members of weather warnings and change of locations as needed.

Kyle

​Well done to Lisa today, for winning the day on 18 Points.

Ray was second, just three behind on 21, with Rod Jackman two further back in third, on 13.

Lisa took the daily double, also winning on handicap, with Mathew Gray taking out second, and in third was a tie between Rod Jackman, John Hall, Phil Turnbull and Martin Svenson.

Upcoming sail days/events

• Wednesday, 18th May - IOM Mid Week Handicap at Risdon Brook Park, button press 11am
• Sunday, 22nd May - Long Distance/A Class Scratch ay Risdon Brook Park, button press 1030

On Sunday's sailing, please let me know if you intend on sailing an A Class, and we will try to make sure there are enough trolleys to get the yachts to and from the water. I'll email all the A Class yachts at the end of the week with the expectation on numbers, as it may get a bit boring if only one or two come with the "A's".

If you'd like to have a sail of an A, the club has one that can be used. Just let me know and we'll try to sort stuff out for you.

At this stage, we also plan for a BBQ or simlar during the lunch break, for a general chat, something we may have possibly lacked in the past and is a great opportunity to get going again.