Well, what a great weekend of RM sailing.
Sailed at Montrose Bay Yacht Club, on the “Nationals” course, 27 races were held across the two days. Saturday started with light A Rig conditions, and by the time we resumed from lunch, the A’s were well and truly packed away, and the C and C2 rigs came out to play. The wind on the course was fantastic. Nice and consistent, and enabled the setup of a great course for racing nice and close to the shore. Day 1 closed out with 16 races completed. Ray Joyce had a very firm hold on the event, with just 13 points, with second place tied between Mike Hickman and John Hall on 37 points.
Sunday started out a little lighter than Saturday, with the point of difference being that the sea breeze didn’t make an appearance, and we were left with light to very light winds throughout the day. Less races overall on the day with 11 completed, but that was due to the much longer times between races, given the much lighter conditions.
In all, it was a thorough test for the sailors, in all conditions. Light wind, heavy wind, tidal influences (wasn’t that a challenge after passing the windward mark when it was really light), and even the fun of surfing some of the Mona Roma waves (well, I enjoyed it).
As expected, the cream rose to the surface, and Ray put in another consistent performance with his Grunge, easily winning the championship on 27 points. Mike Hickman was also very consistent, breaking the deadlock from the previous day, to run comfortably seaocn on 68 points. The battle for third heated right up, with 3rd place winner, John Hall (80 points), just holding out a fast finishing Lisa Blackwood (82 points), and yours truly keeping them honest just a few more points back (85). Lisa possibly ruing the lack of spares yesterday afternoon when the receiver had a bit of a bath and decided to shut down completely on her. That said, fantastic effort John Hall, in bringing the Fuzzy Logic home in third.
Massive thankyou’s must also go out to the pro’s of the weekend. Stuart Harris for acting as Pro on Saturday, and assisting on Sunday. Andrew Wardrop for PRO’ing on Sunday, our rescue boat crew of Tony Brewer and Don Ash (Saturday) and Mike Holbrook and Phil Turnbull (Sunday). Without people offering their time and help, these events would not get off the ground. As wonderful as Montrose is to sail at – as well as the extra facilities that we get to enjoy, we do need an extra level of volunteers to help us out in order hold such successful events. The club is indebted to you all for your volunteer work.

Next week, as previously mentioned, we have our annual end of year presentations at MBYC (Saturday 15th from 1230pm). I have had a really good response for people coming along, which is important, so we can get the catering for the day right. If you are considering coming along, and have not yet let me know, please do so as soon as possible, so we can organise things. We will be having a BBQ at $5 per head and will likely be running a few giveaways during the afternoon. If possible, salads etc brought along will also be a tremendous help and will be really appreciated by all who come along, for what I believe will be a really great way to close out the 2018 year for the club.

​Kyle

Well, the forecast was spot on today with light winds in the morning and an excellent sea breeze after lunch. An hour of scratch racing was followed by very close handicap racing that showed the handicap system is working well. Eight races were completed and it was good to see that Richard Barwick took the wine, with Ray second & Richards fellow Huon burglar, Cliff Eaves, in a well deserved third. 
I think everyone enjoyed the day. The PRO’s special award (bottle of wine) goes to Cliff Eaves, who along with Richard makes the effort to support the DF95 racing at the dam on the first Wednesday of the month.
A special thanks to all those who have supported the DF95 Wednesday - by and large we have enjoyed some great racing & we will recommence the event after Christmas.
This weekend sees the RM State Championship, held at Montrose Bay Yacht Club, on both Saturday and Sunday. Come along to watch the RM’s in action, and if you would like to volunteer some of your time, let Ray Joyce know as soon as possible so he can co-ordinate the helpers. Remember, if you wish to enter the event, entries need to be sent to Kyle as soon as possible, with entries closing on Friday afternoon.
Next Wednesday is back to IOM handicap racing with the last round of the IOM Handicap Perpetual Trophy for the year.

As forecast by BOM, we started yesterday in light conditions ranging from NE to SE and everywhere in between. Twelve boats fronted the starter for some slow, but interesting scratch racing for an hou,r before the serious handicap racing started at 11. Paul Jewell had rudder problems ( money will fix it Paul ), so sailed 112 for the morning with coaching help from Lisa, who turned up without a packet of jelly beans. The silver fox broke a side stay so had to withdraw - he was sailing very well. 
At the end of the handicap series the wine went to Ray Joyce from a consistent Phil Turnbull Dennis Lees & Rod Jackman.
Marbleheads at the dam on Sunday at 10.30 am.

​The decision to sail today was a good one with the rain lifting early and ten skippers fronting the starter at 10 for an hour of scratch racing, before getting into the handicap side of things.
Paul Jewell had his new ex Kim Potter IOM and showed that he will, in time, be very competitive.
Unfortunately the wind did not cooperate with very light conditions and many holes, continuing the conditions that have prevailed at the dam for the past month, exacerbating the frustration levels of competitors.
The day was won by Andrew Wardrop’s Woody 112 but even the owner admits the handicapper was a bit too generous.
Kim Potter with his quick V9 was second and David Jones third.
Next Sunday is the A class yachts at Montrose, so hopefully the sailing conditions will be a bit more amenable. If you get a chance, come along for a look as these graceful yachts compete for the annual Herb Tyson Memorial Trophy.

​Ray's Grunge equalled today by Lisa's F5, however, Ray won the day on countback with more wins. John Hall in 3rd, only two points behind.

​Another glorious day greeted the sailors today, as Jeff Byerley took the reins over from David, to pro for the second day.
 
Very light conditions out of the north made for some difficult sailing for some early on, but we did get away on time and got two races in before pausing a minutes silence as a mark of respect to our fallen soldiers. We soon got away again, and completed another four races before the lunch call was made, and as if by design, the wind died out to nothing. Once lunch was done and dusted, the wind swing around to the south for us and we went to the second course area, where we completed some fantastic, close races right up until the scheduled close at 3.30pm.
 
In the end, Mikes day 1 lead was insurmountable, and although Lisa took out five races today, she still couldn’t edge closer to Mike, who came out the Tasmanian IOM Champion for 2018, on 57 points. Lisa Blackwood was very consistent in second place with 83 points, with Ray Joyce (110 points) holding off a fast finishing David Jones (113 points).
 
In all, a very enjoyable weekend by all who were able to make it. The weekend could not have got underway without the fantastic assistance from our Pro’s for the event – David Murfet and Jeff Byerley, along with our observers over the weekend, Wayne Behrens and Phil Turnbull.