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Not much to report from the day. Mid to high B Rig conditions, with 5 heats completed to lunch time. Unfortunately, failures on the yachts caused many to pull out, with just 5 of the 9 competing in that last race. The decision was made to call it a day early after lunch with so few able to sail the afternoon session. 
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NWRYC has published the final results and a precis of the weekend's sailing. Thanks for Ian "Dicko" Dickinson for his words and to both Ian and Jack Russell for their photographic work over the weekend. The contrast between Day 1 and Day 2 was significant. Day 1 Conditions were very light to no breeze, a delayed start, then with only 3 races being completed, a late lunch was called. Before an early finish was decided, and an earlier start time declared for day 2. Day 2 The day was extended by an hour we lost from Day 1, an earlier start time. This time we had a good NW breeze, and a forecast for it to strengthen. The racing started on time and the fleet certainly enjoyed the conditions. As the morning progressed the wind did increase, and at lunch the search for smaller rigs was on in earnest. One retirement at this stage with rudder servo issues, and a couple of DNF's with repairs to rigging as the stresses increased. At the resumption after lunch, the wind had picked up to a constant 15-18knts, with some much stronger gusts really sending the large A's to maximum speeds, with many being flattened. This now caused many skippers some major breakages, with one sailing a borrowed boat also deciding to exit before damage occurred. So race 13 saw the fleet retire 4 more boats. The remaining five yachts continued to complete 5 more challenging races with 4 different winners, then with more one retirement in the the last. As a regular A Class competitor it was different, but a great experience being on the bank officiating and watching all the fleet competing in such varied conditions, and watching the fleet of talented A sailors our state has competing. Some of the best in Australia. Although the competition was extremely fierce through the fleet, the championship was sailed in great spirits. Thanks firstly, to all the competitors for conducting themselves so well over the weekend, to Maurice, for collating the scores and ensuring club gear was supplied, to John who after having to retire, came back to assist in the pack up, and a special mention to Anne Cole-Cook who offered to help at the finish line in the cold on Day 2. Thankyou. Ian "Dicko" Dickinson A mid strength B rig breeze greeted the seven sailors who could make it today, which only intensified as the day wore on. Unfortunately, as happens on days like this, we had quite an attrition rate, as yachts exposed their weakest links. One, a rudder servo failure, another popped its hatch cover and wanted to sail half full of water, another with the side stays parting from the mast and a fourth also with rigging failure. All good to happen now though, so we can make sure everything is just right for the IOM Regatta in a months time. Back to the sailing, and we had some really good, close racing amongst those on the water. In the end though, consistency again won the day with Ray's Britpop sailing very well in the conditions, also a testament to the hours of work put in to making sure the yacht is ready week after week. John Hall was also very consistent with his sailing, thoroughly deserving his second place, with Mathew Gray coming in third. He would have been much closer with John, had he not have volunteered his yacht to Stu for the last two races. I had a close look at Stu's recently completed Goth Woody and he has done a fantastic job building it. Certainly looks a professionally built yacht.  Further North, we had five sailors contest the A Class State Championship. Unfortunately, there was little to no wind yesterday, and only three races were completed, but they had much more wind today. Congrats to Mike Hickman, who won the event, from Lisa Blackwood and John Cole-Cook in third. Rod Marshall also sailed very well with his A Class as did Andrew Wardrop, who would have finished higher in the placings, but elected to save his yacht from possible damage when the wind got right up there. Special thanks should go to Ian Dickinson for running the event up there (sacrificing his sailing for the weekend) as well as the NWRYC team for putting on a great weekend as always. Something we need to try to make happen much more often between the clubs.   At 9 am this morning, there was a solid northerly. But, by the time we started at 11, A rigs were the go and we had a number of races prior to lunch in quite light conditions. However, two races before lunch saw a sudden southerly change where boats were spinning and overwhelmed. Stu Dawes had his new Goth sailing quite well, but as with any one off boat, more development time will be needed. An excellent fleet of 14 changed down to B rigs for the post lunch racing, with Stu joining John Banks as PRO - thanks to both. Winner today, was John Cole-Cook on 17 points, again very hard to beat with his Topico. Andrew Wardrop came in second, on 22 points on countback to Wayne Behrens. John Hall, hot on their heels, just one point back in fourth. Nice close racing. A great day again at Montrose This coming weekend, we have the State A Class Championship in Devonport. We will be ably represented by five of our members, Mike Hickman, Lisa Blackwood, Rod Marshall, Andrew Wardrop and John Cole-Cook. On behalf of the club, we wish you all the best of luck up there. For the rest of us, we have IOM Scratch on Sunday, commencing at 11am.  A pleasant day’s sailing for all sailors. Started the day with IOM’s on A rigs, but by the fourth race, the wind came in and we took an early lunch to change to B rigs. We also had two A Class yachts sailing today, with John and Rod doing a tune up for next week’s A Class State Championship. Great to see the Peter’s here today (Sylvester and Darcey), both with their V10’s sailing well. Ray Joyce had an ultra-consistent day, with only 1’s and 2’s counting, giving him the win with just 14 points from the 12 races. Rod Marshall came in second with his Venom A Class, on 30 points Peter Sylvester came in third, on 38 points. Good to see Peter and his V10 communicating with each other a bit better as the day progressed. Interestingly, just 6 points covered 3rd to 7th place today, indicating the closeness of the day’s sailing.  Despite the forecast for strong winds today, the 7 DF95’s raced in very light and variable conditions on the point, utilising a number of courses to complete 10 races. We had quite a strong current running which always makes for interesting racing with the PRO effort being a group effort and additional help from Rod J. Weed was present today. Good, enjoyable racing. Darce turned up today to show us his new V10 which is a quality build. Rod M was also there with his just measured Red Ant Woody, so we hope to see both boats sailing in the long distance series next Sunday. Winner today, was Stu Dawes, with David Jones close behind and Chris Wood taking out third.  Eleven IOM’s fronted for today’s racing in cool conditions, with a basically westerly air stream in mid A rig conditions. Unusually for Montrose, the breeze was very intermittent with a moderate current and quite bumpy waves considering the lightish breeze. Nine races were completed with a beat to the outer northern mark down to blue and red - 2 laps. Just before lunch the breeze kicked in so the fleet returned for a rig change and a bite to eat. After lunch the breeze started to abate which helped Justin as he was the only one to stick with his A rig and scored 4 wins for the day. Rod M had 2 wins sailing his Corby 5 - next week we hope to see his new Red Ant woody on the water. Ray & Chris were sailing very consistently with Chris flying a new set of his home made sails ( very nice). A good days sailing which would have been enhanced with some sunshine. Winners today, were David Jones, in first, with Ray Joyce and Justin Rogers tied for second. I believe this is Justin’s first podium finish for a day’s sailing. Well done Justin.  Great to see a turnout of 11 sailors today, as well as a welcome return to Mathew Gray, after an absence of a few years. Great to see you back. From reports, the breeze was nice most of the day, with the only complication being the appearance of the rain on a few occasions. Very close results at the top. Lisa taking out the day on 20 points - a very consistent day with worst counted score a third. Second was Rod Jackman - a welcome return to the top of the leaderboard - on 26 points, narrowly edging out Stu Dawes, in third, on 26.1 points. Interesting also, to see 9 different hulls out of the 11 competitors. A real nice spread of designs.  As predicted, light winds today oscillating between north & south with some westerly slants. A rigs all day with a number of course changes and a few very light patches, but the boats were never becalmed - putting a premium on keeping them moving. The fleet of 13 achieved 10 races, and when the sun came out about midday and the temperature rose, the sailing was excellent. Not sure who was starring - certainly not me as I had a number of seniors moments trying to sail the correct courses (ed – think again Andrew….). Did have one race chasing Peter Turner sailing an older design which just sailed away from me. Peter (Goat) is a very experienced sailor who with a bit more familiarity with the IOM will be a real force to be reckoned with. John Banks again was PRO so thanks for his efforts. Our run of excellent sailing at Montrose this winter has continued its run. Andrew  Well, what can we say with this one. A phone call early, checking to see what my thoughts were with the rain predicted for the day. Obviously, to cancel the day due to the inclement weather, we should get the consensus of the skippers who turn up. All the entered skippers did turn up, but there was quite a negative vibe amongst the group initially. While it was pouring down, and all the skippers were sheltering in the boat shed, we took a vote and the option to sail won by the narrowest of margins, so we all got set up. B rigs and wet weather pants/jackets were the order of the day. A wonderful 10 knot or so breeze from the south east gave us an opposite direction course to normal, but the permanent buoy placements were still more than adequate for the days sailing. Mike Hickman, ably assisted by Les Hanson set the courses for us and we were soon under way. Stanza's of three races between breaks ensued, and by lunch time, we had seven races completed. Another eight were completed by the close of the day. Surprisingly, we were rained on hard for the first few races, but then we were rewarded with a mostly rain free day with the exception of the second last race. The racing was very close throughout, with a single bad tack being the difference between first and sixth place. In the end, there were two standouts with their consistency though, with Ray Joyce coming out the winner on the day with 21 points - of note was his worst counted race being a single third place, which shows the importance of consistency throughout a regatta. Close at his heels was John Cole-Cook, with his brand new Red Ant F-6, a great result for its first competitive outing, having only hit the water for the first time yesterday. Ray and John were in a class of their own for much of the day. Third place was Kyle Stewart, a good consistent performance in his home built Indie, narrowly edging out Rod Marshall, who had his best regatta performance to date. His Mantra 2 showing a lot of pace. Justin Rogers sailed his first RM day, and acquitted himself very well with his borrowed Boogie. Still quite competitive, and with improvements to come with a bit more time on the water. Keep at it Justin, the rewards will not be far away. Thanks again to Les Hanson and Mike Hickman, for taking on the PRO duties on the day. The vibe of the days racing when in the bar afterwards was very good, everyone having enjoyed some really good racing in some fantastic wind conditions. The competitiveness of the racing on the day was first rate and will surely see the fleet of RM's increase in both numbers and competitiveness as time goes on.  |