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It was fairly calm this morning with the wind undecided about whether or not a sea breeze would be worth its trouble and so we spent the first few races picking our way around the buoys with a shifting breeze. By lunch-time a lightish sea breeze came through. It had just a touch of Easterly in it so that the wind was gusting from both across the dam entrance and down the gully from the picnic area. Picking the shifts was a valuable skill for the up-wing legs in the afternoons racing and I did notice that some of the older experienced skippers seamed to know how to manage this wind well. Today’s winner was Peter Darcey whose tally included three race wins. Ian Hey and Buzzy Behrens took out second and third place respectively. Both skippers posted results that were consistently in the top half of the fleet. Congratulations to all. Sunday’s racing will be IOM scratch racing 1:00 at Montrose and next Wednesday IOM’s again at the dam. John S  Sounded like a very still day today at Montrose, with the wind not really filling in til about 2pm. Unfortunately for our six sailors, only six races were completed in the allotted time. With the Long DIstance sailing this year, we are splitting out the A Class results also for the A Class Scratch Series, so we have two sets of results today. For the Long DIstance Round 1 though, Andrew Wardrop came through with the win, on just 9 points. The Blitz 6 sailing very well. In second place, Lisa Blackwood prevailed with her newly aquired (sort of) A Class Sweet 6, on 14 points. John Cole-Cook was just one point behind in third place, with 15 points with his A Class Venom. In the A Class Scratch Series, interestingly, John Cole-Cook beat Lisa to the round win, on 8 points, with Lisa one point behind in second, on 9, with Michael Hickman in third place. This coming Wednesday is our regular IOM Handicap at the dam, followed by IOM Scratch Round 1 next Sunday Kyle   I don't know where everyone was today. Probably still recovering from Christmas excess. Our fleet was down to 8, but we had some excellent sailing with an A rig northerly for half the day, switching to an A rig sea breeze. Buzzy bought along his brothers orange Joker, which he has got back into sailing condition. It was going well at times, and with Waynes sailing ability will no doubt become quicker. Kim Potter kindly offered to PRO as he is waiting for a new fin to come from NZ. - thanks Kim. Todays winner is one of our newer members, Ian Hey, on 13 points. Well done Ian. Rod Marshall came in second, just three points behind, on 16, with John Hall rounding out the top three, one further back, on 17. Next week is DF 95’s - summer wont last for ever so come & have a sail. Regards Andrew Wardrop  John Short took his Christmas holidays today and has gone camping somewhere in the wild Tasmanian wilderness, so it was up to a hodge podge of competitors to organise the day. A good pre Christmas fleet of 11 skippers turned up in cold and blustery NW conditions and decided to race in B rigs which was mostly a good idea considering the bullets and lulls that marked the day. Peter Germein came along (late) after a clandestine dash from the sunshine state, probably dodging through the borders, which is good practice for the dam. As to the racing , the usual battles within the fleet were fought out with gusto however Mat Grey with 4 wins was the outstanding competitor - the back markers generally got through to the front by the finishes. One skipper tried sailing without his keel which was not surprisingly very successful. A happy Christmas to everyone & don't forget to have your 3rd jab, wear your mask & get ready for another year of sailing. Regards Andrew Wardrop  Sounds like a difficult day today for round 7 of the DF95 Scratch Series - and last scratch day for the year. Fairly extreme gusts would ahve made it hard for all, with A rig conditions quickly changing to C rig during the day. Just the 8 races held today, before skippers decided to come in before the weather broke up (which it subsequently did). Michael Hickman took the win today, with a fantastic 10 net points from the eight races. Ray Joyce continued his red hot form, coming second, on 18 points, with Stu Dawes snapping at his heels, just one point behind, taking third place. Once the yachts were washed up and put away, we had our end of year BBQ and prize giving function. Missing a few people today, with just 12 in attendance, but thankful for those who were able to make it to celebrate the successes for the year. On that note, the following members were awarded honours for their sailing achievements, and also for club service during the year. I will, in the next day or so, email out a more comprehensive document detailing all of these for those who are interested. In the meantime though, the following awards were announced; IOM Summer Scratch Series First Place Mathew Gray Second Place Rod Jackman Third Place Lisa Blackwood IOM Winter Scratch Series First Place Lisa Blackwood Second Place Mathew Gray Third Place Ray Joyce IOM Scratch Overall First Place Mathew Gray Second Place Lisa Blackwood Third Place Rod Jackman RM Summer Scratch Series First Place Stuart Dawes Second Place Ray Joyce Third Place Lisa Blackwood RM Winter Scratch Series First Place John Cole-Cook Second Place Ray Joyce Third Place Kyle Stewart RM Scratch Overall First Place Ray Joyce Second Place Lisa Blackwood Third Place Stuart Dawes DF95 Scratch Series First Place Stuart Dawes Second Place Ray Joyce Third Place Michael Hickman IOM Mid Week Handicap First Place Ray Joyce Second Place John Hall Third Place Rod Marshall DF95 Mid Week Handicap First Place John Hall Second Place Wayne Behrens Third Place Ray Joyce Long Distance Series First Place Ray Joyce Second Place Andrew Wardrop Third Place Rod Marshall We also had two club awards, voted on by the committee. One of which seems to not have been awarded since 2016, which we were very keen to reinstate. That being the Alan Furmage Club Service Award. This was discussed at length by those in attendance at the awards lunch, with a majority of committee in presence as well as other RBRYC members. The overall opinion was unanimous and therefore agreed to be reinstated this year. The recipients of this years Club awards are as follows. 2021 Most Improved Award - For distinct improvement in his sailing, with a very creditable 5th (from 17 starters) at the George Fish DF95 State Championship, breaking through with three wins in the Tasmanian Marblehead State Championship, finishing 1st and second in the DF95 and IOM Mid Week Handicap Series respectively is John Hall. 2021 Alan Furmage Club Service Award - for consistent and selfless volunteer work while not physically quite well enough to sail on almost every Sunday throughout the year, this years award is deservedly won by Les Hanson. Thanks to Rod Marshall and Andrew Wardrop for the organisation of the lunch today. It was really nice to sit down and chat amongst those there about the year, where the club was hopefully heading etc. Thanks also to all the sailor, active or not, who were able to make it to today's function to help celebrate the individual successes over the year. This Wednesday is IOM Handicap at the dam, as usual, however, we will be having a two week break from Sunday Sailing, resuming on January 9th, with what I believe will be Long Distance Handicap/A Class Scratch. Kyle  It was a beautiful day for sailing at the dam today but sadly only nine skippers fronted. I am told that this is not unusual at this time of the year and is likely due to due to Christmas obligations and priorities. A light sea breeze came in on cue for our 11:00 start and strengthened all day. A rigs were used by all skippers throughout the day even though a B rig might have been useful in the very last races. The start line was moved to buoys 5 and 6 to better suit the southerly breeze. In a day where all skippers managed to reach the podium in at least one race Ian Hey was the stand out winner. Ian’s result sheet included 7 podium finishes to give him a total of just 2 points after discards and bonuses were allowed for. He started the day on a handicap of 0 and finished on a handicap of 70 and in the last races was competitive with our scratch boats in the last races . Very well sailed Bodge! Second place went to the irrepressible Ricky Price whose handicap is being consistently diminished from week to week due to his winning streak. Third went to Rod Jackman who managed two wins and two third places on a day which generally favoured the skippers with longer handicaps. Congratulations to all. Sunday’s sailing will be DF scratch racing at Montrose starting at 10:00 followed by lunch and the awards presentation. Please, if you have not yet done so, contact Kyle or Andrew Wardop indicating if you can make it or not. Wednesday handicap sailing will continue through the Christmas season for those who are keen and available. IOM’s again next Wednesday. John S  A warm day for sailing today. Unfortunately, the sea breeze didn't really come in, and in its place, we had some very confused winds from all points of the compass. Some were real trying for the PRO to set a reasonable course, however, we did what we could. Just 8 races were sailed today, and I think there would have been six different courses set. Hardly a complaint from the sailors, so the courses must have been OK (I think). Consistency was the order of the day, and our top three certainly showed us all how it should be done. Rod Jackman was the one to beat today, taking out first position on 13 points. His counted scores did not venture outside the top 3. Second, was Mat Gray, on 15 points. Third today, just two points adrift was Michael Hickman, on 17 points. Not far behind were a group of four, who only had six points separating them, showing how close the racing really was today. In all, the day was sailed in great spirit, and I am sure all competitors enjoyed themselves even though the wind was a bit on the light side. The light wind sailing is a massive skill and it's great watching the light air skills in action today. On handicap today, we were very closely bunched up, Rod Jackman, Stuart Dawes and John Hall all finished on +1 differential between the days result and their seeded position to be tied for first. Michael Hickman, Lisa Blackwood, john Cole-Cook and John Short were all tied in 4th with equal 0 differential between the days result and their seeded position. This Wednesday sees IOM Handicap racing at the Dam, with DF95 Scratch next Sunday from 10am, alowing for our BBQ lunch and end of season awards from 1pm. If you are intending on coming to the BBQ, please let either Andrew Wardrop or myself know so we can adequately prepare for the day. Even knowing you cannot make it would be appreciated. Kyle   There was plenty of action at the dam this morning even before the start. A run-away pram went into the water with baby aboard. Many of our members were quick to render assistance and the baby, pram and equipment were quickly retrieved. An ambulance was called to check that both the baby and mother who was showing signs of shock were alright. Fortunately both seemed to be OK. Tas Water officials gathered and had questions for us throughout the morning. Unfortunately for us they deemed the event a ‘major incident’ and decided to close the park so that an assessment could be made. By the time that we were notified we had completed three races in shifty winds below 4 knots. To their credit the Tas Water officials did allow us one final race and with a northerly filling in this was appreciated. John Hall was today’s winner. With four races skippers can discard one – which left John counting three podium finishes. Ray Joyce took second place and Wayne Behrens third. So again we are unsure whether Risdon Brook Park will be open to us next week – lets assume that it will be open and I will contact you if otherwise. This Sunday’s scratch sailing will be for IOM’s at Montrose. Could all skippers who are attending the end of year BBQ and presentation at Montrose on Sunday week (19th December) please contact Kyle so that he can make catering arrangements. John S Addendum from Kyle The club is extremely proud of the actions that the sailors took today with today's incident at the dam, in rendering assistance to the mother and baby. I have seen a post from the TasWater Facebook page that both are fine and are back at home, which is a real big relief. However, from personal experience with high stress "incidents", we also need to turn inwards a bit and make sure we (as in all the people who were there at the dam today) are OK. Whether you rendered assistance personally or not, such events can and do (speaking from personal experience) manifest in the time afterwards where a person can struggle to cope with experiencing the stresses from the incident, or even just thnking about it afterwards. If you are having any issue at all stemming from today, do not sit on it. Please seek help/assistance in the form of a chat with a place such as Lifeline (13 11 44), or your doctor. It is very important that we all look after our own wellbeing, especially after a stressful encounter.  Wonderful weather for the two days of the RM State Championship. Wind was a mix, between top end of B rig yesterday, and A rig all day today. Wind generally from all points of the compass. We managed 16 races on each day, so the competitors certainly got their value out of the event, and were understandaby a bit tired when the last race was completed. Some real highlights throughout included there being 7 individual race winners across the day. Both Rod Marhsall and John Hall shared three race wins each. A real achievement given the quality of the competitors and the dfficulty at times, of reading the wind shifts - something yours truly needs to work on after leading a race from first mark to last mark, yet coming 4th.... So many races wer extremely close, and the end numbers don't truly do the weekends sailing enough justice. That said, in the end, the slightest of margins determined our winner of the championship. Both Ray Joyce and John Cole-Cook finished on 70 points a piece, with Ray winning on countbak with his 8 wins compared to John's 6 wins. Lisa Blackwood came in third position for the event, on 83 points. Looking back over the last two days, and how the yachts sailed on the most part, it has shown that every one of the 8 yachts sailing was up to pace, and easily capable of winning, with the ultimate skill of the sailor in picking the correct shifts often enough proving to be worth gold. Big thanks this weekend must go to our PRO's across the two days. Without Les and Mike coming along to help with the official duties, the event would not have been as successful as it was. This coming Wednesday is a return to IOM Handicap racing at the dam, and we have IOM Summer Series Scratch next Sunday at MBYC.   |
