|
Well, the dam turned on a cracker of a day with steady northerley winds greeting the six starters who chose B rigs for the mornings session before changing to A rigs after lunch. Ray Joyce's Katana hit its stride winning 10 of the 15 races sailed showing some dominant boat speed. Weed was a bit of a problem but not enough to seriosly effect results. John Hall sailed consistantly to take out second with Lisa Blackwood third. So congratulations to the place getters & many thanks to PRO David Murfet.
Next Sunday is the a Long Distance Day Southern Tasmanian RM Championship 21/05/17 Hosted by Risdon Brook RYCPositionSkipperSail #Club/CityHull Score123456789101112131415 1Ray Joyce24 Katana 17.04.01.01.01.01.03.01.02.01.02.01.01.01.06.01.0 2John Hall56 Fuzzy Logic 33.01.03.02.02.02.02.02.01.03.07.06.05.03.02.05.0 3Lisa Blackwood98 F2 34.06.04.03.03.04.01.05.03.04.01.02.02.04.01.02.0 4Michael Hickman18 Ajax 47.03.05.05.05.05.05.04.04.02.03.03.04.02.04.03.0 5Andrew Wardrop49 Scourge48.02.02.04.04.03.04.03.05.07.04.05.07.05.03.04.0 6Les Hanson19 Vibe 69.05.06.06.06.06.06.06.06.05.05.04.03.06.05.07.0 A fine sunny day and a solid A rig breeze from the NW greeted skippers as they arrived for Day 1 of the State Marblehead Championships. By Race1 it had swung to the SW and become very light forcing PRO Les Hanson to set a shortened course. Six races were completed before the lunch break. After lunch the consensus agreed that the breeze was indeed a sea breeze and had swung further to the south allowing for a full course to be set. A further ten races were completed by days end. Lisa Blackwood dominated the day winning 8 of the 16 races, Michael Hickman winning 3 races, Peter Sylvester and John Hall winning 2 races each and yours truly with a solitary win. Provisional results after Day 1 sees Lisa on 21 points, 10 points clear of Michael Hickman on 31 points, 6 points ahead of myself in third place. Day 2 and skippers were greeted with light to glassy conditions with the wind coming from the roughly south west direction. There was a fair amount of fog and cloud but the skies were clearing and it turned out to be a pleasant sunny day. As usual at Risdon Brook, the wind was variable and at times was almost northerly to absolutely nothing as we drifted over the finish line, and throw in the odd 2m length of fox tail water weed the caught a few including yours truly. Lunch was called after Race 20 finished in photo perfect mirror conditions. A sign of a sea breeze? By lunch end the first wafts were making their way over the dam wall and Les Hanson called boats to water for the final afternoon session. Race 23 was when the sea breeze really kicked in and I called for a rig change after winning the race, with everyone except John Hall changing as well. All I can say for the last 4 races is F3 + B Rig = Rocket. Going into the last race, Lisa Blackwood's lead had dwindled to 3 points from myself with Michael Hickman 13 points back in third place overall. The F3 proved her lines in the final race taking line honours and the Championship by 1 point after an uncharacteristic fifth place from Lisa. Michael Hickman sailed consistently to secure third place overall, well clear of the rest of the fleet. Les Hanson is to be commended for a fine effort in his duties as PRO getting a further 10 races completed to make it 27 races for the championship. At times setting a course was a challenge, and at times remembering the course was a challenge as well, but with the wind so variable before the sea breeze came in, we were bound to get a windward leg somewhere. I'm sure all the skippers would agree with me that the courses were ideal to show the Marvellous Marbleheads in action. Next Sunday is the IOM State Regatta with the usual briefing at 10:15 and racing from 10:30 AM. I would encourage the Wednesday sailors to enter and gain some valuable experience, and have some fun as well. Til then, wet sails, Stuart Dawes, 2015 State Marblehead Champion. Woo Hoo! 
Yet another fine spring day at Risdon Brook today with a light nor-wester and the usual puffs and shifts. PRO Stu Harris got racing under way with 11 boats hitting the water for Race 1. The master of Risdon Brook, Lisa Blackwood, took an early lead on the leader board winning the first two races, with John Hall and myself in the minor positions in Race 1 and Andrew Wardrop and myself in the minors for Race 2. I took line honours in Race 3 with Ray Joyce second and Lisa third. Once again, Lisa won Race 4 followed by Ray in second place and Peter Sylvester in third place which he used as a warm up to win Race 5 with Andrew Wardrop in second and Lisa third. Race 6 saw Wayne Behrens step up to the podium along with Peter in second and Andrew in third. The wind was almost gone after Race 6 so lunch was called. Racing resumed with a very fickle breeze with a bit of north to north east in it at times, so a shorter course was set. Lisa's domination continued in Race 7 with John Hall second and myself in third place. Race 8 saw Ray Joyce take the win from Andrew Wardrop and Wayne Behrens. Lisa gabbed another bullet in Race 9 from myself and Andrew in third. Ray Joyce took another win in Race 10 followed by Lisa and Andrew. I scored my second win for the day in Race 11 with Lisa and Andrew filling the minor spots. The domination continued in the twelfth and final race of the day with Lisa getting the nod from John Hall and myself in third. Final results saw Lisa win the day streets ahead of the rest of us on 16 points. Second place went to count back between Andrew Wardrop and myself, my two wins enough to secure second spot for the day and Andrew third, both almost double the score of Lisa, on 30 points. Next Sunday is scheduled as a Combined Club Invitation day, but there was talk of resailing the IOM Mid Winter Challenge instead. I'm sure the committee will advise us if this is the case. Till then, Wet sails, Stuart Dawes.
|
|||||