DF65 Alan Furmage Memorial DF65 State Championship

​Well, that was a big weekend of sailing – both good and not so good over the weekend.
 
We turned up nice and early yesterday, with our intrepid volunteers there at 8am, to lay buoys for the course at Montrose. Then on to measuring the boats – all of which passed scrutineering with sails checked against the templates, batteries weighed and for those nerds amongst us, keel lengths looked at as well as boat weight without battery or rig (just for info and not to do with scrutineering).
 
Once done, we were off to the point to get some light airs sailing in. Unfortunately on arrival over there, the wind had yet to turn up and we had a wait for around 45 minutes past scheduled start before we attempted a race. This is when we found that no only was there a large flow in the river after the very heavy rain the last few days, but that rain and the subsequent outflows in to the river dragged a heap of grasses causing no end of issue. This first race was abandoned and we had another delay while we investigated a course move to one of the other two course areas at our disposal at Montrose. The front of the MBYC Clubhouse was not good enough and the bay was practically weed free, however it was also wind free.
 
After another delay, we took a vote with the weather also conspiring against us and a lot of rain coming again, so we elected to abandon the first days sailing and resume at Risdon Dam on Sunday morning a bit earlier to make up for some of the lost time.
 
Sunday am came around and the dam was looking devoid of wind to start with, however by 0930, a light NW had filled in. This brought about some champagne sailing for the 13 competitors, many of whom were sailing a ranking event for the first time.
 
Pro, Gary McCarthy had us quickly on our way, one race with a break, then stanzas of 5 with a 15 minute break to hopefully get enough in by lunch to make it an official event in case the wind died on us. Spoiler alert – it didn’t 😊
 
With the wind as it was, we had our normal start line, with a beat to buoy 6, back to 3, up to 6 and then initially to 4 (south) and back through the start/finish. After about 4 races, the wind filled in some more with the bay at the top end of the course getting consistent wind, so the last lap extended down to the gate a 1/2 and then back to the finish line.
 
Lunch time had 8 races completed, and things were tight at the top of the fleet. Lisa in the lead with 11 points, and Stu just 1 off the pace on 12. Kyle was in 3rd on 17 with Nick not much further behind on 22.
 
After lunch, we got in another 10 races with the breeze freshening a little bit – still A+ conditions though. We had some great racing and awesome to see most of the fleet getting some great individual race results. Peter Shield getting a 2nd, David Shepherd a 3rd, Malcolm Watson a 2, 4, and 3 to finish his day, Phil Mackey a 2nd and 3rd, and Ant Mountain taking out the last race (only as good as your last one).
 
At the completion of the 18 races today, it was so close at the top, that the countback needed to be used to decide the 2026 DF65 Champion.
 
On this occasion, it fell to Stu, suited up in Joysway sails on 33 points. Superb sailing today with 7 race wins and only 2 counted races outside a podium position.
 
Lisa sailed equally as well also with just two races outside a podium position, going it alone on multiple occasions to get a fantastic lift into the windward mark.
 
Kyle came home well after lunch with some very good scores to maintain third position, 12 points behind on 45 points.
 
It was wonderful to see Alan Furmage’s family come along today to watch some of the racing towards the end of the day and share some stories that we had with Alan across the many years he was with the club. He was an integral part of the introduction of DF sailing at the club, with the Thursday twilight sailing at the dam a fantastic soft introduction of the class to the club and for new members to the club as well (unashamedly, I was one of them). It all started when Alan saw a group of people sailing these little yachts at Lauderdale Canal. He stopped by, introduced himself and gave us all some tips in both sailing and tuning, transforming the boats from very finicky and unfriendly boats into well-tuned, much more fun and competitive yachts.

Big thanks this weekend to our volunteers, without which we would not have had a championship to sail in. Gary McCarthy as PRO for the weekend, Ricky Price, John Short, Phil Turnbull for their assistance on rescue boat, course laying and observing duties. Grant Wise also took a heap of photos as well as both Ray and Gary, Thank you all for documenting what was a really enjoyable championship.
 
Another big thanks – and well done – to our DSS and Northern Tasmanian contingents. That would be half of the fleet this weekend. Without your interest in sailing, the championship would not have been anywhere near as enjoyable as it was. We sincerely hope you continue to support the class, both at your home club and at other events intrastate and interstate.
 
Coming Up
Wednesday is IOM Handicap sailing at the dam, starting at 1030
Next Saturday is IOM Classics at Forcett Lakes, starting at 1000
Next Sunday is IOM Tasmanian Travellers Regatta at the Dam, starting at 1030. Please get your entries in as soon as possible. They close at 5.00 on Friday
 
Lastly – glasses found
Ian Hey found a set of prescription glasses when packing up today. If you have lost yours, please get in touch with Bodge and he will organise a catch up to get them back to you