It was a very cool brisk Northerly of about 12 – 15 knots which greeted skippers for today’s DF95 handicap sail at the dam. Twelve boats is a good fleet for DF95’s at this time of the year.
Andrew Wardrop was assisted as PRO today by Phil Jackman who is still recovering from hip surgery. The pair kept the racing moving well which was appreciated in the cold conditions. Trout generously lent his boat to John Cole-Cook who arrived with the wrong boat for the day. We welcomed a couple of new skippers to our course today. Dave Woolley (Sheep) is a regular DF sailor at Puddleduck Vineyard but has been assisting with official duties at regattas with our club too. And Bruce Palmer who had a few races sailing Dave’s boat and a couple with Ian Hey’s is also a regular at Puddleduck in the DF65’s. I think that Bruce might be considering buying a DF95 now! Both skippers showed that they know their way around a yacht racing course. A very warm welcome to you both! All skippers chose A-rigs for the first race but when the breeze strengthened a little before race 4 most went to the rig box to unfurl their B-rig. As so often happens, it was no sooner than we had changed, that the breeze promptly died a few knots and A-rigs were the right choice again. After lunch the wind had died further and so at least the choice of rig was an obvious and universal choice which gives a level playing field for the fleet. Today we tried a suggested variation with the handicap system. A 10 second handicap bonus was given to the skipper finishing in last place each race – with the pro-visa that you could only benefit from this provision once during the day. Did it work? May-be – the jury is still out on this. We might give it another trial next week but if anyone has any further comments on this please let me know. Third place overall today was taken by Ian Hey who had a mediocre morning but turned his day around after lunch break. Second went to John Cole-Cook and very well sailed too, in a borrowed boat and unfamiliar class. And today’s winner was Lisa Blackwood. Consistent sailing as always. In fact Lisa’s results should be even better as her finish in Race 2 was not recorded – administrative error. Under such circumstances we would normally award her average points for that race but she wins anyway. Congratulations Lisa, John and Bodge. Coming up: Sunday: IOM scratch racing at Risdon Brook Dam (10:00 button) Next Wednesday: Handicap Shield racing for IOM’s at Risdon Brook Dam (11:00 button) And don’t forget the DF95 George Fish Memorial State Championship at the end of this month in Launceston. Enter online through the rankings page on our website John S
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