DF95 Scratch

​A small, but keen contingent arrived for the Sunday Taste-Test of the DF95 class. We had four sailors contact us offering apologies for the day, which is very appreciated as this was a litmus test for future sail days for the class ad it is good to know others were wanting to come, but had other commitments, which is absolutely fine.
 
That said, we had eight sailors for the day (so could have been a very healthy 12 starters on any other day), but unfortunately, we had two retire while preparing for the first race – one with a transmitter range issue, the other a burned out rudder servo.. We started in very strong A rig conditions, and held that for  the first three races, where we all opted to change to the B Rig, with Paul going for a borrowed C rig as his B rig is not ready yet.
 
Towards the end of the day, we considered changing back to “A”, but the occasional gust kept the actual decision at bay, subsequently, that made the borrowed C rig quite uncompetitive so a shortened course for Pauls C rigged yacht was sorted to event things up again for all competitors.
 
There was some great racing, especially amongst the top three, with the results showing that it was tight right to the end, with Chris Wood coming out on top for the day with 11 points, with Lisa close behind in second on 13 points and Stu Dawes snapping on Lisa’s heels in third on 16 points.
 
Paul’s first efforts at sailing at the club were rewarded, taking out a second and third throughout the day. With time and some guidance, consistency will improve and he will be much further up the field with his results.

​Afterwards, we had a chat about the future racing for the DF95, and initially considered a twilight race for Thursday  5th December, but that follows the DF95 handicap day the day prior, so will move it out two weeks to Thursday 19th December for those who would like to sail the DF95’s again. Details for this will be coming soon. We also discussed the possibility of moving the DF95’s to the dam, where a shorter course and flatter waters may be of benefit, so we will trial it there and see how it goes. If supported well, we will schedule more days for the DF95 fleet.
 
Next Week

• Wednesday 27th November - IOM Handicap at Risdon Brook Dam. Scratch practice at 10am, with handicap starting from 11
• Sunday 1st December – RM Scratch Summer Series Round 6, which will conclude the Summer and overall scratch series for the year. It’s also a great preparation day for the following week’s RM Tasmanian Championship Regatta.

Call for volunteers
Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th December is our RM State Championship Regatta. We would like to hear from anyone who would like to help us with the various volunteer roles for that weekend. Pro, observer/s and rescue boat handler are amongst a number of volunteer roles we will need to fill. If you would like to help us out on this weekend, please contact John Hall or myself as soon as possible, so we can ensure all plans are set in place as soon as possible for that weekend. The RM fleet is not very large, and we would hope to expect around 10 competitors, but it would be a real shame if one of the competitors has to withdraw to Pro the weekend, so please, if you are not sailing that weekend, consider a go at PRO on one of the days. It would be very appreciated by all competitors.

Put it on the calendar
Sunday, 15th December is our last Sunday sailing for the year. We will be having a BBQ and presentation of awards on this day, after the scheduled sailing is finished. Please lock the date in if you can for the presentations and BBQ, and we will provide more detail as it gets closer.