DF95 Scratch Round 3

Quite a cold day today at MBYC. Wind chill down to freezing early. The Katabatic sending the icy air down from the central highlands cut through all 14 competitors.

Some indecision early, with a split of A and B rigs on the water, with a quick change for the B sailors to A rig after the first race, ad it was A's throughoutt he rest of the day.

The icy N-NW breeze gave us some good wave action as well, giving ample opportunity to surf downwind when we were fortunate enough to get hold of a wave properly. It also sorted the experienced bigger wave skippers with timing the tacks intot he wind at just the right moment. The quality of the field shone through, especially when yachts like yours truly, having great pace being found out with half a dozen small errors in a race, compared with few to none with the top skippers.

That said, the sailing amongst a fairly congested field was really enjoyable, made more so with a few eagle eyed observers checking proceedings and calling contacts when needed.

Thankyou's today go to John Cole-Cook for the Pro duties today, ably assisted by Lisa Blackwood and Les Hanson as observers, and Anne Cole-Cook on the finish line, taking down the finishing order. In all, a really good initial prep for the upcoming Nationals. Thank you all today for your effort in quite cold conditions.

It was also nice to see Jeremy's wife, Emily, and daughter, Maggie come along and watch the sailing today. Sorry we couldn't have had a warmer day for you, but it is great seeing you come along. The family friendly environment is what we continually strive for

Winner today, is Rod Jackman, who sailed superbly, with a worst recorded result being a 4th!! Rod finished on 19 points. Second, was Michael Hickman, on 24 points, also sailing extremely consistent. Third, on countback, was Stuart Dawes, on 26 points, edging out Chris Wood.

Handicap results favoured two of our newer skippers today (although extremely experienced in the larger species). Jeremy Fish took out the handicap today with a 6 point differential (5th overall, seeded 11th), with Rishard Fisher coming in a very close second with a 5 point differential (7th overall, seeded 12th), and Rod Jackman - 4 point differential (1st overall, seeded 5th) and Mathew Gray - 4 point differential (6th overall, seeded 10th) tied for 3rd on handicap

This coming Wednesday is DF95Handicap, at Risdon Brook Dam, and next Sunday is the RM Southern Championship. We currently have 8 entries. Although closed on Friday, late entries would certainly be considered, but please get them in as soon as possible. 

This coming Friday (2nd July) is also the close for entries in the Marblehead Southern Championship on the 11th July. Entry fees to be paid, as per NoR, by bank transfer if at all possible.

Memberships for 2021/22 are now due. Thank you to everyone who have paid so far. We only have a few left to catch up with, which is really appreciated.

There have been a few questions with DF95 rules, pertaining to sail material and alterations/repairs. I will shortly send out another email with the check list that was used at the last DF95 Nationals as well as a decisive interpretation on sail material, as it seems there has been some confusion with reported DQ's in the US.