George Fish Memorial DF95 State Championship

The Tasmanian DF95 State Championships was held this last weekend - with the Northern Tasmanian Radio Yacht Club hosting it this year - for the first time.

The event named after George Fish, a stalwart of NTRYC, Radio Sailing in general, and in multiple classes of dingy's as well.

It was fantastic to see George's wife coming out yesterday to watch the event, which was held in quite inclement weather conditions. Wet and windy was the theme of the weekend.

We had a great field of 14 sailors for the event, with two making the trip from the big island to get a taste of the 42 degrees south wind.

32 races were held in all, with 17 completed on the first day and another 15 today.

Lisa Blackwood was the clubhouse leader after the first day, on 36 points, from Stuart Dawes (39) in second, Ray Joyce (43) third and Richard Fisher (46) rounding out the top 4.

The course at Lake Trevallyn was near perfect for the prevailing wind of the day, with a good long beat tot he windward mark and offset, before running down to the gate and back for two laps - around 12 minutes per race.

B rigs for the start of day 1, with only one changing to a C rig after the goose of a sailor (might have been me) had his B Main shredded after the tie ont he head of the sail broke (hint - don't compromise the tie when you burn the end back when tying it off, it will break).

Today started with everyone selecting C rigs initially, and the great racing continued, and we shifted back to B's a little before lunch, and continued with them for the rest of the day. The 37 knot gusts that were predicted didn't eventuate, but we did have some very heavy weather sailing during the day.

By the time we completed the 32nd race Lisa Blackwood had extended her slimovernight lead to take out the championship on 67 points. A well deserved win with difficult, but fun sailing conditions. 4th place was her worst conted score - fantastic consistency.

11 points behind, in second, was Stuart Dawes. Also an excellent championship weekend for him, with 8 wins from the 32 races and a worst counted result of 5th showing the consistency throughout.

Third place in the Championship was Richard Fisher, on 93 points, also a tremendous effort in the conditions.

A few big thankyou's that make these events such a success.

To the Northern and North West sailors who entered. Thankyou for sailing in the championship. We know the southern guys are sometimes a bit more serious at times, but the mix of us all in a state championship, along with the obvious fun, serious sailing, laughs and comradeship is what makes radio sailing so enjoyable. I for one hope we all meet together again soon for another really enjjoyable weekend in the DF65 State Championships in two months time.

To our sailing friends fromt he big island, thank you so much for taking the time (and expense) to travel south and compete with all of us. We enjoyed your company and friendship - as well as the on water competition. We hope that you leave the state wanting to come back for more sailing and hope to also return the favour by travelling to sail with you in your home states as well.

To the southern crew who travelled up to compete - thanks for the time and effort in coming up. It only makes radio sailing stronger in the state when we all come together and sail in events such as this - and it is really nice to see so many sail together in a championship in memory of George and his contribution to the sailing community.

Lastly - our volunteers. A massive thankyou to Ted Stevens - our rescue boat operator, helper, BBQ manager (and spare sail supplier....), as well as Andy Hamilton, our PRO for the event. Without your effort behind the scenes and during the event, this would not have been possible. The Lake Trevallyn location was fantastic for the wind produced over the weekend, as well as the elevated sailing area. We hope that this weekend gives the confidence that the club can host stae events quite successfully.

Thank you everyone for a great event, great sailing and great weekend in general.