Herb Tyson memorial for A Class

​Very light conditions again for the eight skippers who turned up today for the Herb Tyson Memorial Regatta. Unfortunately, when rigging up, Phil found that the motor on his winch had seized up completely and had to withdraw. Thankfully, he stayed the day and helped out with buoy setting and RO duties – thanks Phil.
 
The event was transferred to Montrose today as Risdon Dam was closed following the recent downpours in the state – currently scheduled to open on Tuesday (fingers crossed).
 
Morning session PRO, Andrew had us starting right on time and had the difficult task of setting a course to the ever-changing wind. That said, he did a stellar job in getting us through 7 morning races before the lunch break. Some excellent racing but it soon became clear that Lisa, Kyle and Stu were in good form. 1 point the margin between Kyle and Stu at lunch, with Lisa a further 3 adrift – but with a good drop to have when we hit 8 races. Ian Hey also sailed very well for his first A Class sail with the club boat, just one point away from Rod, who was in 4th position.
 
After lunch, John Short took on the PRO duties and had us under way pretty efficiently after re-laying the course to suit the N-NW breeze and moving further W as the afternoon wore on. A further 7 races were completed to give the regatta a total of 14 races in all. After a small incident and loss of a side stay after lunch, Kyle strung three race wins together to take some control over the regatta, however, it was still far from over with Lisa reeling off three wind to close the day out. Not to be forgotten either, Stu stayed very consistent with 6 seconds in the last 7 races to keep things very tight at the top. The skippers vying for 4-7 were also having a great close set of races, often finishing within a boat length or two of each other.
 
At the end of the day, Kyle had done just enough to win the regatta with 21.3 points.
Lisa finished an extremely close second, less than 2 points away on 23 points.
Similarly, stu was just one point further adrift in third on 24 points.
 
The battle for 4th was just as tight between Rod and Bodge, with Bodge just getting the nod over Rod by 2 points.
 
An excellent days sailing with one of the most graceful classes of yacht.
 
Big thanks today to Andrew, John and Phil. Your help is very appreciated.
 
Coming Up
 
Tomorrow will see the Marbleheads in action at Montrose from 10am
 
Next Wednesday will have the DF95 Mid Week Handicap at the Dam, starting at 1030. If this changes with the dam remaining closed, I will send an email out to all members.
 
Kyle