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Round 6 and the final round of the Marblehead Summer Series today in a very patchy and light breeze , generally from the south with the normal left and right swings to maybe 3 knots in strength, sometimes. Not a bad fleet tuning up though, with seven boats hitting the water on time for the first of 11 races for the afternoon. Wind had settled in a little more for the first race but still very light, the course just one lap from the middle line of bouys up to 2 and 1, back to 4 and 3 then beat back up to finish between 1 and 2. Some of the swings were favouring the pin end of the line, so starting on starboard for the short beat to the "weed", call for water on the left shift up the shore was an option used by a few skippers. In all the starts were well executed by all skippers despite more issues with starting equipment. Peter Sylvester got the ball rolling with a good win in Race 1, closely fought with Andrew Wardrop second and yours truly third. Wayne Behrens connected all the dots to win Race 2 from myself and John Hall rounding out the podium. Race 3 and the F3 got the bullet, John Hall second and the Red Dragon third. A different winner in Race 4 with Ray Joyce taking line honours from myself and Andrew in hot albeit slow pursuit. The breeze at this point had strengthened 1-2 knots but still very patchy. After the first drop, I led the leader board with 5 points, John Hall in second place with 7 points, Ray Joyce third with 9 points, Wayne Behrens and Andrew Wardrop on 10 points, Peter Sylvester on 13 points and Les Hanson on 18 points. Race 5 and Wayne Behrens took another line honours with a comfortable win from Ray Joyce in second and myself not far behind. Win number two for #48 in Race 6 with Peter Sylvester starting to improve back to his Race 1 form in second place and Ray Joyce sailing consistently and on the podium again. With the breeze even more consistent, the course was lengthened down to marks 6 then 5 giving a longer run and good long second windward beat to the finish at the top as in previous races. Ray out sailed the fleet in Race 7 after hitching on to the only puff at the top mark and accelerated off down the track while the rest of us were waiting for enough breeze to get to the top mark. I managed to keep the rest of the fleet at hand finishing second and Andrew Wardrop finishing third. A third win for the F3 in Race 8, hotly pursued by Ray and Andrew. After the second drop, I was still on top with 9 points, Ray Joyce second with 13 points and John Hall in third place with 17 points. Race 9 and Peter Sylvester got back to his form in Race 1 with a good win from yours truly and Andrew filling the minor spots. A fourth line honours for the F3 in Race 10 with Ray's Paradox slipping through the water nicely into second place and the Red Dragon breathing down our transoms in third place. Race 11 and the final race for the afternoon saw Ray continue to sail consistent taking another win for the day with Peter Sylvester sailing well into second spot and Andrew Wardrop sailing consistent as well in third spot. Final results and a comfortable win for yours truly on 15 points, second place went to Ray Joyce on 20 points and Peter Sylvester in a comfortable third place overall on 29 points. No sailing next Sunday as it is Easter, however Wednesday sailing is still on. Sunday April 3rd is the IOM Southern Tasmanian Championships so get your entry in when you finish reading. Its easy and its at the top of the home page. Wets sails, Stuart Dawes 
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