Mid Week IOM Handicap

It was a gorgeous day at Risdon Brook Dam today - a sunny 21 degrees C, the sea breeze filled in early for our 11:00 start and provided A rig conditions throughout the day.

12 skippers showed for the morning’s racing. Unfortunately Mat Gray’s driveway was blocked by road-works and he did not arrive until after lunch.

The podium was well shared throughout the day resulting in a close tally table with Phil Jackman taking the honors followed by Lisa Blackwood and Peter Darcey. Congratulations to all.

One important housekeeping point to mention is that skippers do need to remember to close the gate after they enter in the morning (unless you are absolutely certain that there is another skipper right behind you). TAS water have asked us to do this as, if it is left open, members of the public will see our vehicles and presume that it is OK for them to enter and drive around the dam. As we are TAS water’s guests it is important to maintain good standing with them by following their requirements. So close the gate and drive very slowly with your hazard lights turned on!

Next week mid-week sailing will fall on Australia Day (26th January). RBRYC normally has a special event on this day, inviting our friends from Northern clubs and racing for the Australia Day Shield. So next week’s racing will still be at the Dam, we will start a little earlier at 10:30 and the morning’s racing will be a short handicap series (maximum 8 races) for IOM yachts.

The winner of this series will claim the Australia Day Shield.

After lunch we will have scratch series racing for any class yacht finishing about 3:30. Indications from today and from previous chats are that we are very likely to ahve both IOM and A Class yachts racing for the afternoon. If you wish to sail another class yacht, you are welcome to come and sail too.

There will be a sausage sizzle at lunch-time. During lunch, we will be holding an informal club meeting or chat. This is to hear where the committee has gone to as far as Montrose upgrades, and hopefully, where we can also ask the club members for input and assistance in where to go from here. In short, we have again missed out on grants that have been publicised, and we need member input for where we head from this point. We are still 100% focused on better launch facilities over at the point where we sail, so launching/retrieval and tuning can all be done much closer to the sail area. Member input from here is very important for the clubs next direction, so please come along if you are able to.

Overall, as far as sailing goes, next Wednesday sounds like a fun day to me!

John S