Sorry, not much to report today as I was not there at the sailing.

It was A Rig weather thoughout though, and Lisa has certainly laid the base for a championship win if she continues her remarkable run of wins.

​Mike is not far behind though, ready to pounce if given the opportunity.

Championship to be concluded tomorrow. Racing starts at 1030

A good fleet of 15 boats today, but unfortunately the breeze was in a capricious mood with lots of shifts, holes and calm patches.
Nevertheless, we got in a full 10 races.
John Short started impressively with 2 line honours and Jammy also won two. 
Well done to David Jones, with a win on 32 points.
Second place was Rod Jackman, on 28 points, squeezing out Rod Marshall, in third,  on countback.
It is good seeing the handicap system doing a nice job, with 2nd to 9th place all within 10 points
 
Thanks to John Murrell who efficiently carried out the PRO duties for the day. 

This weekend, we have the State RA Championships, starting on Saturday at 1030. Entries are promising it to be a great weekend. If you have the time and are not sailing, come down to MBYC to see these graceful yachts racing against each other.

​Expecting a smaller field today, given the day was Mothers Day. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout of ten sailors, including brand new member, Andrew Price - Welcome to RBRYC, Andrew.

Unfortunately, Andrew's DF95 had just the A Rig, the Club IOM failed Justin with a receiver issue, and Jeremy's A Class had a self tensioning drum failure.

Jeremy hung around with his young family for a few races, while Andrew and Justin filled in the PRO duties for the day. Thanks for the help there guys. It was really appreciated.

That left seven for the remainder of the day. We had quite heavy conditions today, with Lisa's A Class winning the first race before pulling out due tot he wind. Kyle's GothicA finally made it to water on race 3 after a long delay setting up the B rig, but that was in vain, with the yacht very hard to control - almost finding the sea wall. 

All was good though, Kyle and Lisa swapped their A Classes out with their Marbleheads, and by race 5, we had 7 yachts racing again.

Races 2-6 were dominated by John Cole-Cook and Ray Joyce, combining for the first two positions, with Andrew Wardrop not far behind them, taking out four 3rd positions.

Races 7-10 had a changing of the dominant sailors, with Kyle winning the next four and Lisa taking second on each occasion. Ray and Andrew sharing third spot in those races as well.

Even though there was a late charge for the win on the day, it was too little, too late, with John Cole-Cook being way too consistent throughout, with two 4th spots as the lowest scores - winning with 17 points.

Ray Joyce was also similarly consistent, with two wins, three 2nds and two 3rd giving 19 points overall.

Andrew Wardrop finished third, the Indie loving the heavy C2 conditions, with 26 points.

Although not mentioned, John and Stu were also in C2 rigs, and were significantly smaller than the C2's of the other RM's. Although not in the places, they did sail very competitively, but the yachts needed a few more knots of breeze to fully unleash their potential.

A very enjoyable days sailing overall by everyone. Fantastic conditions for long distance sailing.
 
Results at mysailingresults website

Wednesday is the regular IOM Handicap, starting at 11, followed by the RA State Championship next Saturday and Sunday. Please get entries in as soon as possible for this event. It looks to be a well represented weekend.

A fleet of 15 fronted today in northerly conditions that swung between A and B rigs for most of the morning.

Peter Sylvester suffered a winch issue, so didn't sail but assisted with PRO duties up to lunch.

Prior to the handicap series a number of scratch races were held to shake out the cobwebs.

Courses before lunch were one & a half laps with a change in course after lunch when the breeze lightened and tended more westerly.

Nine races were completed before the breeze faded.
 
Kim Potter gained line honours in 3 races with Jammy with 3 seconds and some constantly good results.

Noticed that one of our newer members, John Murrell is starting to sail quite well. A potential new member Richard has indicated that he will be ordering a 95 so the fleet continues to grow, no doubt spurred on by the Nationals later in the year.

This Sunday, we have Long Distance Series Round 4, starting at 11am at MBYC.

Eleven sailors enjoyed fantastic sailing conditions today.

A Rigs were the call of the day, with the breeze staying light throughout - magically, at 1pm, it died completely, right on script.

Ray Joyce jumped out of the blocks early, taking bullets from the first two races, with Rod Jackman right behind. The first two were a good tune up for Lisa, with nice new sails fitted, who then proceeded to take out the next four races. John Hall and Andrew Wardrop also enjoyed some real good, consistent results in the middle stanza.

The last part of the day had Rod, Ray, Kyle, and Lisa enjoying some really good wins in the increasingly light conditions.

In the end, Lisa's consistency was simply too good, rounding out a great birthday week for her - finishing on 13 points. Rod Jackman took out second with a very consistent day, on 18 points, with Ray Joyce taking third, on 26 points.

I put in todays results into our magic handicap spreadsheet, built to rules conceived by yours truly, and made possible by John Short. On handicap today, we had three winners. Well done to John Hall, Andrew Wardrop and myself, tying for first place on 3pt differential, and Rod Marshall in fourth place with a .2pt differential.

For those wishing to know how the handicap is developed, the last five completed rounds are tallied for each skipper. A weighting is applied to each race (ie 3rd out of 15 is weighted higher than 3rd out of 6) and these weightings are averaged over the last 5 rounds completed. The skippers are then ranked according to their combined weighting. Skippers on a race day are ranked according to their weighting and then the handicap differential is the difference between the skippers weighted rank on the day and their actual finish placing.

Of note also today, it was great seeing so many sailors helping each other out in the breaks, and offering advice. The sharing of knowledge is really appreciated and will only enhance us further as a club as the differential between the established and newer skippers gets closer. It's great to see not only a club sailing together, but a community of like minded people, sailing and enjoying each others company.

Thanks, as always to our officials. Les Hanson, doing the Pro work again for us and Anne Cole-Cook, for helping with the scores

Results at mysailingresults website

Wednesday is our  DF95 Monthly Handicap, from 11am. If skippers are ready at 10, there quite possibly will be a few scratch races to warm up. 
Next Sunday is Mothers Day, and as such, there is no scratch racing. However, we will be running our Long Distance Handicap on Sunday for those able to make it. By the sounds of it, there will be an eclectic mix of IOM, RM and A Class coming along. Sunday will start at the normal 11am Long Distance start time.

Another near perfect day at the dam, with a mid to upper A rig north westerly providing some great sailing for the 16 skippers who fronted today.

Prior to 11am handicap, there was some informal hard fought scratch racing.

The handicap series achieved 10 races, completed with our usual box course utilising a leeward gate. 02, with some assistance from the handicapper gained line honours in 3 races with line honours being spread around in the fleet for all other races. 

Winner today, was Peter Darcey, on 21 points, with Peter Sylvester coming second, on20, with Peter Webberley taking third, on 33 points. Looks like a successful day with the Peter's and the V10's.

A good day with the DF95 fleet taking to the water next Wednesday. 

On Sunday, we have IOM Scratch Winter Series Round 1, starting at 10am at MBYC.

A later than normal start today, for those who wanted to, to attend ANZAC ceremonies in the morning.

A great decision as well, as the wind had well and truly arrived for us for our 1pm start. Everyone dressed in B rigs to start with. The breeze extended and could have easily been C strength at times, but just one sailor got his C out.

We did have some excitement early on, with one yacht losing control and getting to within 10m of the Eastern shore by the time the Rib caught up with it. Thank you to all the competitors who patiently waited for the rescue to be performed and sailors ready for competing in the next race. Not necessary, but very appreciated.

We had Les Hanson and Anne Cole-Cook helping out today with the PRO and scoring, as well as sailors hanging around to assist after breakdowns, which was all appreciated.

After the eventful first race and subsequent delay, the rest of the day went very well, apart for the eventual retirements of some sailors with rig/yacht issues.

In the end, we completed 11 races. First place today - not much of a surprise - was Stuart Dawes, on 25 points. Ray Joyce continued his hot recent form, coming in second, on 33 points, and Lisa Blackwood narrowly edged out Kyle Stewart by countback in third, both on 38 points.

In all, an enjoyable days sailing, with real emphasis on tacking at the right times, coupled with checking the gusts as they were coming and ensuring you were on the right tack as the gust hit. Great extra elements in there today.

As we all are aware, the 2021 ARYA DF65 and DF95 Nationals will be held here in October. As part of the scrutineering etc prior to the first race, the race management committee will be conducting checks on the yachts to ensure compliance to the rules. The linked Measurement Criteria is an opportunity to check on your yacht well prior, in order to make sure it is compliant for the championships. Remember, that if something is not in the published rules, then it is not allowed.

As mentioned on Wednesday, John Cole-Cook competed in the Victorian RM State Championship this weekend. In a fantastic result, John finished in 6th position, in a very high ranked fleet of 22 sailors from all over the country. Congratulations on such a good result, John. We look forward to hearing your stories from it in the coming weeks.

A perfect northerly A rig breeze for the IOM’s first handicap day at the dam attracted 17 entries, including Rick Price with his beautiful Huon Pine Ellipsis and Peter Webberley with his classic TS2.

Both our guests from the canal sailed well and had some pleasing results.  

A windward Leeward course was set by our PRO, John Banks of one then one & a half laps.

As usual the dam had a few quiet spots at the windward marks, so keeping in the breeze when approaching the top marks was critical.

The winners today, were Rick Price and Rod Jackman, tied on 27 points, with Rick edging Rod out on countback. David Jones also sailed very well, coming in 3rd, on 35 points.
 
A very enjoyable day in perfect dam conditions. Thanks to John Banks for PRO duties.
 
Just a note on the wine fund, which has been in suspense whilst we have been away from the dam, but will be reactivated for the next schedule IOM race. The existing cash balance, which I think is about $100 is in a spare bedroom behind a mound of furniture whist our house is being renovated, but as the reno is almost competed, I will dig it out and give a precise balance next week. The wine stash has 9 bottles. As I wont be standing again for the committee position of Wednesday co-ordinator, I will hand the balances over to the newly appointed Wednesday coordinator after the AGM.

On Sunday, we have DF95 Scratch Round 2. Due to it being ANZAC Day, we have scheduled this to start at 1pm to allow those who do so, to attend services in the morning.

We also have one of our own sailing in Victoria this weekend. John Cole-Cook is sailing in the Victorian RM State Championship on Sunday. Best of luck for a great day sailing John. We look forward to hearing how the day went on your return.

​Interesting contitions met us today at Montrose Bay Yacht Club. A consistent NW breeze all day, made very difficult with two distinct wind patterns - one a mid A rig around 8 or so knots, with gusts exceeding 20 knots.

Sailors mostly started with B rigs, but all had changed to A after a few races after the few brave A rigged sailors coped quite well in the early conditions.

By the lunch break, Mat Gray was the early leader, with Michael Hickman just behind in second, and Ray Joyce challenging early in third.

After lunch, the wind seemed to have increased, but we all kept with the A rigs, realising before long that we should have changed at the lunch break. A quick rig change ensued and we stayed on the B's for the remainder of the afternoon.

Unfortunately, there was an amount of attrition during the day, with some equipment breakage with the gusts that came through. All easy fixes, but not during the racing day.

Once the 13 races were completed, Anne Cole-Cook tallied the results, and from what I have been told, we had a first time winner of an IOM ranking event in Ray Joyce. Hardly making a false move and completing a really consistent day. Winner on 34 points. Five points further afield, was Mike Hickman, on 39, with Lisa Blackwood in third, on 45 points.

Part of making this day so enjoyable, was the inclusion of our visiting sailors, Ted Stevens from the NW of the state. Always a pleasure having you sail with us Ted. Thanks for making the trip down. We also had a NSW competitor in Alan Griffith. Alan enjoyed sailing in much different conditions, with the extra wind, and wavy conditions. We genuinely appreciate the effort you made in coming down and sailing with us. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we enjoyed having your company.

Sailing days will not happen without the help of our volunteers, and they should never go unnoticed. Big thanks to Les Hanson, a hard job as Pro, but very well done. Setting the ground rules early, which really helped keep everybody nicely in line from the start. We also had Anne Cole-Cook assisting with recording the finish order and getting all the data put into the Laptop. A massive time save for the end of the day, helping getting final results out quickly and efficiently. Thanks for your assistance as well, Anne.

We also enjoyed the support of an amount of observers for the day, with Phil Turnbull, Jeff Byerley, John Murrell, and Chris Wood. If I missed any of the helpers, please accept my apology (it's getting late and I am tired...).

In all, a fantastic example of an excellent days sailing, with many people stopping by to enjoy the racing in progress.

Congratulations to our winners today, and all the sailors throughout the day. Couldn't ask for a better example of serious, enjoyable sailing that would have been great for any interested observer to watch.

After a year plus absence, RBRYC returned to the dam for our monthly mid week DF95 event.
A bit chilly earlier, until the sun came from behind the hills with the temperature getting up to a balmy 24 deg by lunch time.
The breeze was from the north in mid A conditions until lunch, and then lightened off. Nine races were completed with a solid fleet of 14 boats supporting the event. 
John Hall had his new 95 going very well, achieving three wins and two seconds.
The new concrete parking area was much appreciated.
The courses set by our guest Queensmanian PRO Peter Germein were either one or two laps of the box depending on the strength of breeze.
The back markers struggled a bit today to get through the fleet but as we know in handicap racing - every dog has its day eventually. 
Many thanks to PG for his PRO duties and to the core of members who gave their time to get the dam race ready.
 
A very enjoyable day.

Chocolates this week, go to John Hall, with 3 net points, with Ray Joyce in second, on 11 and Rod Jackman in third, with 13 points.

This weekend is the Marine Models and Wooden Boat Show, on both Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th April. Open between 10am and 3pm. If you have the time on the weekend, it would be really appreciated if you could come along and have a look at the exhibition, in support of not only RBRYC, but also MBYC, Wooden Boat Guild Tasmania and Marine Modellers Association of Tasmania.

On Sunday, we also have round 1 of the RM Winter Scratch Series, this week starting at 11am, as advertised on the RBRYC website calendar, to coincide a bit better with the above show.