Tasmanian State IOM Championship

​Well, the championship has been run and won. 27 races over two days, superbly controlled by PRO John Hall and ably assisted by Phil Turnbull.
 
Many thanks to the volunteers over the two days. It does take a lot to successfully run an event, and the things behind the scenes are all very important to ensure smooth running on the day. Rescue craft don’t get set up and packed away by themselves, the buoys aren’t maintained and set by themselves, so the volunteer efforts are hugely appreciated.
 
Saturday contained a set of 13 races in all, in what was a really difficult day to master. Variable wind conditions, combined with the inclement weather and a spattering of weed on the course kept us all on our toes. Unfortunately, for a few competitors, yacht breakdown affected their results, but that is an unfortunate part of sailing – especially in a salt water environment. At the end of day 1, Rod Jackman was the leader, on 32 points, just ahead of Lisa Blackwood (32) and Ray Joyce (37) in third place.
 
Sunday got another 14 races in, with conditions much more sedate than Saturday, and with little to no weed issue present. A few sailors found a new gear with their sailing, with quite a change on the leaderboard by the end of the day. Big mover for the day was Mike Hickman, who won five out of the 14 races. In the end though, it wasn’t quite enough to return the championship to him, with Lisa Blackwood being the most consistent performer over the two days, taking out the State Championship with 63 points. Mike Hickman took out second place on 71 points, with Rod Jackman in third, on 77 points.
 
We also had an amount of Woodies in the mix on the weekend. The ranking Woodie over the championship was Chris Wood.
 
Of note also, Ted Stevens came down from the north of the state with his Mad Max IOM. With an older yacht, he had some pretty humble goals over the weekend, which he exceeded. A second in race 7 and 3rd in race 13 showed the Mad Max had some life in her yet. Pretty sure he enjoyed the weekend, especially since he is heading home tomorrow with a new 2nd hand IOM to sail in future events. Thanks for making the trip Ted, and we look forward to both returning the favour in future events up north, and to you returning for more events in the south.
 
In all, a very enjoyable weekend’s sailing. Congratulations to all sailors and volunteers for a fine weekend.
 
Next Week

• Wednesday 13th November - IOM Handicap at Risdon Brook Dam. Scratch practice at 10am, with handicap starting from 11
• Sunday 17th November – RM Summer Scratch Series Round 5 at MBYC, from 1pm.

 
Call for volunteers
          Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th December is our RM State Championship Regatta. We are likely to have some sailors amongst us from the mainland this year, which is very encouraging news. We would like to hear from anyone who would like to help us with the various volunteer roles for that weekend. Pro, observer/s and rescue boat handler are amongst a number of volunteer roles we will need to fill. If you would like to help us out on this weekend, please contact John Hall or myself as soon as possible, so we can ensure all plans are set in place as soon as possible for that weekend.
 
Put it on the calendar
Sunday, 15th December is our last Sunday sailing for the year. We will be having a BBQ and presentation of awards on this day. Please lock the date in if you can for the presentations and BBQ, and we will provide more detail as it gets closer.