Tasmanian State IOM Regatta

The weather prediction was right for the first part of the day today, with very light winds greeting the 14 competitors.

After a brief briefing, with Les making sure everyone knew the state of play for the day, we quickly got away right on the 1030 allotted time.

Two races were initially completed, before we joined with our fellow MBYC members for the opening of the dinghy sailing season ceremony, as well as a pesentation to Martin Grose as a show of appreciation for the efforts put in with equipment manufacture for the club.

Another four races were completed prior to lunch, and the leaderboard was starting to develop, with Michael Hickman, breaking away early, with John Cole-Cook and Wayne Behrens not far behind.

At the conclusion of lunch, it looked like the forecast was right, with the Westerly wind dropping right off, making sailing rather difficult. That said, the sailing remained close and enjoyable overall.

Coming into the last few races, an unpredicted strong southerly developed, and we soon had yachts spinning around, and carrying on as they always do in an over-powered situation. At the close of the 13th race, we considered changing rigs, as it was no longer viable to start a race in A rigs, but by the time we would have been ready again, the allotted finish time would have passed.

At the end of the day, Michael Hickman proved too consistent, with a score of 26 to take out the Regatta, with John Cole-Cook (30pts) in second, and Rod Jackman (40pts) in third.

It was great to see such a good turnout at the regatta, as well as some fantastic, tight racing.

Thanks to our northern invader, Ted Stevens, for making the effort to come down and sail with us. He was very pleased with his finishing performance, in front of his expectations. Maybe the bar needs to be raised for the upcoming states. Hopefully, we might see some more northern competitors in future events.

​Big thanks also, to Les Hanson, who conducted the PRO duties with his usual distinction. What you do for the club is really appreciated, and your assistance makes the day so much more enjoyable for all the competitors.