A bad weather forecast may have contributed to a small fleet attending handicap sailing at the Marina on Sunday - six IOM and two DF65… and the sailing conditions were indeed fickled!
Race one got underway with little to no wind, the tide having a greater influence on positions rather than sail force. Nevertheless Andrew read the conditions well to cross the line first. The second race was at the other end of the spectrum as the wind picked up ahead of incoming ran… skippers, scorer and equipment retreating to the shelter, Trevor picking up the win.
These conditions alternated throughout the days sailing, lulls, showers, wind, sunshine and then cloud (see photos) and the final race of the day had the forecast heavy winds setting in and Peter had his jib fitting fail and ended the day mid heat, but this did not detract from his five podium placings, three of which being firsts with his new Rascal. Andrew kept things close being one point off an overall win and Dale did just as well with close racing for third on count-back. Russell handing over his K2 to Jeremy for more experience in the last heats.
All skippers achieved at least one heat win – a combination of good sailing and astute handicapping!!! 😉
John is still in isolation, so the scoring was done the old fashioned way, by hand. Ribbons will be presented at the next event after official tabulation by John. With only two RG65 sailing scores weren't recorded, Nevertheless, Basil and Grant had some fun on the water, Basil completed the day after Grant stowed away mid-day.
Next event is at Inspiration Point 1st May.
Bruce Mathers
Thirteen skippers attended the last round of the Summer Scratch Series - Four DF65 and nine IOM’s. We had sailors away at the Australian IOM Championship down in Adelaide, one of which happens to be our buoy-bot guru so we were without the bots for the day.
With a delayed start and lack of wind we set a shortened course and racing got underway.
DF65 - Don Horton set the standard for the day with four wins however Basil wasn’t about to let him have all the glory winning two races himself (must be those borrowed Don Sails that did the trick – wink!)
Grant is new to the sport, his lovely wife bought him a DF65 for his birthday so we hope to see him sailing with us regularly. With more time on the water you will only get better.
With just six races completed time was called due to time constraints for the dingy to be returned. DF65 standings were Don 1st, Basil 2nd and well done Noel for 3rd
IOM - Mike dusted the cobwebs off an old New Zealand design R5 and still shows us how it’s done winning the day picking up three wins, including a juicy stick around his rudder in race 5 (see photos) to win the day overall.
Ray had four top three placings which held off Trevor and John who was nipping at his heels for 3rd overall. Trevor had a good win in race 4 he also had a couple of 2nd’s.
Ian Kennedy had an interesting race 4 (see photos) the top of this mainsail fell away but he still managed to nurse it home in 3rd place with Mike closing in fast.
A fun day was had by all many thanks for the support and help from the Redland boys.
Thank you Steve for your efforts, John and Bruce our scorers and all our other helpers to make for a great day.
See you all next sail day.
Eddie #81
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Another glorious Sunday with light-medium winds greeting the 12 skippers for Round 5 of the Summer Handicap Series.
It was nice to have the two visitors from the Redlands Club join us again with both placing in the overall results. Ian Kennedy sailed consistently picking up two well deserved wins in the IOM class and finished 3rd overall. Don Horton clean swept the DF65 class with 10 wins. Basil is new to the sport but is leaning quickly, he made Don a little nervous in a few of the races, with more time on the water and with his enthusiasm, he will be a force to be reckoned with in the DF65 class
John Dousi had boat issues after just one race and had to sit out the rest of the day. John P and Andrew M also suffered gear failure – John P sailing the rest of the day in B rig. The remaining races were pretty even with each skipper winning at least 1 race, combined with minor placings. Just 11 points separated the top seven boats.
Peter and Andrew W had their handicap set at +50 seconds, give or take 10sec throughout the day. They both had their work cut out from the start, they soon caught up and were amongst the fleet in no time. Just 1 point separating them both again at the end of the day.
John McL continues to impress me sailing really well again today, he had a good win in race 8 and a couple of 2nd places and a 3rd. With just two races outside the top 5 John McL deservedly won the day.
Next sail day is Round 6 scratch racing in a fortnight. (DF65 fleet starts 20 seconds behind the IOM fleet for one circuit of the course).
Good luck to Andrew Wilson and Russell Gray whom won’t be sailing with us next fortnight as they will be in South Australia attending the Australian IOM Championship.
Thanks to our scores Bruce & John and a special thanks to Steve Zaphir for volunteering to help with the buoy-bots for next sail day while Andrew W is away.
Eddie
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Just the 10 skippers (6 IOM & 4 RG65) attended Sunday however, it was an off week and not a normal scheduled sail day. The conditions were pleasant which made for good tight races. The top 3 IOM skippers Peter, Mike & Andrew duked it out again for the second week running with Peter finishing on top this time. Mike settled for 2nd and Andrew just 1 point behind finished 3rd. With 10 races sailed just 3 points separated the 3 amigos.
John sailed impressively today winning the last race of the day and almost winning another but just got piped at the line. Not bad for a 20 year old design V5. V11 is the latest from the Vickers stable.
We had 2 visitors from the Redlands Club join us with their RG65’s. They had some close races with the place getters all having multiple wins. Russell our club commodore won the day by just 1 point from Don Horton. Basil hit a hot streak in races 6,7,8 winning all 3 finished 3rd overall.
After racing Russ threw on the BBQ and cooked up some sausages. Although a relatively small fleet a good day was had by all. Many thanks to Don & Dean from Redlands for attending we hope you will be back next time.
Thanks Bruce, John and all our helpers.
See you all next week for the handicap series.
Eddie
IOM RESULTS
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Sorry John but Russell insisted i post this pic of you smiling - we don't see it enough :)
RG65 RESULTS
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With the rain finely behind us and a beautiful day ahead a good turnout of 15 skippers arrived for round 5 of the Summer Scratch Series at Manly Harbour. 11 IOM skippers and 5 skippers for our ever growing DF65 class fleet which is very encouraging to see.
The racing between the top 3 Mike (Seduci), Peter (K2) and Andrew (Venti) were close each having multiple wins. Mike would win out in the end by sailing the tricky conditions best. Peter sailing a brand new K2 for the first time finished 2nd overall and Andrew coming in 3rd. however Andrew was distracted somewhat in the last few races adjusting the buoy-bots with one hand whilst sailing with the other.
Dale was best of the rest sailing consistently with 5 races in the top 3. He finished in 4th overall. Nice one Dale.
The DF65 had some close races too as the results show between Don and Shane, nothing between Dudley or Noel either, they couldn’t be separated on the scoreboard, Dudley winning out on countback for 3rd overall.
Fun day was had by all and sailed in good spirits.
Many thanks to Bruce and John for scoring, Andrew Wilson our dedicated Buoy-bot guru and Bruce again for the photos.
See you all again next sail day
Eddie
DF65 FLEET
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IOM FLEET
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