DF65 Interclub Shootout

The skills on display were awesome, obviously chasing the current national champion lifts all others around him.

 

Our winds were constantly southwest but that means it has to pass over some tall trees on the south end park. Even though we set up the course at the northern end of the lake there were occasions when the stream of wind bounced across the lake. In other words you could see the ripples about half way down the lake but boats heading towards that were often becalmed in a dead spot while boats behind found that breeze again and could catch up. Watching the wind patterns was critical to reaching the next marks in front.

 

It was also a day where excessive rudder movements stopped your boat and you fell behind. The better skippers did not change direction very often.

 

We had a perfect fleet of 14 boats registered and we set up measuring for new sails and a look within the boat. While we need to play within the rules at ranking events we do need to keep it fun.

 

There were 6 skippers from Wanderers, 5 from Austin Lakes, 2 from Harrington and 1 from Perth RSC. Holding interclub events is important for the DF Class growth. Being able to sail well away from home is not easy. It is a good challenge. So thank you to all that travelled to come down and join us for todays racing.

 

A huge thank you to the members that came down early and helped assemble our large tent and the class flags. We also thank Lawrie for bringing the Buoy Bots and managing their positions. These buoys move about a meter often and getting used to judging for a movement away from your desired course takes some skill but also allowance. Don't squeeze to make the mark because we all know it will move.

 

A huge thank you to my dedicated scorer, Kevin Matthews, whom has taken ownership of this role and does it very well.

 

The sailing was tactical and challenging. Nick suggested there were races he struggled to find the lifts and the shore crew saw it. The top 8 skippers all pressured the champ right from the start. He was caught out a few times screaming into the start only to be over by inches and had to return and with great skippers around him it was not easy to recover to the lead. These boats are so even that if you sail without penalty you usually end up near the front, but chasing from last place is near impossible. He nearly achieved it a few times.

 

The real battle was for the minor podium spots and that was hotly contested by Jason, Jack, Greg, Mark, Janet, Peter and Ian. They often swapped positions as the race went on. Each scoring a few podium finishes during the day.

We achieved a very creditable 14 races in 3 hours of racing. There was a 15 min break after we had sailed 4 races so skippers could rehydrate and seek comfort breaks. Unfortunately we lost Bruce (B1) after race 6 with an electronic issue but the rest of the boats lasted all afternoon which was gold.

 

Congratulations to Nick Jerwood for raising the bar to a very high level. It gave everyone something to chase. In second was Jason Poutsma proving his pedigree as a quality sailor. In third coming from the stars was Jack Howe, climbing into the position with some brilliant finishes especially later in the afternoon.

 

The next interclub event planned is at Wanderers on August the 9th DF65 Invitation. There is also a DF95 State Championship Practise at SoPYC on Sunday July 26. Please come and enjoy the peak venue for our racing.

Report by ALRS Commodore Andrew Donkin

 

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