DF95 Scratch Racing Results from Saturday 18th July

What an interesting day on the water at Austin Lake. Good westerly breezes are usually our favourite course direction and strength but afterwards I felt absolutely frazzled. The tree effects at the top mark were near extreme, just a swirling nightmare. Then during Race 3 the heavens opened up and Aquaman appeared and dumped moisture for at least a minute. It did clear three skippers who chose to head home to the fireplace and warmth. It was hard to argue with that logic but the rest of us covered up and fought on.  There was a chill in the breeze but it still got to 18°C so it was quite comfortable for skippers who were mostly rugged up for the weather.  Austin Lake had a few solid downpours during the morning but most forecasts were for a dry afternoon.  Weather forecasting is so random.

Very excited to have 17 skippers register for the afternoon given the forecasts and the rain in recent days.  It was a very skilled fleet with 7 different race winners during the afternoon. If you made an error it cost you heaps.  We achieved 12 races in the 2 1/2 hours of racing, which is a great effort in itself. Super hot racing with wind holes all over the course.

Today we welcomed Gary Smith as a visitor into the fleet for his first RC sailing event. He finished nearly all the races which is an amazing first effort.  We hope you enjoyed the afternoon and can see the skills required to aspire to.  Nothing beats tiller time practising tacks and buoy rounding and we all started there once upon a time.

There was always going to be some contact given gusts and swirling winds but for the most part the fleet sailed well with less than normal incidents on the water. That is a massive tick for all our skippers who are improving every week. We still need to tidy up around the top mark with boats trying to slide in as they tack around the buoy. If there is any chance you are going to make contact aim to go behind the starboard boat, don't mess up his race by being greedy.  Our starting is getting better with a few windward contacts after the start but the "barging" is greatly reduced. Well done.  Hitting the line on starboard with room to relax your rig so you can go fast is key to reaching that windward mark first. It's nearly 80% of winning the race and well worth practicing more often.

Our winner today is Mr Consistency Nick Jerwood. He didn't have it all his way but his skill to find clear air and sail fast is amazing. Well done Nick.  In second place also showing he can pick the clear air was Sean Wallis slowly getting used to the DF95. He has admitted the challenge of sailing after some with boats that are so evenly built and paced is really challenging. Sean improves every week.  In third place was our Grandmaster Ian Sherriff.  He was able to work his way through the pack and finish near the front more than the rest of the front pack.