DF95 Handicap Racing

What a wonderful day out on the water, the forecast was for sunny warm conditions of around 21 to 22C without a cloud in the sky.  The breezes were from the east varying to south-east and back again during the afternoon. As a race course this suits this lake very well until that southern change has effect. There are some big trees around the southern barbecue area which block boats trying to position themselves along the southern beaches so they can make the top mark in minimal number tacks. The breeze was around 3 to 10 knots in gusts, so we were able to make fast passes around the course but care had to be maintained because the odd calm area could catch you out if you were not paying attention.

 

Today was the DF95 Handicap regatta and we had a healthy fleet of 11 boats venture out to do battle. They were spread around trying to take into account past Handicap racing results and form. In good breezes there are greater opportunities for the early starters to keep the boat moving and if they dont make driving errors then they end up on a podium. It is much harder to chase down scratch skippers when you give them 120 seconds head start in a race that lasts just 12 - 14 minutes. Added to this the standard of the skippers especially in the DF95 class has improved every year. Boat speed between all the sail setups is nearly exactly the same so passing anyone downwind or on the same tack upwind was very difficult.

 

Special mentions - Ian Sherriff was very fast along with Greame Elliott and Andrew Patterson.  Our winner on the day was the injured Ross Turnbull who was nursing his ribs all afternoon but having a day outside having fun was the best medicine. Well sailed Ross, you were back in form and looked like you enjoyed it.  In Second was Donks starting as an outmarker but struggled with the calm holes in patches. Had some super fun match racing against various skippers that ended up starting at similar times.  In third was David Jones who sailed very well, we only see him a few times a month but today he had great speed and pointed the boat well.

 

Huge Thank you to Phil Plowman who suffered another rudder servo issue but stayed to be scribe for all the finishes. It is appreciated. Newly rebuilt Kevin Matthews also had rudder issues but replaced it in time to sail another couple of races near the end.