We had another successful Handicap Racing day yesterday.

Fourteen DAC Sailors came along to enjoy a testing day’s sailing.

The weather conditions were a little better than forecast but the changing wind had us all making many sail changes during the racing. The actual wind was 7 up to 21 Km/Hr, (4-12 Knots) with a steady Northerly direction.

It remained dry ‘til the end with a few spits of rain starting as we packed up for the day.

The choice of sails ranged from “A” ‘s to “C” ‘s throughout the day.

To keep the Course well in sight with the Northerly breeze, we set a triangle. The start line became a gate after the first lap, with two windward marks and a downwind finish.

It was ladies day with Judy Evans winning on points. Judy sailed well all day with a first and 2 seconds, all her finishes were in the top half of the Fleet. Graham Brown, with a meaty handicap of 70 seconds still managed to work his way through and with all his finishes, also in the top half, just couldn’t catch Judy. Karen Paterson also had a great day, consistently sailing to the front of the group. Karen only scored one place, a third in Race 7, but was always challenging for a front position and she finished in third overall.

Again, the Score Sheet tells the story well. The placings all down the sheet were only 1 or 2 points apart in most cases. There were nine individual Race winners and every Sailor earned at least a place or better. Phil Stevenson started with the longest handicap on 90 seconds and still managed to come fourth. Lauri Watson had a very mixed day but finally nailed it in Race 6 with a good first place. Rob Lowndes scored 2 wins which is great on any day but some distant finishes put paid to a good score.

Race winners were Judy Evans 1, Phil Stevenson 1, Bruce Hilliard 1, Rob Lowndes 2, Peter Close 1, Terry Hey 1, Noel McPherson 1,  Ian Spencer 1 and Lauri Watson 1.

Judy Evans took the honours for the day to win 1st place on 35 points.

Graham Brown finished in 2nd place on 39 points.

Karen Paterson finished in 3rd place with 42 points.

The Club Championship now has Graham Brown in front from Phil Stevenson and Peter Close.

Thanks to Noel McPherson who managed to take this photo at some stage of the day.

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