Yesterday we had 18 DAC Sailors for our Scratch racing day.

The weather was close to forecast but it stayed dry for our sailing.

We enjoyed a Nor’Easter at 23 with gusts up to 40 Km/Hr., (12 to 21 Knots). There was a heavy overcast which kept the temperature to 24^oC.

We all chose to use C sails at the start with most going for D’s towards the end.

A moderate chop developed which tested our laying of the windward mark, it did get quite busy up there.

The high standard of sailing was well on display. The scoresheet shows the closeness with few points difference between positions down the page. One had to be at their best to feature well.

Our Champion of the day was Robin Tickner. Robin had his boat at its best as he was consistently up front. His 2 wins and 2 places scored 18 points. Very close behind was Graham Brown with 19 points Graham came home in second place with 4 podium finishes. Noel McPherson placed third. Two wins and a second place can normally lead the field, Noel scored 22 points.

Any of the following Sailors could have featured higher up the page. Martin Thearle, Phil Stevenson, Stephen Deane had many places between them with Stephen, 3 wins.

Rob Lowndes and Geoff Lucas had some good moments. Bruce Paterson and Philip Hetherington matched well with equal scores, Bruce won the countback there. Karen Paterson had some good sailing with a convincing win in race 2.

Some days can be very frustrating with Judy Evans and Narelle Derwent suffering most.

Race winners were Robin Tickner 2, Noel McPherson 2 and Stephen Deane 3 and Karen Paterson 1.

Robin Tickner took the honours for the day to win 1st place on 18 points.

Graham Brown finished in 2nd place on 19 points.

Noel McPherson finished in 3rd place with 22 points.

The Club Championship now has Martin Thearle in front from Robin Tickner and Stephen Deane.

Our next Sail day is Thursday 22^nd January for a Scratch Event.

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