This was a day for anything. Thankfully we had no exploding receivers or transmitters.

Extreme conditions. That is the only way to describe them. At the end of sailing, we had 14.6 knots with gusts to 28.1. The weather station at DAC packed it in for a short time a little later in the afternoon. 

The waves had built to a point where the tops were being blown off later in the afternoon. Anything on the deck that wasn’t held down was blown away.

The photo doesn’t really convey what the conditions were like.

This was a great welcome to Trevor Bowden with his new boat #325, but unfortunately he lost his sail before he could start racing. 

Hats off to everyone who sailed the conditions. I believe they came away a little surprised at how well they dealt with them.

Narelle Derwent was our ace reporter for yesterday’s sail, and submitted the following report:

Well, what another wild sailing day we had today. Mind you, it is a nice change from the winter drifters. We all had our best smiles on for the Herald photographer who joined us for the day.

Ten brave souls sailed the very challenging conditions. The winds were westerly and consistently strong with some lighter patches, but not by much. There was no other choice but ‘D’ sails, although there was a suggestion that non-existent ‘E’ sails might be more appropriate.

The buoy setting was delayed while we watched Robin Tickner sail #155 in the tricky conditions. Robyn was off to a great start by breaking his tiller bracket but was quickly back on the water with a spare. A few others went out and it seemed the conditions were manageable enough for Graham to set a short course just off the clubhouse, with a start line at 90 degrees to the deck. Despite the late start to racing we managed to sail 8 races.

Graham Brown and Phil Stevenson battled for 1^st and 2^nd in 5 out of the 8 races resulting in Phil Stevenson the victor on 8 points and Graham Brown closely behind on 10 points. Only 2 points separated the next 4 positions with Rob Lowndes in 3^rd on 24 points followed by Robin Tickner 4^th on 25 points. Martin Thearle and Noel McPherson were only one more point ahead on 26 points. Martin gained 5^th position due to a countback.

Despite the windy conditions, we were all pleased to have sailed the day. We don’t often have the chance to sail a full day with the ‘D’ rig, so today gave us plenty of practice. There were few breakages which can often be a result of conditions like today, so that was a bonus. Nearly every start was clear with the pack hanging well back from the line. We were all relieved when Graham declared that we could hit the marks.

Thank you, Jill for scoring today and Stephen Deane for being RO.

Narelle Derwent #75

Thanks Narelle… well done.

Our next sail will be Thursday 26^th September and will be scratch racing. Hopefully a more kindly day.

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