And then there were ten!

That is, 10 DAC Sailors challenged the weather forecast yesterday to spend a pleasant, but testy afternoon by the water.

The weather was to be showers and a strong Southerly. The wind was there but fortunately we stayed dry for the afternoon.

The actual wind from the Club Weather Station ranged from 19 with a peak gust to 56 Km/Hr just on 1 pm, (11 up to 30 Knots). We had a temperature in the low 20’s which made things fairly comfortable for us.

We all started with our “C” sails with most changing to “D” ‘s for the last few races. The diehards stayed with their “C” ‘s, led by Noel McPherson who showed us how it can be done.

We worked in well with those installing our new decks around the Club. They seemed to enjoy our sailing during their smoko, not sure if they had a bet.

We set a shortish course on a falling tide and we completed our 10 races by 3 pm., so thank you all for making this possible.

Thanks also to Stephen Deane who scored for us.

The sailing was hard work. The wind continually swung in a 30^o arc around the South which made laying the top mark a challenge. “D” sails are great in a blow, but suffer in the lulls.

Judging a clearing distance to those coming at you on starboard caught many out with quite a few penalties being incurred.

Our Champion for the day was Noel McPherson. Noel got off to a blazing start by winning the first three races. The heavy conditions carried on from last week and to brace his win there, Noel added all places and another couple of wins to complete a winning score of 12 points. Phil Stevenson must have initially thought the rain was on the way, but looked out the window and then joined us for a sail. Phil won 4 races and with the remainder being places, he scored 14 points and second on the day. Rob Lowndes had another good performance. Rob well earned his third place with 5 seconds and the rest at 4 or better.

Martin Thearle who would be of the “New Guard” to our RC sailing revelled in yesterday’s conditions. With 5 places and all his finishes up front, Martin scored a creditable 28 points. Robin Tickner won race 9. Quite a few sail changes kept Robin busy on the pontoon. These changes seemed to cause a wind change different to what he was hoping, nevertheless, Robin again sailed well to earn his points.

Places didn’t go much further down the page, it was a hard day!

Race winners were Noel McPherson 5, Phil Stevenson 4 and Rob Lowndes 1.

Noel McPherson took the honours for the day to win 1st place on 12 points.

Phil Stevenson finished in 2nd place on 14 points.

Rob Lowndes finished in 3rd place with 23 points.

The Club Championship for 2023 has been won by Graham Brown. Graham’s average placings for the year were 2.98 over both Scratch and Handicap sailing days.

The Runner up was Noel McPherson with Phil Stevenson coming home in third place.

We now have a core of 30 DAC RC Laser Sailors ready for next year.

The Team of our Club Captain Noel McPherson, Graham Brown and myself, Brian Chapman were presented with very generous Christmas gifts by our Sailing Colleagues as a thank you.

I was unable to attend last week and sadly missed the Christmas gathering.

Robin Tickner last week and yesterday spoke very kindly on behalf of you all. I offer my humble thanks.

The atmosphere everyone creates at the Club makes the duties we undertake an easy task. It’s great to be part of such a friendly group of Sailors.

Our next Sail day is Thursday 4^th January 2024 for a planned Handicap Event.

On behalf of Noel and Graham and myself,

Best wishes to you all for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2024.

---