DAC Results, Scratch Racing, Thu 21st March 2024
Fourteen DAC Sailors attended for our Scratch sailing today.
The weatherman, although fairly accurate did us no favours with today’s lot.
South South East is our least favourite wind direction and unfortunately that’s what we got. The wind speed was 10 to 18 Km/Hr. with gusts to 33 (6 to 10, gusts to 17 Knots).
There was no best place to set a course, we chose the Eastern side and did our best to cope. The conditions were OK with temps in the low twenties and an overcast sky on a low tide.
“B” sails were the best bet to handle the lulls. Some “C” ‘s came out towards the end.
Even though the patchy wind frustrated us all, the top sailors always manage to perform well.
Phil Stevenson set a strong pace and scored 14 points to win the day. Graham Brown had his “B” sail drawing nicely to score 17 points and come home second. Robin Tickner had a runaway win in race 4 and backed that up with another in race 7. Robin scored 21 points and third place by a countback. Noel McPherson had a win and three places to also score 21 points but, another “playoff” had him finish fourth.
Martin Thearle and Peter Burton had a win and a couple of places each and there was a gentle spread of points going down the scoresheet.
Race winners were Phil Stevenson 1, Graham Brown 1, Robin Tickner 2, Noel McPherson 1 and Martin Thearle 1.
Phil Stevenson took the honours for the day to win 1st place on 14 points.
Graham Brown finished in 2nd place on 17 points.
Robin Tickner finished in 3rd place with 21 points by a countback.
The Club Championship now has Phil Stevenson in front from Graham Brown and Robin Tickner.
We paused after 2 races to have our Club Championship presentation.
A founding Member of our RC Laser Club, Paul Derwent passed away a little time ago.
Paul was a very active organiser in the early days of RC Laser sailing here and saw the Club numbers grow from 4 or 5 on a sail day to a current Fleet of around thirty. Our average number of sailors is 15 to 20 on a most days.
On Paul’s passing, Narelle Derwent (Paul’s sister) and Family offered to sponsor a perpetual trophy in Paul’s name which we gratefully accepted.
Narelle spoke warmly of Paul’s early RC days and how his love for sailing developed. Paul was himself a champion sailor, #21, and proudly wore one of his own Medals at our State Titles in 2022 as he presented the winner with his.
Presented by the Derwent Family.
The Inaugural Club Champion was Peter Close who was unfortunately unable to come along as he has recently moved North.
The current Club Champion for 2023 is Graham Brown.
Graham was presented with this perpetual trophy by Narelle Derwent, representing the Derwent Family.
Graham spoke of Paul and his sailing prowess and competitive fairness and how his approach to sailing set the standards we enjoy today.
Our next Sail day is Thursday 28th March for a Scratch Event.