Yesterday was Autumn at its best.

Eighteen DAC Sailors enjoyed near perfect conditions for some Scratch racing.

With a temperature approaching 24^oC, a Nor’Easter appeared before start time and gradually increased during racing.

The windspeed started around 10 to 20 Km/Hr., with gusts reaching 30, (6 to 12 gusts to 17 Knots).

Race 1 saw mostly A sails with B’s chosen for the rest.

The low tide meant the course was set further out than normal but a few of us still managed to test the shallows.

Phil Stevenson again chose to take it easy and score for us with accompanying R.O. duties. Thank you again Phil.

Another welcome offer was from Tony Lucas, Geoff’s son. Tony did the mark retrieval after racing, an arduous task. Thank you Tony.

Graham Brown set another successful course for the day’s racing which gave us a long windward leg. This to hopefully spread the fleet at the top mark. It almost worked!

There were many tacking duels which led to some great racing. The large fleet and increasing sun glare mad sailing difficult at times, the downwind gate endured several kerfuffles with quite a few oopses overheard.

The champion for yesterday’s racing was Stephen Deane. Stephen won 2 races to score 15 points, all his finishes were at 4 or better. Martin Thearle continues to score well with his win and 3 places. Martin quietly sails his races with no fuss and always seems to be there near the finish, he came home in second place with 20 points. Graham Brown got off to a great start with 2 firsts, but he suffered several interferences to take the sh ine off his day, Graham scored an equal 22 points to come third after the countback. Robin Tickner started slowly but scored well after race 2. Four places scored 22 points for Robin with the dreaded countback playing its part to give him fourth place.

After the podium finishers, many boats had some success with a place or two. Noel McPherson, Rob Lowndes and Geoff Lucas added places to their wins. Lew Verdon, Trevor Bowden and Philip Hetherington featured with a place each.

Race winners were, Stephen Deane 2, Martin Thearle 1, Graham Brown 2, Noel McPherson 1, Rob Lowndes 1 and Geoff Lucas 1.

Stephen Deane took the honours for the day to win 1st place on 15 points.

Martin Thearle finished in 2nd place on 20 points.

Graham Brown finished in 3rd place with 22 points after a countback.

The Club Championship now has Martin Thearle in front from Robin Tickner and Noel McPherson.

Our next Sail day is Thursday 7^th May for a Handicap Event.

---