Yesterday we set another high attendance with 18 DAC Sailors coming along for our scratch racing day.

The forecast wind came in late, unfortunately. We were expecting up to 35 Km/Hr before noon.

All was quiet until about 1.30pm as we enjoyed the peaceful and calm conditions, hoping for and expecting at least a zephyr.

It started gently but peaked at around 25 Km/Hr., (13 Knots) from the South East at 15^oC.

Graham Brown spent quite some time in the tender looking for a sign to pick a course and settled on one for the South East.

Once underway with A sails there were still some quiet moments but we were racing. A few sharp gusts had us all selecting B sails as the day progressed.

Mick Costa again assumed the R.O spot. Trevor Bowden quickly put his hand up for some rescues and the final buoy retrievals after he suffered some gear failures.

Thank you Mick and Trevor, another example of the fine characters amongst us.

Some of the earlier races were a bit tricky at the starts, it was a great feeling when a steady breeze had us underway.

Graham Brown started his day slowly but great consistency won him the day. Graham scored 13 points with his win in race 7 and 4 second places. Phil Stevenson was a close match with 2 wins and 2 places to score 17 points. Phil came home in second place.

Noel McPherson had 2 wins and a place for his return to good form. Noel scored 20 points for third place.

Martin Thearle did well to hold 4^th place. Martin had John Hickey and Robin Tickner breathing down his neck. John who only has 2 days RC sailing under his belt had his first win in race 3. Robin overcame his day old jet-lag to win race 4 and assume his place in the top group of sailors.

Many boats had some good results, the range of points scored weren’t that far apart. Lew Verdon, Judy Evans and Narelle Derwent had some nice finishes in the front half of a large fleet.

Commiserations to Rob Widders, recently new to RC sailing, just couldn’t get things right. Rob found the conditions quite testing and was unable to trouble the scoresheet. He will have better times ahead.

Race winners were, Graham Brown 1, Phil Stevenson 2, Noel McPherson 2, John Hickey 1 and Robin Tickner 1.

Graham Brown took the honours for the day to win 1st place on 13 points.

Phil Stevenson finished in 2nd place on 17 points.

Noel McPherson finished in 3rd place with 20 points.

The Club Championship now has Martin Thearle in front from Phil Stevenson with Noel McPherson and Graham Brown sharing 3^rd place.

Our next Sail day is Thursday 6^th August for a Handicap Event.

The Sou’Easter arrived and racing was underway.

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