It was a very pleasant day on the water yesterday.

Eighteen DAC Sailors came along to enjoy some good competitive racing.

The forecast Sou’Easterly developed as expected and maintained a steady direction. The speed fluctuated greatly, ranging from 10 to 15 Km/Hr with a few gusts up to 39, (6 – 10 Knots, gusts to 20). Temperatures remained in the low twenties.

The light patches suggested “A” sails and the gusts, “D” ‘s. We all chose “C” ‘s and accepted the challenge.

Although the above wind speed varied greatly during the day, we had smooth waters which did help seeing the gusts approaching.

The large Fleet, equalling a Club record, required Race Officers. Thank you to those who officiated.

Our starts weren’t too bad. Two general recalls gave us all we needed to behave. All was good after that.

Graham Brown’s domination continued. Even though he still collects a few buoys with his precision rounding skills, Graham’s penalties and recoveries don’t impede his results. Five wins and a second locked in his first place on 7 points. Just a snippet behind Graham, in fact right behind him on the Course too in many Races, Phil Stevenson earned one win and all places. Phil came home second on 12 points. Peter Close has returned to near top form with a win and mostly places to earn third. Bruce Paterson comfortably secured 4^th place, all his finishes in the top 5. Rob Lowndes had a 1, 2, 3 to take the remaining places. Richard Thorpe, fairly new to RC sailing is settling in well with a few high finishes. A great effort under the conditions with 17 others to contend with.

Positions 1 to 5 collected all the wins and places. There were many Sailors who were consistent with their finishes. Even though spread over quite a few points, most scores were fairly close. The middle order, positions 7 to 15, were only separated by 20 odd points. This made all finishes count greatly in the washup.

Race winners were Graham Brown 5, Phil Stevenson 1, Peter Close 1 and Rob Lowndes 1.

Graham Brown took the honours for the day to win 1st place on 7 points.

Phil Stevenson finished in 2nd place on 12 points.

Peter Close finished in 3rd place with 16.7 points.

The Club Championship now has Graham Brown in front from Phil Stevenson and Robin Tickner.

Our next Sail day is Thursday 15^th December for a Scratch Event.

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