2022 Results

National Titles: A Class National Title

State Titles: A Class State Title 10R State Title

Club Championships: IOM Marblehead 10R A Class

Cups: Gold Cup Trevor Jeffries RM Mid Week Challenge 10R Mid Week Challenge A Class Mid Week Challenge DF Challenge Rutgers

General Racing: Lasers

Previous Results : 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009.

Unfortunately due to many and varied reasons the “Nationals” event saw numbers reduced to one fleet of 12. First up was the “Invitation” race. This was a great opportunity for the race organisers to refine the course and systems, it also gave the competitors time to tweak their yachts, familiarise themselves with the course under simulated race conditions without the full pressure of the event heats. There was a twist in the deed of gift for the recipient/s of the “invitation”. It was to be given to the highest placed, excluding 1st 2nd 3rd from the main event.

The sun was shining, and the forecast had an estimated top of 25 deg C…The breeze was 3 to 7 knts and oscillating from the North/East to North, off shore and not the traditional direction.

It is what it is and the RO spread the markers/gates a bit wider to compensate for the oscillations. A lesson for budding RO’s.

The early leader was #91 (Blackwood) with some wins then #26 (Arland) registering some leading into lunch only a point either way. Unfortunately #39 (Dill) suffered an early malfunction which put him down the leader board a little and he would be facing a massive climb up the leader board.

After lunch saw the emergence of #39 taking some wins along with #26 and #91 picking up some crumbs. It was now game on between these three players. With #05 (Norrie) showing consistency and patience, which is also a key in this game by picking off 4ths and 5ths etc, placing just out the podium. Should one of the leaders falter he was in the box seat to pounce. How true that was to become later on in the series.

At the close of play on day one, even with #39 climbing the leader board with wins, #91 and #26 were still able to hang onto their positions at the top just a point separating them.

What a change in weather for the second day. It had been raining during the night and there were still some rain fronts coming in, that would hopefully push through by the start of play.

We were just left with some light showers and a good solid northerly (parallel to the beach/ sailing control area) with 7 to 10 knts.

During the morning the leader board had #91, #26 and #39 consolidate their positions with #05 again ready to capitalise, should a mistake be made by the leaders.

Late on in the pre lunch session the breeze strengthened to gusts of 12 ish knts, this was marginal A suit conditions that required good boat control skills. What it did do, was to start a procession of rig damage and winch blow ups. One casualty of retirement was #26. Now this made things interesting as #39 was still climbing up the leader board with some wins.

After lunch the breeze strengthened further, forcing more retirements into the mid afternoon session. Leaving just 7 competitors and #91 consolidating top spot.

Now it was game on as #26 being retired, and accumulating some big points sliding down the leader board. #91 continuing to consolidate the number one position with a nice buffer. All at the same time #39 was marching up the points board with some good places and #05 now having a grasp on some “chocolates” with a podium finish.

Sadly our expected entries of 10 were depleted to 7 by Covid-19: one PCR positive infection and one family member infection taking out Tony and Peter White. Happily our QLD (Trevor Fisher) and VIC (Andrew Crocker) entrants decided still to come after discussions through the week.

It was a light air series, breeze never above about 6 knots. From N to NNE to NW in the mornings, changing to SW to S from mid morning. PROs Johan Bergkvist (Saturday) and Alex Hayter (Sunday) had lots of course change decisions to make and were pretty busy with their various helpers, Dean Crichton, Ecio Marcel, Alan Bessell, Chris Sherman, Peter Hendy. Alan Gold and Ian Dowsett handled the finishing and scoring on both days. Thank you to all those people.

28 races were completed over the 2 days, allowing 4 drops. Race 16 at the end of day 1 was abandoned by the PRO and scorers because of a failure to record the results. So only 27 races counted.

The racing for first place was very close between Trevor Fisher in his very new sinister carbon black Sanga and Tim in his also black Diamond. In the end Tim won by 4 points with 12 wins, from Trevor with 8 wins. Other race winners were Jeff Watson, 3 wins and 3rd overall, Greg Peake, 2 wins and 5th, Chris Juttner, 1 win and 4th and Andrew Crocker 1 win and 7th. John Brolese’s beautiful home-built cedar GothiX showed spectacular speed at times.

We didn’t need to deploy the dinghy: great for old people’s back pain! The one rescue was ably performed by Johan’s famous tug.

The 2022 A Class SA State championship was sailed on West Lakes of Tiranna Way on 20 August 2022. An initial shower or two soon gave way to a beautiful sunny day with a building W/SW wind at approximately 8-10 kts with stronger gusts.

The course featured a combined start-line and leeward gate. The skippers then beat up to a windward and offset mark. Two laps because three laps early on. The racing provided split fleets on most beats. Mistakes were costly in this fleet. The sailing was very well behaved. Two protests went to arbitration; one of them resulted in a scoring penalty.

In the end the result speaks for itself; there was nothing the fleet could do about Tim Arland who took the title in convincing style dropping a third leaving firsts and seconds behind. Tim was usually followed by Bob Whitehead who took second place unthreatened. Chris Juttner came third one and two points ahead of fourth and fifth.

In addition to the usual SARYC suspects we also welcomed Terry Smith from SEHMYC from and Phil Scapens. Phil retired early with a broken rig.

Thanks to RO Johan Bergkvist, observers Alex Hayter and John Brolese and scorers Ian Dowsett, David Lane and Brian Walsh. Special thanks to Steve Arthur for facilitating the arbitration.

It was cold and grey with a breeze which was light from the NW, swinging beween NNW and WNW, probably about 8 knots but moderating later down to about 4 knots before building to maybe 10-12 knots for a while. We sailed a windward leeward course between #2 and #1b as the start and #4 as the windward mark with no offset, 2 laps and finishing off the ramp. Later the wind swung further West and we used #5 as the windward mark.

Brian Purvis won the the OBE class unchallenged sailing Tim’s Kan Two, Chris Juttner won the Grand Masters counting 3 wins with Jeff 2nd, John 3rd and Ian 4th. Tim dominated the Masters counting 5 wins, Daryle was second counting 5 seconds and showed signs of good speed.

We agreed that the small fleets meant that those not in a particular age division could sail, but would not be scored. We were joined by potential new member and usually Laser sailor Rob Lees who sailed my boat in the Masters event and Tim’s in the Grand Masters. Ian had more problems with his Equinox and sailed Daryle’s Rough Diamond in the Grand Masters, winning one race. Also sailing underage was Tim Paynter with a new Alan Gold A rig on his very old IOM. When Danny James sailed it the boat won a race.

We then had our first beach BBQ since Covid with about a dozen people: cold but pleasant and relaxed with good conversation. And good to see Syd Donnellan who told us he plans to sail his Marblehead again when the weather warms enough to allow him to repaint it.

All in all a pleasant and relaxed day.

Sail	Sailor	Club	Design	Rank	Tot	R 1	R 2	R 3
44	Brian Purvis	SARYC	Kan Two	1	3	1	1	1
Sail Scoring made easy: www.afleet.app

Sail	Sailor	Club	Design	Rank	Tot	R 1	R 2	R 3	R 4
168	Chris Juttner	SARYC	Kantun SMX	1	3	1	1	1	2
68	Jeff Watson	SARYC		2	7	3	2	2	3
32	John Inverarity	SARYC	Widget	3	8	2	3	3	4
62	Ian Dowsett	SARYC	Equinox	4	9	5	4	4	1
Sail Scoring made easy: www.afleet.app

Overall

Eighteen skippers sailed in at least one race which means that non starters scored 19 points for the races they missed. The clear winner was Johan Bergkvist on 8 points with 5 wins. Second on 15 points was Tim Arland. Third on 49 points was Ecio Marcel.

Round 1

Johan had a spectacular day winning 11/12 races, often from behind. Ecio was second, Chris Juttner was third. Peter Hendy sailed really well for 4th with a couple of seconds. Tim Arland had rudder servo failure and Allan Bessell switch failure.

It was quite a difficult day, 4 – 8 knots from the SW but swinging S and even a little SE at times. Jelly fish were a real problem causing several DNFs because boats became unsailable and it was sometimes impossible to free the creatures from the keels and rudders.

Thanks to Ian Dowsett who stood in as PRO for Alex Scapens

Round 2

Very little and vanishing wind and a small fleet. Racing stopped after 4 heats were sailed to give a result with one drop. Tim Arland first counting 3 bullets, Ecio 2nd with 1 bullet, Alan 3rd.

Racing run by Dave Lane and Tony White: thank you.

Round 3

Seven IOM presented themselves for the 3rd heat of the Club Championship. Unfortunately Peter Hendy had receiver failure so operated as PRO all day for me who was rostered; thank you very much Peter.

The breeze started light and slightly west of north but then increased through the morning and swung left with shifts and holes. But very pleasant and a lovely warm autumn day.

The results speak for them selves: Johan won every race and was totally dominant, although he didn’t lead around every mark of every race and Alex, Alan, Tim and even I lead for parts of at least one race but none of us could stay in front of Johan to the end.

Round 4

11 IOMs started in last Sunday’s club championship race series, heat number 4 of 7. 10 races were held with 2 drops, allowing 8 to be counted.

The wind was between 15 and 20 knots from the NNW with a very choppy sea and even experts were experiencing episodes of getting into irons. All 11 competitors sailed with B rigs throughout.

The first three competitors were Johan Bergkvist in great form with 6 wins, Ecio Marcel with 1 win, and Greg Peake with 2 wins in his new to him Vickers V9, a spectacular first outing. The conditions were very trying with a number of boats missing races for repairs or dropping out altogether.

Thanks to John Inverarity and Brian Walsh for running the morning races. And to John for writing this report.

Round 5

There were 8 International One Meters racing in the 5th Heat of the Club Championships on Sunday 19th June. The breeze was N to NNW at 6 to12-14 knots with lots of holes and shifts and occasional slams that were hard enough to have some boats nosediving downwind. PRO was Ian Dowsett standing in for John Inverarity with skippers rotating and scoring average points. Thanks to all, especially Ian. We sailed 12 races.

Johan Bergkvist won convincingly counting 7 firsts and 3 seconds. Tim Arland was second counting 3 firsts, 4 seconds and one third. Greg Peake was third with 2 firsts, 5 seconds and 1 third.

What was really interesting and encouraging was the performance of Peter Hendy, Daryle Bampton and Kevin Bowden. Please look! Johan set up their boats for them and they were all much more competitive than they usually are, and all enjoyed their sailing day much more than usual. We should do this much more often: it’s good for all of us if the fleet becomes more competitive, and everyone enjoys themselves more.

Round 6

There was an excellent fleet of 13 IOMs present to sail for the 6th heat of the Club Championships. Bob Whitehead was PRO with assistance again from John Brolese. We sailed 10 races, with windward mark with offset and a leeward gate, in a N to NE light 4-8 knot breeze with holes everywhere, especially around the top mark.

The course started between #2 and #1b and beat to #3, then to an offset at laid mark #7 and back to leeward gate, 2 laps and finishing with a beat to the Pink and an inshore mark.

Johan Bergkvist won first place easily counting 6 wins and 2 seconds for 10 points. Tim Arland was second with 23 points and 2 wins. Graham Ingerson was 3rd with 1 win and 26 points. The other heat winner was Greg Peake who was fourth with 32 points. John Gratton was 1 point behind on 33 points, leading some races but couldn’t quite hang on.

A rigs were used throughout.

Thanks to Bob W and John B.

Round 7

Eight IOMs raced for heat 7 of the CC in a cold & miserable WNW of 10-15 knots. Dave Lane was PRO but Steve Arthur ran the first 4 or 5 races, then we rotated. Thanks to both.

Alex Scapens dominated with 9 wins of 12 races, Tim Arland was 2nd, Johan was 3rd with 2 wins, the only one to try an A rig, the rest using B rigs throughout. Ecio was the other heat winner.

It was difficult sailing with holes, shifts and nasty waves.

Overall

Fifteen skippers sailed in at least one race which means that non starters scored 16 points for the races they missed. The clear winner was Tim Arland on 11 points. Second on 17 points was Johan Bergkvist. Third on 25 points was Ian Dowsett.

Round 1

Eight Marbleheads fronted the starter in a gusty and shifty northerly, starting at maybe 12-16 knots but building as the day went on. Everyone started on B rigs but some changed to C1s as the wind built, contributing to Ian winning the last 2 races.

Danny James was the convincing winner in his new to him ex Yoda F-6 with 5 wins. Tim Arland was consistent in 2nd with 1 win. Ian Dowsett 3rd with 2 wins. Alan Bessell (4th) and Tony White (5th) each won a race. Tony had great speed at times but also had “first time on the water teething issues”. Johan had boat problems and was not in his usual prominence.

Tim Arland was PRO and then we rotated RO duties, until Tony’s boat was retired by breakdowns and Tony ran the rest of the races.

Good to see John Brolese’s elegant new 10 R following the fleet around at a safe distance!

Round 2

Seven Marbleheads were met by a southwesterly at 6 kts that increased to 8-10 kts towards lunch. All boats started and remained on A rigs; swing rigs for those who had them. A windward return course between marks 1 and 3 provided the fleet with upwind options and both sides of the course were used. The wind provided interesting shifts that favoured different tactics in different races.

The highly competitive fleet illustrated how costly a mistake and a penalty is with wins to five skippers. Tony retired with a winch that kept unwinding the sheet from the drum. Allan Carlis newly acquired Nioutram proved competitive in a fleet of Red Ant F6 who all provided tight racing. But in the end Johans Indie proved too quick.

The racing was very orderly with skippers taking penalties without debate and communication kept polite and respectful.

Ecio and John B kept scores for a large part of the race, thank you to both of you.

Round 3

Eight RMs presented themselves for the 3rd heat of the Club Championship Series. Thanks to Brian Walsh who took over from myself as PRO throughout.

The wind started in the N to NNW at maybe 4-6 knots and gradually swung to the left finishing as a SSW varying between maybe 6 and 10 knots with holes and shifts. 4 significant course changes were needed.

Twelve races were completed. Danny James won with 3 firsts and 5 seconds, Tim Arland was second with 2 firsts and 3 seconds and Johan Bergkvist was third with 4 firsts and 2 seconds. Tony White won the first two races and then had receiver problems and failed to finish the last 8 races. Interestingly, Danny changed early to a B rig and proved very competitive in that configuration. Most but not all followed suit, and the A rigs, while not overpowered were consistently beaten.

Round 4

There were 11 Marbleheads and one 10 Rater sailing in the 4th Heat of the Club Championship. The breeze was S to SW at 4-8 knots with lots of holes. PRO was Danny James with skippers rotating and Greg Peake driving the tablet and scoring the races. Thanks to all.

Danny set a windward offset mark and a leeward gate which made for better racing: we should always do it that way. We sailed 11 races in the allotted time.

Tim Arland won with 3 firsts, 3 seconds and nothing worse than 5th. Tony White was close behind with 2 firsts and 2 seconds. Johan Bergkvist was not far behind with 3 firsts and 2 seconds. Then came John Gratton with 1 first and just behind Danny James with 2 firsts. The rest of us weren’t really in the hunt.

Obviously John Brolese’s 10R should not feature in the results below and won’t get points towards the RM Club Championship.

Round 5

There were 7 RMs present to sail but unfortunately Chris' winch died and failed to start any races. So 6 boats faced the starter, Chris as PRO, in a SW to WSW moderate 8-14 knot breeze.

The course, started between #3 and an inshore mark which also made the leeward gate. The windward mark was #1 with 1a as offset. We sailed 2 lap races, finishing at the pink buoy off the ramp. We completed 10 races.

John Gratton dominated first place counting 5 wins. Johan Bergkvist and Tim Arland tied for second with 17 points but Johan won on countback with 3 wins to Tim’s 2 wins. Tim was unlucky sailing the wrong course initially in race 1 although he recovered to 3rd, and had a clear lead in race 7 when he picked up the inshore gate mark mooring line and finished 5th. The lessons are that skippers need to be sure they know the course (there was no briefing because I was trying to fix my winch) and the mooring lines for temporary buoys need to be pulled tight and at right angles to the shore.

It was interesting that A, B and C1 rigs were all tried but most races were won with C1 rigs.

The rain held off till we were unrigging, but it was very cold. Ian, Allan and Simon all had some good races, and Allan led to the first mark 2 or 3 times but was plagued by breaking sheets.

Round 6

Today’s RM CC 6/7 had 4 starters. We sailed 10 races in light winds. N to NNW to W to SW.

Round 7

Eight boats entered the seventh RM Club Championship round held at Tiranna Way on 18th September. The forecast was for rain and challenging 15-20 knot westerly breezes building to 20-25 knots by late morning but luckily the rain stayed away and the racing was conducted in quite sailable moderate to fresh winds with most of the RM’s running C1 or C2 rigs.

Johan B in a dominant display of sailing won eight of the 16 races sailed and he was in the top three placings in every race except for R12 when he got hooked up with another boat and scored a DNF. Danny James and Tim Arland both finished on 31 points, with Danny jagging second place overall courtesy of his three wins to Tim’s two. Tony White was not far behind, finishing in 4th overall with a score of 34 points which included three wins.

New member Tim Paynter sailed well in the eleven races he finished, including a fourth in R11, while Daryle B was unfortunately plagued by winch and rudder problems which ultimately saw him retire from racing after R4.

PRO was John Gratton who greatly appreciated the able assistance during the day of Chris Juttner’s visiting NSW friend Roger Freeney.

Overall

Thirteen skippers (8 10Rs, 5 RMs) sailed in at least one race. The winner was Tony White on 5 points with 5 wins. Second on 10 points was Tim Arland. Third on 16 points and first Marblehead was Johan Bergkvist.

Round 1

We had ten starters, 6 x 10 Raters, 4 x non dual-rated Marbleheads.

Wind was from the NE, around 4- 6 -10 knots swinging to the NW. The rain largely stayed away, at least until the end when we it got a bit persistent and cold. There were holes.

Ecio was PRO (thanks) and then the responsibilities were rotated, again successfully. Each RO got average points for the one race they missed.

Tony sailed very impressively winning 6 races and it should have been 7 but for rounding the last mark the wrong way in the first race and having to untangle himself. Johan again sailed very well for second overall with 1 win. Other heat winners were Tim (3rd overall), Danny (4th overall) and Chris (6th overall). The well-sailed Marbleheads were very competitive in these conditions even without the large rigs that dual rating would have allowed and this made it an interesting day.

But Tony dominated despite one bad result from a jelly fish!

Round 2

Ten boats were there to race but Daryle had rudder servo failure and was unable to compete at all, Johan had an uncertain electrical failure after coming second in the first race and finished no others, and Bob Whitehead broke a boom and only completed 2 races.

It was a strong SE with the usual shifts and variations in strength, probably varying between 8 and 20 knots, except at the weather mark in Dawson’s Corner where it was often light and fluky. Starting at a long line to the North of Mark 5 was difficult, impossible to sight the line.

A variety of rigs were used: Tony (7 wins) and Tim (3 wins) used B rigs and were faster than the C rigs in the lulls. Chris split his B rig mast while rigging and therefore used a C rig which was (fairly) competitive when the wind was up. John Brolese in his new and beautiful cedar boat tried a C rig before racing but reverted to an A rig and came 4th overall. Jeff Watson was on a C rig, Bob, Ian, Allan and Johan all used B rigs.

An interesting days sailing: thanks to Tim (PRO) and Johan, Daryle and Ecio who all helped run the event. Johan’s tug was able to rescue Ian’s boat after a failure.

Round 3

There were 3 Ten Raters and 2 RMs competing in the 3rd Heat of the 10R CC in a gentle SW increasing from maybe 4 knots to 7-9 knots.

I was PRO standing in for In Dowsett who’d had enough sailing for the week with the IOM Nationals.

Tony dominated again winning 10 of the 12 races. Danny and I each won one race, but in each case we were helped by Tony being recalled at the start (Danny) and a starting line imbroglio involving Tony, Danny and Johan which gave me a good start. As you’ll see Danny’s F6 was very competitive, even when he changed to B rig. Daryle showed better speed than previously, and Johan unfortunately felt unwell and had to leave early.

All in all a pleasant and perfect day

Round 4

Five Ten Raters and four Marbleheads competed in the 4th heat of the 10 Rater CC series. PRO was Peter Hendy standing in for Alan Bessell. The breeze remained in the north, varying and between maybe 6 and 12 knots. 12 races were completed allowing two drops. It was a beautiful sunny day.

Tony White, despite early technical problems dominated with 4 wins, 4 seconds and 2 thirds. Tim Arland was 5 points behind with 2 wins, 3 seconds and 2 thirds. Danny James was third and first Marblehead with 1 win, 3 seconds and thirds and fourths. Johan was only one point behind Danny and had 4 wins but had to count a 7th and a 5th. The rest of us, to quote the immortal Dave Morphett, “To avoid disappointment do not leave the shore”.

The 10R all used A Rigs throughout. In the Marbleheads Danny and Allan Carli used B rigs, Johan an A rig and Ian a 10R rig.

Thanks to Peter Hendy.

Round 5

There were 9 competitors racing in the 5th Heat of the 10 Rater Club Championship on Sunday 25th June, 7 10 Raters and 2 Marbleheads. The breeze was unusual, SW to WSW to at 8-12 knots with one rain squall which probably hit 16 knots and had some of us changing to B rigs, but after the squall it moderated and we all changed back to A Rigs. Greg Peake, John Brolese and Bob Whitehead didn’t come back on the water. PRO and was Ian Dowsett and then we rotated. Thanks to Ian. We sailed 8 races stopping early by agreement because we were cold and wet.

Tony White won easily with 5 bullets. Tim Arland was second with one win. Johan Bergkvist was just behind Tim and first Marblehead. Greg Peake was 4th and Chris Juttner 5th with 2 wins: so a good day for the Sangas.

Round 6

The forecast didn’t look good, and there were ominous looking clouds coming in from the north, breeze was about 5 to 9 knts. The big decision was, A rig or B rig, anticipating the weather to deteriorate…

5 intrepid sailors and their yachts greeted the starter.. The course was: start at southern markers up to the north, then out, utilising the N/W mark run back down to the Southern marker.. all Marks left to port (eg anticlockwise course) nice and easy.. Couple of laps and a short little sprint to a S/F line off the ramp… With oscillations between the north and the north/west, beats to windward provided some nice passing lanes and if you played the shifts and lifts, gains could be made….It split the fleet regularly and encouraged skippers to take a gamble..

An hour into sailing, about mid way thru the heats, the breezed strengthening with a few bullets of 13 to 15 knts come thru. This saw a few skippers diving to rig changes and or repairing stuff… It was all a bit of a lottery as the breeze was up and down.. Do you hold your nerve and stick with your current rig or roll the dice for a change….. So we saw many rig variations for the day, some opting for the A, some on the B. The results bore testament to how close the racing was….

Steve the PRO would like to thank the sailors for making it a great day, Greg “tram trash” Peake for being his Assistant, and to all those that get things out of and put back into storage, throw markers in etc.. it is much appreciated.

Round 7

Overall

There were 10 starters in the A Class CC. Only the first 2 sailed in every heat. Time won easily with 6 points, Chris was second with 18 points. The other 8 starters carried at least one maximum score of 11 points in this one drop series. Good to see John Inverarity and Brian Walsh competing in spare Bob Whitehead boats.

Round 1

Only 4 starters for the first heat of the A Class Club Championships, PRO Jeff Watson but starting, finishing and scoring by Johan Bergkvist, thank you to both. And 12 races were completed within the allotted time.

We started with a light and fluky NE of 0-4 knots but the breeze swung to the SW to SE and increased to maybe 6-8 knots yielding pleasant and interesting sailing.

Tim won the day with 5 bullets, Jeff was second with 4 bullets and Alan 3rd with 3 bullets. Your secretary would prefer not to dwell on his own results but they are not hidden!

Round 2

Six A Class presented themselves for the 2nd heat of the Club Championship Series. Thanks to Brian Walsh who came to float test his elegant old and classic probable 10 Rater and took over from me as PRO throughout.

The wind remained in the NE throughout varying between maybe 8 and 18 knots and shifted enormously. The Swords of Tim Arland (7 bullets, 1 second) and Bob Whitehead (1 win, 5 seconds, 2 thirds) dominated. They looked in control throughout, especially in the gusts and were scorchingly fast downwind. Chris was best of the old boats in third with a couple of seconds, but Jeff Watson and Chris both had trouble keeping our Venoms tracking in the gusts. Jeff broke gear and lost the last two races. John Inverarity in his second A Class outing in Bob’s Polaris was much more in the event and nearly had a second. Daryle broke gear and lost a couple of races but got going again and finished up with a couple of 4th places.

Round 3

It looked a beautiful day from the shore, sunny with a warm northerly wind and dark puffs on the water. However the breeze was substantial, probably 12 knots but with puffs over 20 knots, enough to cause A boats to nosedive and broach downwind and be driven into and the wrong side of marks by the puffs.

Steve Arthur set a start between marks 2 and 1b, beat to 4, 2 laps finishing off the ramp.

John Inverarity sensibly started with a B rig, Tim a flat A rig and Jeff and Chris with standard A rigs. After race 1 Tim changed to a C rig, Jeff stayed with A and Chris replaced the mainsail with a B. John stayed with full B rig. We sailed 8 races and were then happy to stop as the wind was increasing. Tim dominated with 8 wins, dropping 2 firsts, Jeff was second counting 6 seconds, Chris was third, John was 4th.

Thanks to Steve Arthur as PRO and John Brolese who was there helping early. Good to meet Tim Paynter with an antique IOM and a newer Marblehead. Tim plans to join the club: welcome.

Round 4

Six A class skippers braved the somewhat chilly and overcast conditions. The wind was SE straight off the shoreline at around 6-8 kts before strengthening a bit before lunch. All skippers stayed on the A rig.

The windward return course featured a leeward mark between marks 1 and 5 and a bit closer to shore than those. The windward mark was close to the beach south of the ramp with the pink mark as an offset mark. The windward mark was also part of the start line, which was short and with a short run to the offset mark. We sailed two laps.

The compressed start and short first run provided an excellent opportunity to practice Rule 18 while still close to shore. In the end it worked out well with boats three or four wide giving each other markroom as required. It proved far harder to work out overlaps at the leeward mark way out to sea. No surprise there. The beat back to the windward mark provided ample opportunities to make up for lost ground with shifts in the top half. There was no clear advantage and the fleet often split left and right.

The fleet usually split in two with Tim, Greg and Chris fighting for the first three spots and Mike, Brian and Daryle bringing up the rear. Chris and Greg traded seconds and thirds leaving Tim to bring it home in convincing style.

The sailing was done in an orderly and respectful manner.

Johan Bergkvist volunteered to be the RO for the day, much appreciated!