DOBROYD AQUATIC CLUB 25-28 April, 2019
DAY 1. An eventful first day of the Championships came to a close after 9 races. The wind was out of the west, but varied in its fickleness all day; essentially driving most sailors nuts with its variability, its strength and its dead spots.
We saw all sails during the day, from A to D, and many sailors found they had made wrong sail choices once on the water. Once the racing had settled down after the seeding races a rhythm developed moving from the B fleet to the A fleet, and back again for most people. There was little respite for those bouncing between the two fleets. A number of times, skippers found they could not capitalise on good finishes in the B fleet, once they went up to the A fleet. So, at the end of day 1. we saw a bit of a changing of the guard in the top order.
DAY 2 Frustrating! The wind was just not going to behave itself, and demonstrated that by moving all the time, causing constant course changes. We tried to set a course with a south westerly wind, and we got a couple of races in before some significant moves in the breeze caused the comedy of the day, with the course setters constantly changing positions. We moved to the eastern side of the deck and got in a race, and then the wind really started coming from all points of the compass. The course was set of the end of the point – that is a desperate move from our point of view, and then we moved into unknown territory by moving further around the point for a final few races. We only ended up have 4 races for the day!
DAY 3 We all had our fingers crossed for what would unfold, and were greeted by a nice westerly breeze. Racing started with the course holding up, but the wind was slowly dying off until it became a millpond. Early lunch was called. At this stage it was generally considered that there was not much chance of any more sailing; but a bit of a puff came up out of the east and firmed into a nice B sail breeze for the rest of the day. The course was reset, and the final races were sailed in conditions we were hoping for all weekend. There was still some shuffling among the places, particularly lower down the score sheet, but Scott Fleming had it locked up from day 1. Brad Hein took second place, and Graham Brown took third – both finishing on the same points; but a countback separated them.
A great Championship. I want to acknowledge the great job done by the Race Officers – Scott Condie and Owen Jarvis on Day 1, then Paul Martin on Days 2 and 3. A special thanks needs to be given to our Scorer, Jayne Fleming; who carried out the job to perfection. I also want to note the efforts of all our members, volunteers, and outsiders who jumped in and helped make this a memorable event. Lastly, I want to thank everyone who competed for the good spirit that pervaded the event, and which made it an enjoyable event to be part of. Thanks to you all.
Noel McPherson #RCL65
