- This topic has 2 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated September 9, 2025 at 10:29 pm by
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The DF65 championships that were held over the weekend may well have left some skippers exhausted, and this, together with the forecast of a blustery Westerly with showers had an effect on the fleet size today with only seven skippers fronting for racing. It was the sort of day where you knew that if you used your A-rig then you would probably get knocked down but you really needed it as there were calmer patches as well. In fact all skippers did chose to use their ‘A’ which made for some exciting racing.
It is always difficult to set a good course at Puddleduck when the wind is from the West. Today we incorporated buoy S into the course with alternating triangles to each side of the dam. (S-2-1-S-3-4-S). This worked quite well as the fleet size was small.
With the smaller fleet size it was appropriate to use handicap penalties of 10 seconds for the winner and 5 seconds for the second place getter.
It was surprising, given the conditions that the rescue dinghy was not used and that all boats completed all races. (Well done skippers!). Buoy S did try its hardest though with several skippers falling into its snare. The fountain looked ominous as well with the dam level being so high that only a couple of centimetres of it was pertruding above the water’s surface.
(Bloody) Geoff Mathews sailed well today to claim 4th spot. He had two race wins on his scoresheet including a sail away victory in which he beat the next boat home by a whole triangle. I managed third spot today. I was snared by buoy S in the final race which may well have cost me the day. That Smiling Assassin, Phil Turnbull took out second place. Phil probably should have won the day if it was judged on boat-speed. Phil made the mistake of winning the first three races back-to-back – very impressive but it seriously damaged his handicap for the rest of the day. John Penman did a much better job of handicap management by finishing the day with a stack of third places in his mix. In fact John had an all-podium scorecard after discards were taken. He won the day a point ahead of Phil. Congratulations John and well sailed Phil!
Hot coffee – yes actually hot (thank you PD kitchen staff) was very enjoyable after a cool day of racing.
Shorty
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