DF65 Scratch Racing

The Mandurah region has been smashed with these cold fronts for the last three days and today was supposed to be the same. Before we arrived at the lake there was a strong shower pass over at around 11.30am and we thought this would stop skippers from attending, but we were so wrong. The actual Windy.com forecast was for breezes of 15 to 30km/h westerly winds with a 60% chance of 1.2 to 2.1 mm of light miserable rain.

 

However, we had a full dry afternoon between 12:00 - 3.20pm and the breezes stayed westerly direction mostly but varied from 2 to 15km/h in gusts, the biggest issue was the glare across the lake through the clouds which seemed to be directly down the start line. Losing your boat in the glow of glare caused some of the start issues.

 

Nearly all skippers arrived with smaller rigs ready to go, John W tried to sail with an A+ rig but just could not tack. Mark L started with a B rig expecting those strong gusts but they just swirled around the trees and then softened into calm holes. He changed up to an A rig to be the same as everyone else for race One.

 

We had 12 skippers head out and register for some excitement, all expecting the stronger breezes to create an action packed fun afternoon. There were 4 different individual race winners during the regatta with Jason (5) piping Nick with (4), Donks with (1) and Janet (1). The racing was very close.

 

It is an oxymoron to say good strong winds bring issues of breeze misdirection on Austin lake. It seems the stronger the breeze the more the trees divert the wind direction some into circles across the whole lake. It was a scratch start today so no handicap advantage to any skipper and the pin end was favoured slightly so congestion around the mark was common. All of us have stories of boats leaning down or crossing our bow right on the "go" call for a start.

 

The race to the top mark usually had 5 to 8 boats bunched within a 4 foot radius, so getting into the protected 4 boat lengths under rule 18a was a priority. Once you round the windward mark first there are only a few boats that can run you down during the rest of the race unless you make a strategy error. Most of us make strategy errors too often. Enough said.

 

Stand out performances from Jason P, Nick J, Donks, Janet J, Greg R and Mark L in most races placed them onto at least one podium finish position during the afternoon. Janet, Greg and Mark fought well but often were caught up in the calm holes when they tacked back up to the top mark. Jason and Nick had their boats so well tuned that punching into the chop just looked to be far easier for them than anyone else. Well Sailed Guys.

 

Having confidence to start well is 80% of winning in this class, being able to time your run at the line through other boats without creating or getting caught in an issue is not easy. It is a skill well worth discussing with better skippers so you improve your results. I really wish I had sailed RC yachts before my keelboat career began. I know many big boat skipper who could do with some starting and strategy training.

 

Report by ALRS Commodore Andrew Donkin