Western Australian A Class State Championship 2017
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- Created on Saturday, 19 August 2017 19:49
- Written by Glenn Dawson
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“A” Class Western Australian 2017 “A” Class State Championship
The ‘A’ Class State Championship was held at Jackadder Lake on Sunday the 20th August. There were four different designs in the field of 7 boats. Three Swords, two Venoms , a Privateer and an A 1.
It was sailed in light winds which were variable in direction and strength throughout the day which made for some very close racing and that showed on the scoreboard. There was no safe covering position on the course for any leader in those winds.
From the commencement Past winner Jeff Green in his Sword showed he was a force to be reckoned with posting a number of wins with speed off the line and an ability to pick the shifts which resulted in wins in three of the first four races. It seemed from the race results so far like we may have been looking for a one horse race. As the morning progressed Roger Paul sailing his Venom began to edge into the top two places in the results between the Swords of Jeff and stand in skipper Rosco Bennett who was sailing the borrowed Sword of Glenn Dawson.
Conditions stayed variable and the both designs showed their strengths. The Sword with it’s straight line speed provided there was wind and the Venom with it’s faster acceleration and light air speed.
Despite a cool morning things began to hot up around midday on and off the course and the championship’s race officer Warren Rock made a wise decision to continue races as long as possible while there was breeze before a late lunch break (as well as ward off the calls for lunch from his two hungry assistants Robert Paton and Robert Mews (the dinghy captain).
The results were very close at the lunch break with only a few points separating Jeff from Roger. The trend was changing however with Rosco Bennett sorting out the peculiarities of sailing an A class and was heard to say “Got to stop sailing it like an IOM” which was bad news for everyone else in the fleet who may have though he was not in the race. During the afternoon the breeze direction and velocity became even more marked. Many front runners also made mistakes and were caught on the wrong side of shifts or in between different winds on the tricky Jackadder Lake.
Wins were had by Hub Bell skilfully sailing the aged A1 in the final race and Denton Roberts sailing his Sword to a number of podium places including a win and a thrilling from behind climb into second place in the dying seconds of one race placing him between the two front runners Roger and Rosco. Minor placing by Ian Sheriff with his Privateer and A class newcomer Simon Ellis with his Venom during the day also had a significant effect on the score board for the front runners.
The winner was never going to be evident until the final races with Roger making it to a lead of two points on the result sheet from Rosco and Jeff some paces behind.
In all a great days sailing with quite a few spectators interested in the close racing assisted by race officer Warren's race efforts and decisions, as well as his assistants and the sporting attitude of all sailors on and off the water.
Eric Fisher A Class Memorial Trophy 2017
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- Created on Saturday, 10 June 2017 20:35
- Written by Glenn Dawson
- Hits: 227
Saturday 10 June 2017 was the day for this year's Eric Fisher Memorial Regatta. It was a brisk morning, but the sun was shining and the wind was blowing gently from the north east.
9 A Class yachts turned up for the day's sailing. We welcomed Simon Ellis who competed his first A Class regatta sailing the ex-Allan Beer / Ray Bassett Venom. It was expected that the light winds would play into the hands of the Venoms and the Wombat.
Race Officer Warren Rock had us on the water soon after 10.00am. Straight out of the blocks, Glenn Dawson showed a clean pair of heels to the fleet and notched up a few race winds. Before long however, the Wombat started rolling along putting up a solid challenge to the Sword.
Hub Bell's A1 also showed glimpses of former glory with some great speed upwind. The A1 needs a bit of breeze to make her competitive with the larger sail areas of the Venoms and Swords, but the wind didn't co-operate today, only reaching 5 knots or so.
Around lunchtime, the IOM guys turned up to sail. The fleet of 11 boats started their races in between the A Class heats. It was TNT weather and both Edgar Vitte and Craig Taylor had some good results. Racing was tight, and a number of general recalls were had. The wind was gradually fading as the afternoon wore on, so the IOMs didn't get to sail as much as usual, allowing the A's to continue.
Back in the A Class event, the scores were tied with two races to go. Glenn and Graham were locked together and a match race ensued. Glenn managed to get his nose in front and the two A's were covering one another all round the course. At the end of the day, Glenn held off Graham by two points. Jeff Green rounded out the podium, followed by Denton Roberts.
Full results to follow.
Ten Rater Challenge. Champion Lakes 2017
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- Created on Sunday, 21 May 2017 20:04
- Written by Glenn Dawson
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Champion Lakes Ten Rater Challenge 2017.
Today was a wet and squally winter’s day. The sky would be blue for a while with a 6 to 8 knot wind blowing, but then a front would come through and the associated gusts building to 15 knots. After a while, the front would pass, and we were back into the lighter winds again. Luckily, the wind direction was from the south-west, which at Champion Lakes makes for reasonable steady winds without too many shifts.
Sean Wallis came down to be the race officer and he did a really good job. He has clearly been watching the IOM Worlds making rapid changes of course, setting up 4 top marks as well as having the “good start” call off to a tee. He was itching to call a “uniform flag”, but we didn’t give him the opportunity!
Unfortunately only seven skippers were able to attend, with a couple of our regular skippers away. Four Diamonds, a Prizm, a NRW and a Sanga were in the fleet.
Early in the day, Roger Paul started the day in good form, rattling off a number of wins and seconds. Not too far away was Rosco Bennett, making a challenge. Glenn Dawson and Chris Woods were battling in the next group, whilst Denton Roberts, Ian Sherriff and Rob Mews were having really close tussles.
