We had a lovely afternoon out on the lake this afternoon. 14 boats turned up to race and enjoy the moderate breeze that existed during the early part of the race session.

It was great to see Tim O back racing again and also nice to be able to welcome SOPYC member Ian Lane along for his first try at DF65 racing in his new purchase. Ian has also just bought a DF65 so let’s hope he will be a regular DF sailor in the months to come.

The course was set up to the NW breeze which was forecast to swing gently towards the north. But guess what, no prizes, it shifted suddenly further to the west just before the start to make the start line and overall course orientation very left hand biased.

We did what we could in short time to counter the impact on our racing and overall, a good mostly windward leeward course was enjoyed by the fleet. The wind did finally start to rotate a little right, and this combined with a wind shadow on the top left side of the course finally resulted in the leaders at the top mark coming consistently from the right.

The bravery award for today is shared by Graham O’H and Janet J who both tried the great circle route out beyond the fountain to varied degrees of fortune but no real reward for the determination that it takes to give that route a try.

Star Sailor award goes to Ian L, who must be the best first time DF sailor I have seen on course, ever, I think. He quietly and confidently, with no fuss got on with racing and did it with great efficiency, often finding himself close to the front of the mid fleet at the top mark, which is remarkable for a first time DF racer. He was let down from time to time by rigging issues, but that will improve as he becomes familiar with the boat. Well done Ian.

Other great performances came from, again Graham O’H leading around the top mark and carrying on to a great finish position. Nick R who pushed to lead all race session long and Keith M who, but for one unlucky shift, would have won the last race.

Has to be said, it was a very enjoyable time at the lakeside today. Fingers crossed, we do not have much longer to worry about the minefield, which is the floating leaves. Poor Garry G found two in the first two races to slow his progress; Nick R also had at least one significant leaf experience as did Nick J, no doubt there were many more. Let’s hope the leaves sink or blow away sooner rather than later.

Thanks go to Bev and Ann for taking the results and feeding them into the scoring system. Bev for calling the starts, and to everyone who helped setup and clear away all of our race management gear, marks etc.

Hope to see you all again on Sunday.