Day three of the Australian Championships provided more questions than answers. Without doubt, one of the more "interesting" days of radio sailing you could wish for!
Prior to the commencement of racing, all boats were out on B rigs, with a solid catabatic wind blowing down the Derwent Valley. Punching upwards of 15 knots, the first question of the day was just how long this wind would hold. With a start time of 10.00am, and the A fleet first up - would it be A rig or B? With only 5 minutes to go before the call of "Boats on the Water", the white caps disappeared and skippers were sent scrambling to change to their A rigs.
Plenty of controversy ensued in the first race of the day in relation to the actual course to be sailed. Many skippers made an assumption that a longer course should be sailed, and others decided they would sail the course which was written on the course board. The resultant mayhem was sorted out with thanks to our efficient scoring team, who recorded which skippers actually sailed the course, and which skippers missed marks altogether. The question of how to manage the schemozzle was the second major question of the day.
As the morning unfolded, the wind continued to fade, shift, tease, blow, stop, change direction, waft, blow again from a totally different direction. Would any racing be possible? At this stage, only six races had been completed, and it's fair to say, some patience was being tested. Despite all the fantastic preparation and planning the Tasmanians have done for this event, there is one thing nobody can prepare for - if the wind decides not to play the game - so be it.
Kudos to the blokes in the rescue boat. They were kept n the water and on their toes all day. Kudos also to the Race Management of Kyle Stewart and Rod Marshall. Ask anyone the question: "would you be prepared to take on the Race Officer role in these conditions?" - the answer was universally "NO".
After we had been sitting around for three hours, the sea breeze finally decided to fill in. So skippers were polled, and it was agreed that racing would continue until 7.00pm. In that time, races 8, 9 and 10 were completed, and heats C and B of race 11 were in the books. An early start tomorrow was also agreed.
Of note:
At the top of the leaderboard, Glenn Dawson held onto first place albeit with a very slender lead from defending champion Sean Wallis and the charging Paul Jones. Only 3 points separate the first three, so tomorrow will pose some more questions to be answered.
Some notable achievements:
John Glease is one of our skippers who needs to sail from a seated position. Today, John spent most of his day in B fleet and even made the visit to A fleet on one occasion - a great achievement.
Rohan Langford, who has been sailing IOMs for one week had some fantastic results sailing a Blitz 1. Mind you, Rohan comes with an outstanding sailing background, and it is absolutely fantastic to see someone coming along and having a crack.
Local skipper Chris Wood is having a brilliant series and has his V11 popping along very nicely.
Tomorrow, we will see the 2025 Australian Champion crowned. Stand by....
Full results follow.