News

This event was the first two-day regatta for DF 95s hosted by the PRYC, which commenced on Saturday, the 25th of March, at Emerald Lakes; some 26 entries were received, and by the start time of 10.00 am, 22 skippers were ready to race. A delay to the start was required as the bright sunny day yielded little to no wind until a very little East to South East breeze started to fill in, requiring a move of the racing area to the eastern side of the lake, hence delaying racing until 10.45 am.

The fleet was split into two heats because of the numbers, with the B fleet starting first, followed by the A fleet. As the day progressed, the East south East breeze began to increase up to 3 to 5 knots which swung around 40 to 55 degrees making the decision of which side of the course offered the best lifts to the top marks of significant importance to skippers. This oscillating breeze gave the skippers at the back of the fleet an opportunity to improve their placement within each race.

By lunchtime on day one, both heats had completed six races, and by days end, 11 races for each fleet were completed, and when the discard was calculated, the overall Results for the first day were as follows,  1st Place Boat 26 Alan Walker, 2nd Place Boat 344 Mike Jefferys, 3rd Place Boat 222 John Musgrave and 4th Place Boat 88 Erin Conza. At this time, no one yacht dominated the winning as the first placings were shared by several skippers, which highlighted just how close the Racing was, Plus the need to eliminate any mistakes, which, if they did occur, relegated those boats to the back of the fleet very quickly.

Day 2, Sunday the 26th started on time, with the fleet reduced to 17 from the original 22, it was decided by Race Officer Bill Clancy to combine the fleet into one, so hopefully, the race numbers could be increased as the day dawned overcast with Thunderstorms and rain forecast. The race area reminded the same as the previous day on the Eastern side of Emerald Lakes; another nine races were sailed until the rain started around 2.00 pm, and by overall agreement, skippers agreed to abandon racing as some 20 races had been completed, so that an overall result could be achieved.

In summary, the standard of Racing was very competitive and to a very high standard, all competitors were well-behaved, and all remarked they had had a most enjoyable regatta and were very pleased with how the event was run and managed. The final overall Results for this regatta -

The Masters: ( 70 years and over)

_{1st Place Alan Walker Boat 26, 2nd Place John Musgrave Boat 222, 3rd Place Graham Cowling Boat 884}

The overall winners of the South QLD DF 95 Championship 2023

_{1st Place Mike Jefferys Boat 344, 2nd Place Alan Walker Boat 26, 3rd Place Daniel Bergen Boat 32}

Well done, skippers. We look forward to seeing Queensland DF 95 skippers featuring in the top 10 at the forthcoming Nationals at the Sunshine Coast in June of this year.

Finally, on behalf of the PRYC, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Race Officer Bill Clancy and Scorer Peter Burford for undertaking the race finishing and producing the results and to the large number of Volunteers who gave their time to help and assist with running of this event is much appreciated as without you these events would not happen.

Ron Brown ( Qld DF95 Class Coordinator )