With twenty of Sydney’s best DF65 sailors gathered in Halyards for an early morning coffee and race briefing, the stage was set for the return leg of the DF65 Masters Club Challenge between RPAYC and RSYS last week.
The only missing ingredient was the wind.
The Squadron’s team looked very strong this time around and it was clear from the friendly banter over coffee that they intended to take their trophy back to Kirribilli. On the other hand RPAYC’s team took a hit leading up to the event with some unfortunate last minute scratchings, so we knew we would have to bring our A Game to hang on to the coveted trophy.
Steve Merrington (RO) placed proceedings on hold for about half an hour until unexpectedly a glorious ENE breeze at around 6 knots filled in, and stayed in while five races were completed for both fleets in the channel south of A Arm. It was arguably the best course we’ve had at the Club to date.
The Alfred’s team started strongly, dominating the top places in the first two races of both the Blue and Yellow Fleets. Unfazed, the Squadron’s experienced sailors quickly came to grips with the course and started posting good results.
The low point scoring system used for this team challenge is brutal, with no drops and every sailor’s results counted. Some minor gear failure on two of our boats gave the Squadron a sniff of victory going into the final races of the day, and it was clear the result was going to be way too close to call.
The final results were tallied while we were all enjoying lunch and fair bit of bar karate, and despite a big push by the Alfred’s team in the last race the Squadron came out on top by the narrowest of margins.
RSYS (271) vs RPAYC (279)
It was a great morning and as they say “Sailing was the real winner.”
Wrest assured we will be going down to Kirribilli in the New Year to bring the trophy back to Pittwater, it looked rather good on display in the Club’s foyer.
Meanwhile, the Club’s DF65 fleet continues to grow with more new boats in the pipeline. An indication of just how competitive our fleet is becoming is the likelihood that we will have a couple of sailors in the Australian Team at the DF65 Worlds in Sweden next May.
Article and Images by Warwick Crossman
