Jul 15, 2024

Perth Classic 2024 - The weather gods were still angry!


Despite all attempts by the weather gods to dampen spirits and stop the racing, both fleets managed 10 races with all participants filling their stomachs and enjoying a cold but convivial day of friendly competition

Once again dual fleets of IOMs and DF95s fought off a morning of slight and variable breeze, persistent but light rain and patience draining periods of calm with calls for an early lunch and a threat by the PRO to cancel proceedings if things did not improve by 2:00pm. When the early lunch break was called at around 12:30pm the IOMs had completed the minimum 5 races, albeit in testing conditions but the DF95s only had completed 4 races which added to the confusion. However the threat of calling it off obviously summonsed the wind gods back to the negotiating table and a reasonable NE breeze set in around 1pm so the DFs were scrambled back onto the water to at least complete the mandatory 5 races.

Fortunately, the panic was unnecessary as the wind stayed in for the rest of the afternoon, so the fleets had staggered lunch breaks and a total of 10 races each were accomplished before racing was called off at 3:30pm with all sailors and support crew feeling the cold. Mitch Davies, Dave Odlum (very ably assisted by wife June) and David King did a great job with more than adequate supplies of hot bangers, fried onions and a great selection of green and potato salads accompanied by a variety of cold drinks. Lloyd Coles very ably assisted PRO Bruce Quail to complete a full day of racing.

All in all, a great turnout with a number of visitors from other clubs making the effort to travel despite the weather. At the end of the day, IOM victor was Rosco Bennett (Champion Lakes) with a very convincing win, followed by Craig Taylor (PRSC) and Edgar Vitte (CLRS). DF95 champion was Andrew Donkin (Austin Lakes) followed by Justin McAullay (PRSC) and Bruce Robins (PRSC). Full results are available under Results on the PRSC website.

Classic 24 results

WinnersIOMsDFs2

                                     Winners                                                                          IOM Fleet                                                     DF95 Fleet
J.McAullay, A.Donkin, B.Robins, C.Taylor, R.Bennett, E.Vitte

RecoverySkippers

                          Recovery                                                           Soggy Skippers