Race Secretary's Update

                                                                                          
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                                                                                                                         31 July 2016
Season 2015/16 - Race Secretary Report
 
The 2015/16 season was one of contrasts. We had good numbers & very close racing between boats in some races, yet there were several races where it was clear only 2 or 3 boats would be attending, unfortunately leading to the cancellation of the Taree & Vaucluse races.  Hopefully there will be renewed enthusiasm for these or other ‘away’ venues next season as this keeps interest in the class from both within & to outsiders.
 
Fleet numbers did not increase significantly over the previous season, however I sincerely believe the quality has improved, with many crews able to boast of times they lead the fleet.  Races in the nationals series is an example of this.  Another indicator of the quality of sailing is the consistency of speed of a boat.  This is noticed easily when analysing the handicap results.  And once again there was only seconds between boats, and yet again these seconds had a bearing on the overall series results.
 
Each of the association organised championships; Nationals, State & Travellers Trophy series, had ten entrants.  Toronto was the best attended with all 10 boats; Sunshine had 8 on both days; Hawkesbury had 6 and 7 starters on Saturday & Sunday.  With Taree & Vaucluse cancelled, Teralba was the only other TT regatta where there were 5 and 7 starters. 
 
As detailed reports for each of the VS association races & nationals series has been previously posted, only a summary of the state & TT series is provided below.
 
State Championships. 
Only one boat started all five state heats with the same crew – Firestorm.  This is too much of an advantage to give to this boat, allowing John, Dale & Lindsay to secure the state scratch title comfortably with 4 points.  Second place went to a count back, with Meeks Real Estate & Troy Botting Shipwright each scoring 10 points, with the result decided in the last race at Sunshine.  Range proved to be a spoiler here, beating TBS across the line by 8 seconds, allowing Mick, Mark & Robbie on Meeks to claim 2nd overall, courtesy of a nice win at Toronto.  Col, Adam & Janine were once again consistently fast in TBS, with 3rd overall not a true reflection of their speed throughout the season.
 
The overall handicap results were extremely close.  Four boats finished with 3 points;
Black Diamond, White Noise, Firestorm & Battleship. The final result was decided in the last race, with all contenders finishing within 1 minute on corrected time.  If either Battleship or White Noise were a few seconds quicker in the last race they could have claimed the series title, but alas they were not.  Michael, Joel & Scott on White Noise finished 4th on 12 pts. Battleship tied with Firestorm on 10 points but a few lost seconds robbed Andrew, Greg & Chris of the title.  Beaten in the count back they finished 3rd overall.
Having been narrowly beaten in several recent series the gods finally smiled on Black Diamond, and Bob, Hayden & Ben are the State Handicap champions.  Obviously the boys are skilled sailors, but the BD crew are a credit to the class, steadily improving the boat & flying the VS flag at Gosford.  They are also great fun to have in the fleet.
 
Travellers Trophy.  Sailed over all regattas, this trophy gives a good indication of the most consistent boat of the year. With the TT series shortened the results were close but, once again, it is the boats that sailed all races that fought out the title and in this series there were three. In the final count just one point separated Firestorm, TBS & Battleship.  Firestorm & Battleship tied on 25pts but on count back Andrew, Greg & Chris on Battleship are the Travellers Trophy title winners.  Like Black Diamond, these boys have worked to improve the boat throughout the season, and the result shows, Firestorm were 2nd, again contenders due to their consistency, as were TBS who finished the series 3rd overall on 26pts.
 
Congratulations to all of the winners.  It is no co-incidence that the boats that sail the most get the prizes.  These are also the boats that sail consistently fast throughout the season. 
Practice makes perfect…
 
Once again I’d like to thank all sailors for their attitude throughout the season.  We have top quality sailors & very close racing, yet we have no protests or appeals. Also thanks to all of the committee & their partners for their help and support throughout the season. 
 
John Hodda    
VS Race Secretary.
 
 
 
State Title Overall Scratch
 
1st Firestorm (J Hodda, D Jacobson, L Auston) 4 pts;  2nd Meeks Real Estate (M Turton, R Turton, M Nugent) 10pts; 3rd Troy Botting Shipwright (C Gillespie, A Kelly, J Turton) 10 pts; 4th Black Diamond (B Baker, H Baker, B Ferguson) 18 pts; 5th Range (S Sims, M Sims, T Botting/G Jakins,) 21 pts;  6th White Noise (M Brown, J Newman, S Singleton-Turner) 25pts; 7th Battleship (A Fahey, G Lowe, C Wyatt) 26 pts; 8th Plan B (T Dodds, M Blake, L Jordan) 28pts; 9th Redfish café (A Stewart, P Davies, A Eisner) 34 pts; 10th SFC Computers (J Dodds, H Dodds, T Wood) 40 pts.
 
 
State Titles Overall Handicap
 
1st Black Diamond 9 pts; 2nd Firestorm 10pts; 3rd Battleship 10 pts; 4th White Noise 12 pts; 5th Troy Botting Shipwright 18 pts; 6th Plan B 19pts; 7th Meeks Real Estate 24pts; 8th Red Fish Café 34 pts; 9th Range 35pts; 10th SFC Computers 38 pts.
 
Travellers Trophy Overall
 
1st Battleship 25pts; 2nd Firestorm 25pts; 3rd Troy Botting Shipwright 26 pts; 4th White Noise 36 pts; 5th Black Diamond 37 pts; 6th Plan B 41pts; 7th Meeks Real Estate 43pts; 8th Range 63pts; 9th Red Fish Café 67 pts; 10th SFC Computers 68 pts