Author: Craig Wiley

Hi Skippers
This morning was the first round of our DF65 Spring Handicap series – a beautiful day greeted us the only thing lacking being breeze. Luckily it arrived just at our start time & slowly increased as the morning progressed, shifting from SE to NE.
11 boats arrived but only 10 raced as I chose to score/RO again.
Today we tried a new format for this new mini series after discussion with some of the early arrivals. Our 10 races started with one scratch race – the winner of which got a 20sec handicap, 2nd place 15sec & 3rd 10sec – which was applied for the remaining 9 handicap races. I’m looking for get a fairer means of offering handicap racing – fairer to skippers of different skill levels….hopefully.
Interesting Stats : Kim #42 ended up on a handicap of 85 seconds for the last race and still won it ! 9 out of 10 skippers had a podium finish.
Results :

Check out the scores online : https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/df65-spring-handicap-series

Highlight of the morning : as you can see Kim #42 started well until his increasing handicap started challenging him… Kim won the day on 20 points , Dean Chase #462 did exceedingly well ( pressure from brother Bryan maybe ) with 3 race wins coming second on 27 points. Brother Bryan #195 completed the podium with 29 points. Welcome to you Bryan – please come back again to keep the brotherly rivalry going. A fun morning with not too many bingles & good comradery.

Overall I think the trial worked well with a fairly close fleet – the other difference is that we will not carry the scores over from each of the races in this series. Each race morning will start with a scratch race & proceed accordingly. There are 6 races in the series. ( 29/09, 20/10, 27/10, 7/11 & 24/11 remaining ) DF65 skippers – your feedback is welcomed as we take a slightly different approach to our racing.

Next session : Saturday 19th September – DF65 Spring Scratch series.

Have a fun week & see you Saturday.
Cheers
Mark
Mark Lewis
Secretary / DF65 Coordinator
Sunshine Coast Radio Sailing Club Inc
0424 787 884

Hi Skippers,
What a nice afternoon for IOM sailing with light 5 knot NE winds and blue sky.
The 7 skippers were loving the warm conditions. It was super close sailing as the h’caps brought the fleet together at the 1/2 way point. Paul Newman had worked for 2 days on his yacht and finally got the sheeting settings and receiver linked to his transmitter. He was on fire for the first 5 races. During the 1/2 time break he noticed that his keel was dropping out of the bottom of his yacht. What a bummer as he had to retire at that point not wanting to lose his keel.
That meant the rest of the fleet were only 4 points apart. Gosh the results were close.
Craig Wiley #02 showed great downwind speed and managed to win 3 of the last 5 heats. That gave him the win for the day. Well sailed!! Holding your nerve was key as you sailed the last windward leg.
Bill Burley #80 was very consistent all afternoon and managed to finish in 2nd place. Well done!
Congrats to the place getters:
1st Craig Wiley #02 16 points
2nd Bill Burley #80 22 points
3rd Simon Kellett #141 24 points

Full sailscores results below:
https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/iom-spring-handicap-series-sep-15

Thanks to all who packed up the 4 buoybots and flags.
A really nice afternoon of close IOM sailing!!

Well done to Derick Warne for finishing 6th in the Laser Nationals held last weekend.
Well done to the others in our SCRSC team for their great effort.
See you all on Saturday for Club Champs H’cap sailing.
Happy sailing,
Simon K

Hi Skippers,
With the Laser State Champs on and family commitments we only had 4 skippers at the lake at 1pm.
A decision was made to reschedule the Meter Cup #8 to the Saturday social day ( spare day) on the 26th Sept. All skippers will be back for this so we’ll have a full fleet.
The remaining skippers all enjoyed a very close afternoon of scratch racing in sunshine and 5-8 knot SE winds.
Geoff Morris #96 turned up with his K2 but left his boat batteries at home so he couldn’t sail. Bummer !!!. That left Geoff Wilson #25, Paul Newman #60 and myself #58 to enjoy the afternoon in great sailing conditions.
Final results after 10 heats;
1st Simon Kellett #58 10 points
2nd Geoff Wilson #25 12 points
3rd Paul Newman #60 21 points

It was amazing just how close we all were during each race. It was a lot of fun !!
We didn’t use the buoybots as the fixed marks were in the ideal place for this wind direction.

Where were all the other IOM skippers?

See you all on Tuesday for the 2nd round of our Spring H’cap series.
Happy sailing,
Simon K

Hi Skippers
9 boats arrived but 8 raced as I chose to score/RO the morning. Just a Club scratch day – 10 scratch races not part of any series. SE Wind 6 to 9 knots keeping all boats on A+ rigs, just.
Results : Don’t get too excited with the results below as they do not include Jon Evans #39 score – overall Jon had 14 points after two drops giving him the win for the day. Well done Jon.

Check online :https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/df65-club-scratch-day-sep-08

Highlight of the Day was the overall improvement in everyone’s fun approach to the morning, less bingles than usual & most penalties being done quickly & without hassle. A few over the line calls which got rectified without abusing me for calling them ! It was a good morning’s sailing !

Next Session : Saturday 12th Sept : Next round of our DF65 Revolution Cup – 5 scratch & 5 Handicap races. Check out the series results to date : https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/2026-df65-revolution-cup-hybrid
Have a great week – see you Saturday.
Cheers
Mark

Mark Lewis
Secretary / DF65 Coordinator
Sunshine Coast Radio Sailing Club Inc
0424 787 884

Hi Skippers,
It was the first round of our Spring Tuesday H’cap series today and we were greeted to 15 -18 knot SE winds and a cooler day standing at the lake.
10 skippers started to day on B rigs so it was a lot of fun sailing downwind when a gust hit and your boat. Speed , Speed, Speed !!!
Thanks to Rob Priest for electing to score and run the start box for the afternoon. Thanks so much for your good effort.
It was an afternoon of attrition with only 5 yachts finishing the day in Heat 10.
Once again Geoff Morris was on fire and won the day taking out 2 heat wins and many podium finishes. Well sailed in the strong breeze!!
John Halloran also was having a good afternoon. In many races he was in a tight battle with Tony Silver crossing tacks and sailing side by side. A fun afternoon !! Thanks to all for a fun afternoon.
Congrats to the place getters:
1st Geoff Morris #96 16 points
2nd Simon Kellett #141 19 points
3rd John Halloran #03 ( 83 ) 27 points

Full sailscores results below:
https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/iom-spring-handicap-series

Thanks to Tony Silver for taking the trailer and to all for helping with the dinghy and pack up.
A very nice afternoon of tight IOM sailing in plenty of breeze.
I have raked the beach and shallows for glass were we launch the dinghy and got 2 pieces of glass. I think that is it but to be sure maybe use shoes when launching the dinghy.

See you all on Saturday for or Meter Cup scratch / H’cap series.
Happy sailing,
Simon K

Hi Skippers,
Although we had a NE breeze around 5-8 knots the 11 skippers enjoyed the tight racing and close sailing into ” Death corner”. I used the dinghy to position an offset mark at the top buoy so it cleared the fleet when rounding the top mark.
We had Michael Bourke #01 and Glenn Fitzgerald #20 join is for the afternoon which lifted the intensity as both are National IOM level sailors. Overall Glenn finished 2nd on 17 points and Michael finished 4th on 25 points. Their scores were removed from sailscores.
Geoff Morris #96 was using his K2 and once again proved hard to catch taking 3 heats wins from the 10 races. If it wasn’t 1st then it was a podium finish. Well sailed Geoff !! The port tack start in heat 4 was a cracker of a move. You snake in the grass !!
Geoff Wilson #25 and I #58 were crossing tacks all afternoon and seemed to be close to each other as we crossed the finish line on many heats, We both finished the day tied on points but Geoff had 3 second places and came 2nd on countback. Great effort !! Go the TS2’s !!!!
Congrats to the place getters:
1st Geoff Morris #96 11 points
2nd Geoff Wilson #25 20 points
3rd Simon Kellett #58 20 points ( on count back )

Full sailscores results below:
https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/iom-club-championship-scratch-sep-05

Thanks to Neil from NZ for helping score the finish line for the afternoon.
Thanks for the team effort to all who helped pack up the Dinghy, Bouybots, Flags, and Cones.
It was a very enjoyable afternoon with 25 degrees and a gentle breeze. Very close racing in good spirit !!
See you all on Tuesday for the first race of our Summer series H’cap sailing.

We have our Secretary ( Mark Lewis ), Commodore ( Richard Brady ) and Rear Commodore ( Craig Wiley ) all standing down from the committee for next year.
These positions need to be filled and if there are any IOM skippers interested talk with me about helping out on the committee for 2027.

See you all on Tuesday.
Happy sailing,
Simon Kellett

Hi skippers
12 boats arrived this morning but one suffered water ingress so 11 raced.
Little wind to start with – then a NE breeze came in only to shift Northerly so we moved to the western course. This was Round 8 of our DF65 Scratch Championships – "interesting" conditions that the top end of the fleet coped pretty well with – as for the rest of us kind of frustrating ! Too many bingles mainly at mark rounding but a tidier score sheet compared to last week. Thanks Geoff for scoring the last 4 races.
Results :

Check out your cumulative score / placing for the Scratch Championship series so far : https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/2026-df65-club-scratch-championship
Only two more rounds to go – the season is disappearing quickly.

Next sessions :
Tuesday 8th September. DF65 Club scratch day.
Saturday 12th September : Next round of our Revolution Cup – check to see where you are placed : https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/2026-df65-revolution-cup-hybrid
Have a great weekend
Cheers
Mark

Mark Lewis
Secretary / DF65 Coordinator
Sunshine Coast Radio Sailing Club Inc
0424 787 884

Hi Skippers,
We had beautiful sunshine and a light SE to Easterly breeze. 13 yachts on the water so racing was always going to be close and hard fort.
We had Andrew Wilson ( Mr Buoybots ) # 16 joining us for the afternoon which spiced up the fleet with his demonstration of good sailing and judgement. Thanks Andrew for travelling up from Brisbane and joining our fleet. I started him off on a H’cap of 40 sec and he quickly moved that out to 85 sec and won the day on 11 points. Well sailed!!
For the rest of the fleet it was very close and at 1/2 time break ( 5 races sailed ) there was only 4 points between 5 skippers.
We could only sail 2 more heats as the batteries went flat in 3 out of the 4 buoybots and there was only 1 able to function. What an embarrasment with Andrew here to sail with us and driving up from Brisbane.
Clearly the batteries the DF 65’s were using in the morning were not charged and it was only a matter of time before all were flat. The charging system and procedure has failed us today. Buoybot 4 ( the bottom mark ) was stranded out in the middle of the lake dead in the water. Thanks to Derick and others Dan, Paul, Greg etc……. for helping out at the end of sailing as I had to pick up my son from school.
We only had 4 buoybots in use and 3 of them had to be rescued.
Tony not good enough mate !!!
Prior to the buoybots failing we had very close sailing and tight finishes.
Congrats to the place getters:
1st Geoff Morris #96 21 points
2nd Simon Kellett #141 23 points
3rd Derick Warne #97 25 points

Full sailscores results below:

https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/iom-annual-club-handicap-championships-sep-01

Thanks to all for helping rescue the buoybots and pack up. It was a team effort.
See you all on Saturday for Club Champs scratch racing in the sunshine and 29 degrees.
Happy sailing,
Simon K

Hi Skippers
Round 8 of our DF65 Handicap Championship series this morning – 8 boats on the water. Light flukey winds which kept the banter to a minimum as we all concentrated on our racing.
Results :
Check out the scores online : https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/df65-club-handicap-championships-sep-01
Check out this series so far this season : https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/2026-df65-club-handicap-championships only two rounds to go.

Highlight of the Day : well done to all 7 race winners this morning which is unusual – Tony Silver taking out the win with 23 points on countback – same as Kim #42 on second, one point ahead of Craig #370.
Thanks to Craig & Richard for help with the Buoybots & to Tony for Trailer/Battery Charging.

SCORING : If you win a race please make sure you write down the scores accurately – if you come second then call the finishers accurately – today one race was a complete mess, other races we had two "985’s " when we don’t have that number in our fleet, another race we had a number missed out when I know that boat finished. Mmmm…please make my life easier.
Next session is Saturday 5th Sept : Round 8 of our Club Scratch Championships. Check out your standing here : https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/2026-df65-club-scratch-championship
Hope to see you on Saturday 🙂
Cheers
Mark

Mark Lewis
Secretary / DF65 Coordinator
Sunshine Coast Radio Sailing Club Inc
0424 787 884

Hi Skippers,
It was a very nice afternoon of IOM sailing with 8 boats on the water and a good 12-16 knot SE wind giving us plenty of close sailing. Sun was out as well.
As it was a social day with only scratch races all skippers were relaxed. Heaps of fun banter !!
Paul Newman #60 broke a side stay and then changed down to a B Rig. Shortly after Phil Gray # 147 suffered the same fate and was also on his B rig. Surprisingly he still had great speed and was very competitive all afternoon. Geoff Wilson and I were battling between ourselves in many races with our TS2’s. Bill Heritage #59 broke a main sheet in heat 7 and then ran the scoring sheet for the last 4 heats.
Geoff Morris was really sailing well with his new Pikanto IOM and won the day. Well sailed Geoff!!
Refreshments were served at the 1/2 time break so all skippers were ready to rip for the 2nd half.
It was a fun afternoon for all sailing in very good spirit !!
Thanks to Kim Mitchell for offering to score up until the 1/2 time break.

Congrats to the place getters:
1st Geoff Morris #96 17 points
2nd Derick Warne #97 18 points
3rd Phil Gray #147 26 points
4th Geoff Wilson #25 26 points ( on a countback )

Full sailscores results below.
https://www.sailscores.com/SCRSC/2026/iom-club-scratch-day

Thanks to Derick for taking the trailer to Tony’s and to all helping pack up.
See you all on Tuesday.
Happy sailing,
Simon Kellett