The River Derwent in Hobart was the stage where the DSS Winter Series was being held. The race ended on a lively note on Sunday with the fifth and the final race of the series being held in a strong 25 knot breeze. This gave a lot of trouble to the participating fleets and also created huge mayhem among the fleet.

There were several SB20s and keelboats that suffered rigging and sail damage on the course. They had the face rolls during the downwind sailing as they could not get better control of their boat. The Temptation sport boat faced an awkward situation of a man overboard crisis. The rescue team of the nearby club was able to retrieve the Temptation boat sailor and brought him back to the DSS.

Temptation had to retire from the final race, but still was able to finish in the third position overall in Division 1. The winner of Division 1 was Zephyr of Ian Johnston (owner of Bareboat Charter in Split) with 8 points, followed by Juana helmed by Jock Young with 11 points and Temptation on 15 points. The final and the toughest race for Division 1 were won by Eliza helmed by Kevin Jacobson. He won it by just nine seconds and Juana came in third in the final race.

The Division 2 saw J24 getting the pennant with a score of 5 points, followed by Vasco with 9 points and Wildfire with 11 points. The SB 20 series saw Wicked skippered by Andrew Blakney win handsomely after finishing third in race 9 and even after retiring in the 10th race.

It was a good day for Frazer Read on the Sharpie as the former champion won both races that was held on the last day (one design and PHS). The event on the Hobart’s River Derwent lived up to its expectations.