Category: iom

Sailors arriving for the second IOM Winter Series were disappointed to find little breeze blowing and the only ripples were from the flock of Canadian Geese patrolling the lake.  However the first race started with a very light breeze generally from the NE (and so almost across the lake) but with some large shifts that could see it come from the East or North during any race.  Two boats missed the start and one pulled out early on leaving only seven to fight it out for line honours which went to Brad Gibson sailing a borrowed TS2. Race 2 again started with only 7 boats and this time it was John Brierley’s turn to take the win, which he then repeated in Race 3.  Brad then had another win in Race 4, with Martin Roberts finally getting into a groove, winning Races 5 and 6 before a break for a drink. 

After the break, Paul Allen took his first win in Race 7 and then Graham Elliott won the eighth and final race in very light winds.  As there was very little breeze, the fleet unanimously agreed to call it a day and have an early finish.  This left John  as a clear winner, with Brad in second and a consistent Alan Bennett in third.

Thanks must go to Dave Williams for running the racing today (plus taking a few photos of the “action”) and for Bernie who helped out Dave and made everyone warm drinks.

1. John Brierley            84  Britpop!   10pts
2. Brad Gibson              71   TS2             17pts
3. Alan Bennett           130  Britpop!   20pts
4. Graham Elliott         70   Fraktal    26pts  1xwin
5. Peter Baldwin           63   Britpop!  26pts
6. Alan Watkinson       23   Britpop!   28pts
7. Paul Allen                   27   Britpop!   31pts
8. Martin Roberts         22   Vanilla 2 35pts
9. John Berry                   12   Viper        40pts
10. Charles Legg              25   K2             48pts

Seven sailors arrived on time for the first of the Winter series, but unfortunately Bill had battery troubles which delayed the start but even so our RO Dave Williams managed to run 12 races. With light winds from the clubhouse end six races were held before a welcome tea break thanks to Bernie in the galley.

During the first race after tea the wind freshened and turned 180 degrees with the start now from the clubhouse. Martin had boat troubles and switched to a Britpop, John Brierley had to leave early and passed control to John Carlin who managed some good results. Some very close finishes made the sailing interesting. A welcome return to the club from David Burke saw him soon back in the groove managing second overall. Thanks to Dave Williams for being our RO and Bernie for making the very welcome brews at “half=time”.

1. Martin Roberts     Widget/Britpop!  27pts 4 wins
2. David Burke            Britpop!                  31pts 1 win
3. Alan Watkinson     Britpop!                  34pts 2 wins, 2 x 2seconds
4. John Brierley/Carlin Britpop!             34pts 2 wins
5. Alan Bennett           Viper                         36pts
6. Bill Culshaw             Britpop!                  39pts 3 wins
7. John Berry                Viper                         46pts

12 skippers entered for this years Strebor trophy and what a days racing it was.

The sun shone and the wind was mid A rig from mainly the WNW  with plenty of gusts and shifts for the skippers to contend with. After our PRO for the day, Dave Williams, had set the marks we started at 10:30 which proved to be a popular start time for most.

The racing was tough to say the least, with plenty of movement up or down the fleet for anyone who read or misread the shifts.

By lunchtime, 3 skippers had stamped their authority on the race, but by no means having it all there own way- and they were often joined by the chasing bunch, the racing was that close. It was obvious that we were going to sail quite a few races on the day and consistency would be the key factor to win the day. Quite a few general recalls and individual recalls were called by Dave Williams and his keen eye and indeed he did a great job of keeping sailing ticking over at a good pace and managed to get 18 races in for the event, when we stopped after the last race which started at 3:25.

In the end it was Rob Walsh sailing his BritPOP! who took the trophy for his maiden victory at this event on 28 points and that included 7 race wins, following Rob was Graham Elliott on 30 points with 5 race wins and rounding off the podium and a welcome return after his Summer of dinghy sailing was Paul Allen on 31 points including 6 race wins.

This was probably one of the best days sailing we have had at the club for some time, the racing was hard but fair, with plenty of skippers ducking a stern or two even at the windward mark and not one raised voice was heard all day. After sailing 7 of us decided we had earnt a pint or two so off to the Caernarvon Castle for a little more banter.

Many thanks to Dave Williams for running the day (along with several different helpers) and Jack for supplying the refreshments.

Results

1. Rob Walsh           25  Britpop!   Fleetwood      28pts
2. Graham Elliott  09  Britpop!   Birkenhead    30pts
3. Paul Allen            27  Britpop!   Birkenhead     31pts
4. Martin Roberts  22  Vanilla     Birkenhead     72pts
5. Peter Baldwin     63  Britpop!  Birkenhead     73pts
6. Bill Culshaw         21  Britpop!   Birkenhead    76pts
7. Alan Bennett        33  Viper         Etherow          86pts
8. Chuck Millican   121  Britpop!  Birkenhead  102pts
9. Alan Watkinson  23  Britpop!   Birkenhead  120pts
10. John Berry             12  Viper         Etherow        129pts
11. Andrew Peter       66  V9             Birkenhead  145pts
12. Ken Jones              20  Pitprop    Etherow        153pts

There were only a select band of three sailors for this weeks IOM racing,  held in a decent middle to top A Rig breeze from the far end. After convincingly winning Race 1, Bill Culshaw had a few problems on the race course with various “objects” in the water stopping him dead and robbing him of his leading position and probably the win in several races.  This allowed Peter Baldwin to string together a  series of 6 straight wins after a second in Race 1.  Alan Watkinson initially struggled to keep in the mix and after 3 races noted that his rudder shaft was bent and so a short stop was called to allow him to change his rudder over.  This did help such that he was now challenging the other pair for the lead, culminating in winning Race 8.

The day went to Peter with 8 wins, three for Bill in second and just the one for Alan in third.  Thanks go to Dave Williams for running the afternoon and giving us an early finish after 12 races, ably assisted by Bernie for the last few races after putting in a welcome guest appearance.

The next IOM racing will be on Saturday 8th October (all day) when Summer Series #10 is also the Strebor Open, with a planned start time of 10:00.  Entry via the Event link.  It will be good to see more club IOM’s turning out for this annual Open Event.

1. Peter Baldwin         63   britpop!     12pts  8 wins
2. Bill Culshaw             21    britpop!    18pts   3 wins
3. Alan Watkinson      23    britpop!    24pts  1 win

After the long day on Saturday (causing both human and boat difficulties) and the prospect of another hard days sail on Sunday (according to the forecasts), only 21 boats started the day out of the 28 originally entered.

After a delay of nearly 2 hours whilst the wind decided whether it wanted to blow and from which direction racing finally began.  We had arrived to a SE breeze bordering on 3rd suit, which suddenly moderated to a top suit, then switched within 10 minutes to a NW of a similar strength with rain.  This breeze lasted for around 25 minutes before dying and finally starting to fill from the SE again.  After a single heat, there was another shift and come from the S, requiring another course change.  The wind could not really decide which direction to come from and also had a slightly different direction at the top of the course from the bottom.  So a zig-zag two beat figure of 8 course was used with minor changes to windward and leeward marks to try and give decent beats for each heat.

Peter Stollery mastered the conditions and was Mr Consistency, discarding only a 3rd and finishing on 7 points and 11 points ahead of Rob Walsh in second, followed by Graham Elliott in third.  Only 6 races were completed after losing time at the start of the day.

Photos from Jon Cooper (a local freelance photographer) on Saturday and Sunday are here in the Gallery.  If you would like to have a print of any photo taken by Jon, then head to his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066514788823

A total of 28 boats made it to Ranking #3 on Saturday.  With only two heats and 6 promotion many sailors spent the day oscillating between Heats A and B and when they weren’t sailing had an observer duty to fit in as well.  The breeze built during the day and there was plenty of rig changing between A and B suits, which was not the forecast at all.  Along with a heavy rain shower for a short while, everyone had some difficulties in getting into a groove.

Unfortunately with rig and course changes required for Race 9A, followed by a General Recall, this Race (and consequently Race 9B) had to be abandoned due to lack of time to complete by the final cut-off time.

By the end Rob Walsh took the day with Tony Edwards in second and Peter Stollery in third.  The top places were very closely contested as the results below show.

A few photos from Saturday by Andrew Peter are here in the Gallery.

Photos from Jon Cooper (a local freelance photographer) on Saturday and Sunday are here in the Gallery.  If you would like to have a print of any photo taken by Jon, then head to his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066514788823