With one no show and a couple of dropouts due to the weather, there were only 4 sailors on the starting line for the first race of our IOM Winter Series. The forecast wind had increased overnight and so we were greeted with a strong 15 gusting 25+ knot breeze almost straight down the lake, but with some large shifts to contend with. It rained for most of the afternoon and only 8 races were sailed before everyone was getting cold and wet and we called it a day. The last race ended up in a squall and some very difficult tacking into the finish line, clearly supporting the end of racing.
There were, however, smiling faces from everyone after some very close and fast racing in the smallest rig. Martin Roberts was offered the Rubix of Charles Legg, to give it a rare outing in this rig. He proved to be the one to beat and even with a few problems resulting in late starts, he made every race count and ended up with the lions share of 4 wins (out of 8 races sailed) and equal points with Peter Baldwin, sailing a Lintel MMX who had three. Bill Culshaw (Britpop) rounded out the podium with the remaining win and was pushing for the win at the finish of a good number of close races. Big thanks to Bernie who stood in the wind and rain to start and finish the fleet.
- Martin Roberts 25 Rubix 9 pts 4 wins
- Peter Baldwin 63 Lintel MMX 9 pts 3 wins
- Bill Culshaw 21 brit pop 13 pts 1 win
- John Berry 23 Lintel MMX 20 pts
Next week (10/12) is RG/DF65 Winter Series #2 starting at 12:00 and then on 18/12 is the IOM Xmas Race. Please enter if you plan to attend.