The first IOM Summer Series had a great turnout which included a few vistors getting some pre-Nationals practice in. A light ENE breeze with some good shifts (and holes) leading to numerous place changes in many of the races.
Neil donned the waders and set a course with a bit of help from Peter on-shore, involved moving most of the marks around, although working out well for most of the day. This always provided some challenges as to where to start and which side of the course was favoured up the beat.
Darin started the day with a win in Race 1, before Graham showed great form by takng the next three races, with Brad, Alan Bennett, John Berry and Andrea all picking up top three places in these races. As some of these races were rather long due to very light breezes at times we then had a break, before continuing to complete another 6 races.
After the break and a few boat tweaks, Brad had a good second session, with 3 wins in the six races (plus a couple of seconds). The other three race wins went to Darin, Alan and Graham, with the podium places split between, Alan, Andrea, Brad, Graham, Peter and Simon. Finishing positions were however very close throughout the fleet with Alan Watkinson, Simon and Graham Birkett always in with a chance of gaining a good result. Sometimes, it came down to the final positions being determined by who managed to get the best breeze on the final leg into the finish. Occasionally the finish line tested the line judge with 4 or 5 boats all crossing within a few seconds.
A close tussle then between the top three boats for overall honours, with Brad coming out on top after the 10 races completed. Thanks to our joint RO’s for the afternoon Dave Williams and Neil Westbrook who ran a tight ship all afternoon. We also have Dave to thank for the photogtaphs below.
- Brad Gibson 42 Post Punk 13pts
- Graham Elliott 09 Britpop! 17pts
- Alan Bennett 180 Britpop! 24pts
- Darin Ballington 98 Britpop! 37pts (2 wins)
- Andrea Roberts 37 Britpop! 37pts
- Peter Baldwin 63 Britpop! 40pts
- Simon Fairman 471 Alioth 48pts
- Graham Birkett 133 Widget 55pts
- Bill Culshaw 21 Britpop! 61pts
- John Berry 12 Viper 74pts (1x3rd)
- Alan Watkinson 23 Britpop! 74pts
- Ian Davies 33 Britpop! 96pts
- Charles Legg 40 K2 105pts
