In the run up to the Strebor IOM Open at Birkenhead every weather forecast was predicting light south westerly winds which, for those that know Birkenhead, could at best be described as a ‘challenging direction’. However, on this occasion the wind gods had other ideas and as the 20 skippers, several of whom had travelled considerable distances for the first of the Northern District Winter Series, began rolling up for a day of racing a light breeze started filling in from the top end of the lake. With the sun making an appearance too it was a promising start to the day.
The aim of, or rather challenge for, the race team for the day was to try and get to 16 races before one of two things happened i.e. the wind died or it went dark. With a 2 lap windward mark, spreader and leeward gate course with a beat away from the clubhouse end of the lake racing got underway on time at 10am in a mid A rig breeze. However, the first start proved to be a practice i.e. a general recall, but the fleet did get away cleanly on the second attempt.
In both races one and two Derek Priestley got away sharply at the pin end and was able to tack on to port to lead the fleet up the lake to sail away and bag two bullets. Whilst this would suggest that starting at the port end was the way to go for the morning, as the racing progressed and with considerable shifts developing those getting away cleanly at the starboard end of the line, with potentially more breeze further out on the lake, also started to feature high on the scoreboard. In races three and four the local lads Graham Elliott and Martin Roberts, perhaps not happy about being shown the way around ‘their lake’ by Derek took a 1st each, although Derek was still in the mix scoring two thirds and then a first again in race five. Darin Ballington also featured highly in several races in this first session, with two seconds and a third.
Whilst getting a clean start was a priority, the challenge for the whole fleet was getting in and out of the leeward gate unscathed. With a 20 strong fleet it was always busy at this end of the lake. Tacking through the middle on the shifts rather than opting for a safer but potentially slower option to sail around the fleet wasn’t for the faint hearted, with several well placed skippers sadly finding this out the hard way.
After a short drinks break another five races got underway and it was the same three sailors in Derek, Graham and Martin hogging the top spots, but with other helms not far behind. Peter Baldwin, who was finally getting into gear, Darin Ballington and Robbie McIntosh all picked up some low counting scores. John Brierley also had a good albeit not consistent morning with several low scoring races, although his day would eventually be cut short due to technical issues with his boat. In race nine, Gary Parkin sailed a great race and was a shoe in for the win until he misjudged and hit a leeward gate mark on the last rounding. The chasing pack pounced and he dropped down to 7th.
At the break for lunch, with three hours before the cut-off time and ten races completed, all seemed good for sixteen plus races. However, as the afternoon session began the signs were there that it might be more of a challenge as the breeze was beginning to fade. In the lighter breeze both Graham continued as he’d left off scoring 1, 2, 1 in the first three races. Martin and Derek were also up there picking up podium positions, but others were coming to the fore. Peter took a 1st and 2nd in these three and Roger Crates picked up his second 3rd of the day.
By race fourteen, as the breeze leaked away, it was clear that getting to the extra discard at race sixteen was going to be difficult, but it could be done. In the fickle winds now seen, keeping the boat moving even if not in exactly the direction you wanted was key. Martin made the best of what wind there was scoring a 3, 1, 2 with Peter also taking another 1st and 2nd to add to his scorecard. Conversely Graham didn’t feature in the top three in these last races, which made it very tight for the overall. Roger picked up a 1st, Derek another 2nd and Paul Plested popped up to take take two thirds.
By 3:30pm the wind had gone completely, and with sixteen races done Graham Elliott came out on top with 30pts to take home the Strebor Trophy. Martin Roberts, in a closely fought competition, was just one point behind Graham in 2nd place on on 31 points. Derek Priestley finished 3rd overall and Peter Baldwin was 4th. Whilst others may not feature in the top spots overall, there was clearly some great racing throughout the fleet. Rod Radbourne put together a good series of races with all counting results being single digit scores and several others had some low scoring placings, if not the consistency they might have wanted. Great also to see the both Clive Warren and John Tideswell, both newcomers to the IOM class, getting involved and no doubt learning a lot from the experience.
Thanks go Dave Williams and Neil Westbrook for keeping the racing on track and running smoothly, and to Joss Watkinson and Chris Westbrook for keeping the sailors full of tea, coffee and cake all day. Thanks also go to Dave for capturing some photos (including one showing the lighter later winds) when he had time in amongst his RO duties.
To avoid loss of time the first three races were sailed in conditions which were really over the top for A rig, and a consensus was to stop again and go for B rig. The wind direction was South to South East as forecast which meant the top clubhouse corner was its usual tricky self, but the deciding factor as usual was the gust strength which made downwind sailing a complete lottery.
A quick change to B rig, and somewhat in the running order. Mikedsp had been on the pace on A rig, but successfully found the slow buttons on B rig, while PaulP, John C, James, Clive and PaulL all showed excellent boatspeed resulting in some very close racing. Unfortunately, this had eliminated Andy Mearns as he had only brought A+ but he very kindly agreed to stay and RO for the morning.
Earlier on it had seemed to pay to get the bow down and hit the corner opposite the Clubhouse then come back on a long port tack, but as the morning progressed this didn’t pay and working the shifts further towards the more windward clubhouse side of the lake seemed better.
Racing remained close with quite a few minor boat to boat brushes and some nosediving changing the order. Mikedsp just emerged the winner on countback from PaulP, with JohnC only two points behind, and then Clive and James a further three points back with Clive taking 4th on countback. Really close racing.
JohnC was very unlucky to be tagged while leading a race comfortably, and quite a few turns were made in the very gusty conditions changing positions.
The gusty nominally southerly breeze remained from the clubhouse end, which swung easterly at times meant the difficulties from the morning continued into the afternoon for the DF95 racing. Unfortunately, only 5 skippers showed up/remained, perhaps a hangover from the DF95 open held at the weekend. The choice of rig was B, and after a bit of re-rigging of Steves boat, first time the B rig had been used, we were ready to go, 5 minutes later than normal. The same standard course as the morning was used, and as normal with a small fleet the starts were self monitored and the first to finish recorded the race result.
Racing was generally dominated by Paul and Clive showing good boat speed from the outset, but having said that there were a couple of very close races with 4 boats rounding the gate mark together.
Further back Martin was best of the rest picking up a second place in race 7, in a tight finish, just getting the better of Paul. Steve showed he was picking up the skills to move him up the fleet and was only beaten by Malcolm on count back with Malcolms third place in the last race edging him ahead.
Towards the end of racing the wind dropped of slightly and we could have probably dropped to A rig, but there were still a few strong gusts that kept B as a safe option. All in all a great afternoons social sailing inpartial sun and warm temperatures for the time of year and a decent breeze. What better way to spend an afternoon with good friends
School half-term week attracted just 7 DF65 sailors …. which is strange since I can’t think of any regular sailors who are young enough to have school age children …. unless everybody was on grand parents duty instead … although nobody took the option to bring the grand children to Gautby Rd which might have provided some unplanned entertainment!
Those that did attend had an enjoyable morning with A+ rigs, 10 races and a (mostly) NW wind with regular puffs from a more westerly direction ensuring that the usual Gautby Rd jeopardy was in play in every race. The course comprised of a beat to the windward mark, around a spreader, back down the lake to a single leeward mark and up to the finish. There was no set pattern to the beats …. sometimes it paid to take a single port tack to the far bank while at other times it paid to take a hitch on starboard and hope to pick up one of the port lifting puffs. Downwind was just a case of being in the wind.
Charles lodged his complaint that racing was going to be dominated by James and Andrew while we were still rigging …. and then made himself look foolish by winning 2 out of the first 4 races. James decided to use his 2 discards when his main sheet came off the winch in race 2 but returned in time for race 4
After the first 4 races, Charles’s prophesy did come true with James and Andrew fighting for the top places while everybody else battled behind. James came out on top winning the last 4 races helped by Richard taking out Andrew in race 7, and some incompetent mark rounding by Andrew while leading in race 8.
Many thanks to Dave for being RO for most races and getting some photos in as well.
The wind was up and a chill in the air as arriving skippers readied themselves for the final round of this year’s IOM Summer series.
The predicted gusty WNW wind direction straight down the lake had the fleet split between managing the strongest gusts in B rig to capitalise in the lighter patches as opposed to driving hard with C rig and hanging on in the soft stuff.
As racing got underway, it was the B rigs of Rob McIntosh and Martin Roberts that showed the way with a 1-2 in an exhibition of top end sailing on the limits of control. Of the C rigs hurting a little in the confused chop were Bill Culshaw, Alan Bennett and Brad Gibson fighting to keep touch with the front two.
A total of 6 races were sailed up until a break for a warm cuppa with Martin winding back the clock to remind all that while form can be occasional, class is permanent with 4 firsts and a couple of 2nds back in his familiar Orange GBR 22 livery. Brad was the pick of the rest, a distance off the leader with one score outside of the top 3 with Alan, Rob and Bill finding it difficult to hit consistent scores.
After the break and with all skippers now on B rigs, it was Brad who took the challenge to Martin with 4 firsts over 6 races. Both Alan and Martin took a win apiece with Rob and Bill taking top 3 placings.
With 12 races complete and with his worst score being a third over the day, it was a thoroughly deserved win on 16 points to Martin by a point over Brad in second and Alan Bennett in third.
All agreed it was a testing but thoroughly enjoyable days racing and we thank our PRO (and photographer) Dave Williams for taking us through it seamlessly.
This was the last of this years Summer Series for the DF and RG65 fleets, although in common with just about every other week, there were only six RG65’s out and no DF65’s. The wind continued where it left off after the morning session with the DF95’s. The direction remained pretty well down the lake on average with some big shifts to exploit along with some holes to find. Expecting the breeze to build rather than die, most people sailed the first session with B rigs, although some were on low aspect A, with amix of both swing and conventional rigs.
The afternoon belonged to Alan’s Ivy with twelve straight wins. Peter worked hard to try and keep up and occasionally did hold the lead for a while, but Alan soon seemed to overhaul him. This was especially so in the first session of six races when Peter had a smaller/lower B rig compared to the other boats. The wind failed to build leaving him struggling for speed at times.
George and Dave were closely matched in this first session, so much so that after six races they were tied on points for the third/fourth places. Duncan sailing a new to him Goth, was struggling for boat speed as the B swing rig was definitely underpowered. The A rig was thought to be too big for the conditions in the first session, but did trade up for the second one, but was then over pressed in the gusts!
