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.
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.
Sadly by the time the IOM fleet launched for a 13:30 start after the DF95 morning session, the wind had faded and rain beginning to fall, leaving barely a ripple on the water for the 15 entries which included four visitors.
Dave Williams was once again our RO for this afternoon session, with a fair but keen eye on the start line. We only sailed two races in 50 minutes before having an enforced break due to a distinct lack of breeze for racing. These two races were won by Graham Elliott and Brad Gibson, with Peter Baldwin and Martin Roberts also taking podium positions.
Racing restarted at 15:10 with a light breeze and a Met Office forecast of strong winds from 15:00. After Race 3 in a light breeze and a win for Olly Murray, the wind picked up to be much stronger and unfortunately bringing with it heavy rain. This breeze was very gusty and shifty (from W to N) with occasional wipeouts on the run if you were in the wrong place. Graham strung a series of three wins for races 4 to 6 and was all for calling it a day in the rain and sudden drop in temperature. However, the RO told the fleet that we would sail just two more races and complete eight races for two discards. Peter managed to hold off John Tushingham (sailing a pre-production “Mint” design) for the win in Race 7 and then Bill Culshaw took Race 8 with a clear lead over the fleet for the whole race.
So we ended the day very wet and bedraggled with Graham winning by a clear margin of six points from Brad, with Peter just one point behind Brad, taking third place from Martin Roberts on the basis of a race win. Graham had the lions share of four wins and then another four other helms each had single a win. Unfortunately the weather resulted in a number of early baths, which rather decimated the fleet by the finish and only ten boats sailing.
Lovely sunshine and a decent mid to top end of ‘A’ rig wind straight down the middle from the top end of the lake.
With 7 skippers sailing 4 different designs it promised to be a good afternoons sailing and it was.
The first race was won by Graham sailing his BritPOP! but it was tight up the first beat with all the usual Birkenhead shifts to contend with, unfortunately Paul hadn’t listened carefully to what was the first windward mark was and this put him out of contention for this race.
Six races sailed before a break with some close races, Simon sailing his Alioth got a deserved 2nd in race 4, Alan in race 1 with a decent 2nd place and Ian banging in 4 3rd places but it was Peter and Graham out in front most of the time. Unfortunately we lost Paul at the break due to wiring problems on his battery connections.
The wind stayed pretty much the same for the remaining 6 races, Charles featured in a few of these races which was great to see, often picking out a great shift from both banks.
The water is still occupied by blotches of green algae that did effect boat speed in the lighter stuff, the art was to keep the momentum and stay away from the far bank.
It finished with race wins going to Peter with 2, should of been 3 and Graham with 10. Neil and David watched us all afternoon and weren’t afraid to recall any premature starters, thank you Dave and Neil. Photos courtesy of Dave and Paul.
After the inaugural DF95 Social Racing, some (such as your author) were hoping that the warm temperatures might lead to a sea breeze swinging the gradient more to the West. However, this was not to be and the afternoon continued with the same gusty SW/WSW breeze that became more Southerly as the afternoon progressed. We sailed with the same course as the 95’s in the morning under the watchful eyes of Neil Westbrook and Dave Williams as our RO team.
Most of the ten sailors opted for their A rig in the first session of five races, with Brad sporting a B rig to get some time on the water with it as most of our racing has recently been in A rigs, including all the Ranking events completed to date.
Peter took the first race after getting off the line on Port in a gust and staying in front of Brad and Martin who were chasing hard. Martin then took wins in races two and three with Brad second and Robbie Mac and Peter taking thirds. Then Brad’s decision to go for the B rig paid off as some strong gusts led to big knockdowns for everyone else and he picked up two wins with Peter, Alan and Martin taking the podium positions, with Robbie Mac missing three races due to a boat problem. There were some good performances from Guy Cowper and John Beech, with young Noah plugging away and getting some decent results, including rounding the first mark in second in one race after a great start.
We then had an early break and most opted to change down to B with just Martin and Phyl sticking with A on the restart (Phyl didn’t have a B for his borrowed boat unfortunately).
After the break, results continued to be dominated by the same names as before with Brad taking two of the last seven races and Martin five. However, Martin did also quickly change down to B as the gusts picked up in intensity. Although short lived, they were difficult to survive and usually left you pointing in the wrong direction and 20 – 30m lost on the other boats if you did succomb. These wins gave Martin the overall win, with Brad second and Peter third.
Podium spots (other than the two racee winners mentioned) were taken by Robbie and Peter with Alan not far behind (tricky for Dave with photo finishes between Peter and Alan in a few races). Phyl coped well in his A rig picking up a sixth in race 9. Thanks must go to Neil and Dave for running the racing once again and dave for taking the photos for illustrating this report.
