Category: iom

IOM Xmas Race – Saturday 12 December

Once again this year the Birkenhead Xmas race will be sailed in IOM’s.  There will be no entry fee, but everyone who enters should bring a wrapped gift (no bottles please) with a minimum value of £5.  These will be used as a “Secret Santa” gift for everyone sailing and will be randomly presented at the end of sailing.  It is intended that any prize-giving will be held outdoors if at all possible.  If the weather precludes this, then it will be held as a socially distanced event inside with everyone wearing a face covering.  After a short briefing, the first race is scheduled to start at 11:00.

The clubhouse will be open for use of the toilets, but not for socialising, boat rigging and preparation. The galley will not be open and please wear a face covering when inside the clubhouse.

IOM and RG/DF65 Winter Series

In the hope that racing at the club can re-start on Saturday 5th December, Graham Elliott has planned two Winter Series to take place between 5th December and 3rd April.  There will be separate series for IOM’s and RG65 plus DF65 boats (who will sail together on a similar course).  There are 8 events in each series and overall results will be based upon a boats best 5 races.  Please be aware that if the MYA is unable to confirm that Radio Sailing can restart by the 5th December, IOM Winter Series #1 will have to be cancelled.

Each of the events will start at 12:00 and racing will continue until the light fails or 15:45, whichever occurs first.  Booking will be via the Calendar or the home page links and limited at this stage to 13 boats, but increased if the MYA guidance allows it.  Please cancel any booking you make, should you be unable to make it, so that someone is able to take your place as we anticipate all places to be filled each week.

IOM Social racing #11 10/10/20

As everyone arrived for sailing this week, they were greeted with another great 12-15knot breeze straight down the lake and some sunshine after the heavy rain earlier in the day.  The only problem was that the lake was about 5m wider than normal with the concrete walkway completely covered all around the lake.  After spending some considerable time attempting to clear the overflow blockage without success, sailing commenced at 1:30, with wellingtons or waders being the only way to get your boat in the water.

John Brierley and Martin Roberts were closely matched in the first session with a similar number of wins, with only Peter Baldwin managing to nab one from them.  John Berry, Lawrence Drennan and Derek Matthews all had some good races before the short break for an al fresco drink and a bite to eat.

In the second session, we were joined by Brad Gibson sailing John Berrys’ Viper to good effect, although his results have been excluded to avoid skewing the overall result.  John, Martin and Peter had similar results in this session, with Neil Westbrook and Tre Joinville also picking up some good scores.  John took the day from Martin with slightly better consistency, with Peter taking the final podium position.  Thanks once again to Bernie and Jack for running the racing.

  1. John Brierley            84      Britpop                 12pts    4 wins
  2. Martin Roberts        22      Slim chine           14pts   4 wins
  3. Peter Baldwin          63       Lintel mmx        18pts   2 wins
  4. John Berry                123      Lintel mmx        35pts
  5. Lawrence Drennan  57     Britpop                37pts
  6. Derek Mathews        66     V9                          45pts
  7. Tre Joinville               55      Widget                47pts 1 x 3rd
  8. Neil Westbrook         03      Widget               47pts

After 10 races

Next week is scheduled to be a DF65 afternoon, always assuming that we are still able to race with talk of a restricted local lockdown.  It may be worth bringing some wellies though if you are sailing!  Here’s what it was like on Saturday:

IOM Social Racing #9 12/9/20

A great wind straight down the lake and not the forecast “houses” wind welcomed the 5 skippers to our clubs latest social IOM race. All rigged up with top suits but Graham decided to make a change to his ‘B’ rig after a quick pre-race practice before the first race which proved to be the correct choice with a convincing win in race 1, a quick rig change break was called after this race to allow all skippers to change down to ‘B’ rig.
The wind stayed with us until race 4 then started to gradually die away giving the Italico an advantage in these under-pressed ‘B’ rig conditions over the fleet, 2 more races were sailed until we called a break that saw everyone changing back to the ‘A’ rigs for the remainder of the afternoon that also saw the wind swing around 30 degrees giving some very interesting shifts and gusts to deal with.
The last 4 races also saw the sacking of Martin with Andrea taking the helm of her pink boat which she had not sailed for some considerable time. With a new trim on the boat, she proved to be a force to be reckoned with, winning 3 of her 4 starts.
It was great to see Derek sailing an IOM for the first time and he proved to be a welcome and very able addition to the fleet, also visitor John sailing well in many races but getting unlucky with the Birkenhead shifts, Charles also had many good races.
Many thanks must go to Bernie and Jack for starting and finishing for the completed 12 races.
  1. Graham Elliott     65   Italico               10pts   10 wins
  2. Martin Roberts    55   Gadget              19pts    2 wins
  3. John Berry            123   Lintel MMX    36pts
  4. Derek Mathews    91   Gadget              38pts
  5. Charles Legg         25   Rubix                 50pts

Next week will be another RG65/DF65 social race afternoon starting at 13:00.  Please enter via the links provided.

IOM Social Racing #8 5/9/20 – Full report

A solid NW top suit breeze was the order of the day for the 7 boat fleet. Great to see Mike and Sue back , along with Derek making his debut in the IOM fleet, with a borrowed boat from Andrew.
The story of the afternoon was how you got off the start line. Sudden wind shifts made would define how good a result you would get. At race 5 a tactical chat with the fleet would mean the fleet would get more consistent starts. So an afternoon of good and average sailing, shifts and nose diving, Thanks to Jack and Bernie . Back for more IOM racing next Saturday starting at 13:00.  Please enter via the links to the right or via the Racing Calendar page.

  1. Martin Roberts                Widget        12pts   7 wins
  2. Mike Parkington             Widget        16pts   2 wins
  3. Graham Birkett                Widget       20pts   1 win
  4. Sue Parkington                 Britpop      27pts
  5. Alan Watkinson               Britpop     38pts
  6. Derek Matthews               Widget       39pts
  7. Charles Legg                       Rubix         52pts

After 10 races

IOM Social Racing #7 15/8/20 – Full Report

An interesting 7-10mph wind blowing down Gautby Road greeted the 8 skippers on this sunny Saturday afternoon.

It was John Brierley that started well with 4 second places and a win in the first 5 races, but unfortunately he then had to retire from the day with radio problems. Bill then showed some great pace and finally started to react to the wind shifts to take wins in races 4 and 7. Lawrence also showing some great form with a brace of seconds in races 6 and 8. Charles after a difficult start and some repairs at the start of the afternoon improved greatly in the final 5 races even if the results do not show this improvement, it was there.
It was Martin that took top honours with a strong finish winning 3 of the final 4 races finally showing his skills within this class under these conditions.
5 different race winners from the 11 races sailed with some extremely close 3 boat finishes to keep Jack on his toes all afternoon.
Many thanks to Peter for setting the buoys and Martin for trimming them after race 3 when the wind swung round a few degrees also thanks to Jack and Bernie for starting and finishing.
  1. Martin Roberts              55     Widget                18pts     4 wins
  2. Graham Elliott               65     Italico                 23pts      3 wins
  3. Bill Culshaw                    21      BritPOP!            27pts      2 wins
  4. Peter Baldwin                63      Lintel MMX     28pts       1 win
  5. Lawrence Drennan      57      BritPOP!            39pts
  6. John Brierley                 84      BritPOP!             43pts        1 win
  7. Neil Westbrook             03      Widget                45pts
  8. Charles Legg                  25      Rubix                   64pts

After 11 races

The next two weeks are joint RG65 and DF65 with an 11am start time. If you are planning on sailing please pre-register for all races with Graham Elliott to avoid disappointment on the day.