Category: iom

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

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.

After a week with winds from most points of the compass, it was good to see a return to a decent 5 to 8 knot WNW breeze down the lake again and sunshine for the first couple of hours to give some “champagne sailing”.

Racing got underway soon after 1:30, catching out some sailors who hadn’t spotted the change of start time.  John Brierley started well to pick up the first race win, with Bill Culshaw taking the win in Race 2.  John then took three of the next four races, with only Martin Roberts spoiling his run in Race 4, before he had to retire in Race 6 with gear failure when his winch support bracket failed, ending his day.

After a short break, Bill picked up another couple of wins and was more consistent than John, who had two further wins, but got on the wrong side of some Birkenhead shifts and had to use a couple of his results as discards.  Graham Birkett and Peter Baldwin also had a win each in the second session, with some very close finishes for the top three boats in many races.

In the end, the final result after 12 races may have come down to some bad luck for Bill as he picked up a carrier bag in Race 10 and had to retire whilst vying for the lead in that race, which John went on to win.  A great afternoons racing thanks to Bernie and Jack for running things for us again.

1. John Brierley               84      22pts    6wins
2. Bill Culshaw                 21       26pts   3wins
3. Graham Birkett         133      34pts   1 win
4. Peter Baldwin              63      36pts    1win
5. Alan Watkinson          23      40pts
6. Lawrence Drennan    57      50pts
7. Neil Westbrook           03      51pts
8. Martin Roberts            22     68pts     1 win

Next week (15/8/20) will be another IOM afternoon starting at 1:30. Please let Graham Elliott know if you would like to join in the fun.

A light to mid Top suit breeze which blew pretty straight down the lake was the treat for the small but select group of 5 sailors for Social Racing #5 in the IOM.  Racing was close all afternoon until the very last race when Brad managed to pull away from the fleet early on and had a good lead on the chasing pack by the end.  Wins were spread through most of the fleet, with Brad taking the lions share of 6 and never far from the front runners in all other races.  Martin and John had two wins apiece and Peter took one early win when the breeze was a little stronger.  Graham struggled for speed early in the afternoon, but ended the day much nearer the front of the fleet, just missing out on the elusive win in Race 10. Eleven races were sailed at a good pace by 16:45 after the 14:00 start.  Brad easily gained the podium spot, with Martin and John tied on an equal set of results (after discards) and so the result went down to the final race where Martin finished ahead of John.  Thanks to Bernie and Jack for running the racing once again.

Next week (1st August) is RG65 Social racing #2 with a revised start time of 13:30, which will be the new Saturday start time until further notice.

Another excellent afternoon sailing for the IOM with the maximum number of only 6 boats permitted at the moment.  Ten races were sailed with race wins shared between Martin, John and Bill.  The wind was out of the top right hand corner with the new growth of trees causing interesting wind patterns .

Six races were sailed before a short break and with one discard applied Bill had a narrow lead. Graham with his Widget and Alan in a Britpop were putting in good scores along with Lawrence having a few near misses on the finishing line.

Four more races were sailed after the break with John missing race 7 repairing his boat and Martin took full advantage to narrowly win that race from Bill.  John came back to win races 8 and 9 but it was Martins experience that took race 10 and the overall win.  Only two points separated the top three at the end.  Alan came back well after the break with 3 thirds but again 4th and 5th were also separated by one point.  Some close racing throughout the fleet.

Thanks to Bernie and Jack for running the afternoon. It felt like old times with Jack back.

1. Martin Roberts          Widget      14pts       4 wins
2. John Brierley              Britpop     15pts        4 wins
3. Bill Culshaw               Britpop      16pts       2 wins
4. Graham Birkett         Widget       31pts
5. Alan Watkinson        Britpop      32pts
6. Lawrence Drennan  Britpop      43pts

10 races sailed

This Saturday was race 3 of the lockdown 6 boat bubble . Instead of the predicted 2nd suit breeze the fleet was to sail in a very light to mid range A suit breeze, sort of from the top end of the lake, with a change on almost every leg of the course all afternoon. Bill came out with the race 1 win with Brad 2nd. 4 races were sailed before our drinks break and Grahams 3 course meal. Along with his big boots it would cost him dear later in the day. Brad had 2 wins and 2 seconds to take a grip on the afternoon. Martin got his first win of the lockdown.

After the break, Brad held his form with 2 more wins and 2 seconds, the last coming from a great recovery. Graham had a 2 and 3 but but races 7 and 8 may be deleted from his note book. Bill came back strong with a 2, 4, 3 in the last 3 races to take 3rd place from Graham. Peter came good in the better breeze in race 7 with a 3rd. Martin converted his good starts in race 7 & 8 into race wins, Race 8 had a blanket finish. We had a beer or fanta and a debrief after a hard afternoons racing.  Overall results after 8 races:

1. Brad Gibson                 2      8pts
2. Martin Roberts         55      11pts
3. Bill Culshaw               21       17pts (1 win)
4. Graham Elliott          27      17pts  (0 win)
5. Peter Baldwin            63      26pts
6. Lawrence Drennan  57      37pts

The seventh Winter IOM race saw 11 boats commence battle in todays racing. The wind was a fickle and gusty South-Westerly blowing over the houses, with frequent and large shifts anywhere from the West to the South throughout the day. The interest of the very shifty conditions was occasionally complicated with strong and localised gusts that might flatten boats sailing a few metres away from others completely unaffected.
The course was set with 2 close reaches/diagonal beats and 2 runs on each lap, making best use of the lake and 11 races were completed. The racing was challenging with many people in mid fleet gaining or losing multiple places from wind shifts, while the top skippers were starting and sailing consistently well. Graham Elliot dominated the day with 7 wins, followed by Bill Culshaw in 2nd, and John Brierley taking 3rd and a notable 4th from John Berry who also won a race.

Many thanks to Bernie and Jack for officiating, and Dave Williams for calling the start.

Here’s hoping the final winter series race on the 21 st , will have some warm sunshine and a decent wind blowing along the length of the lake, as that would make a nice change.

1. Graham Elliott          27              12pts   7 wins
2. Bill Culshaw               21               33pts    1 win
3. John Brierley              84             33pts
4. John Berry                   112            40pts    1 win
5. Neil Westbrook           03           41pts
6. Peter Baldwin              63           50pts    2 wins
7. Lawrence Drennen    57           50pts
8. Howard Garner           67           53pts
9. Dave Burke                   30           55pts
10. Charles Legg                25           75pts
11. Ken Jones                      71            82pts      

After 11 races