Category: iom

1. Brad Gibson                   2            14pts     6 wins
2. Graham Elliott            27           16pts     6 wins
3. David Potter                 20           29pts
4. Bill Culshaw                 21            44pts
5. John Berry                    112           45pts
6. Neil Westbrook           03           51pts
7. Lawrence Drennan    57           61pts
8. John Pemberton        114           79pts

There was an excellent turnout of 18 boats at this the third of the Winter IOM series at Birkenhead.  Everyone was treated to a new view as they looked across the lake from the southern shoreline as shown in the photo above.  The trees all along the Northern edge have been cut down over the last week and the factory units are clearly visible again.  This brought back memories of the lakeside and the surrounding areas from years ago for some long standing members!

With a breeze from the South as we started, a course was set with two beats across the lake and a long reach back to one end of the start line.  Although there was a good 6 to 8 knot breeze blowing whilst the course was being setup, this seemed to disappear during the early races with boats getting stuck in significant holes whilst boats behind caught up with them on a light breeze from a different direction.  By the lunch break, the wind seemed to have moved to a more westerly direction and so marks were moved around so that races could be run in the opposite direction.

Racing was mostly very tight between the top four or five boats with places often only decided in the last few meters to the finish line.  Occasionally, a boat would get a good breeze off the start line and have a commanding lead by the first mark and then keep or even extend this lead by the finish.  By the end of the day, conditions had become very difficult at times with significant gusts causing boats to lose control if you were in the wrong place on the course when the gust hit. Everyone seemed happy to finish at race 10 with the conditions as they were.

Graham Elliott made the best of the conditions with his Britpop, taking the day by winning seven out of the ten races.  Brad Gibson sailing his Red Wine was second with a consistent set of results including one first, that very rarely saw him out of second place.  John Brierley in a Britpop rounded out the podium in third place and another win, with Peter Baldwin taking the other win in his Lintel MMX.

Thanks once again must go to Bernie and Jack for running the racing and Joyce for providing a hot cuppa at break time.

1. Graham Elliott             9                 9pts
2. Brad Gibson                  2                 17pts
3. John Brierley               84               27pts
4. David Potter                20               32pts
5. Peter Baldwin             63               34pts
6. Martin Roberts            55              37pts
7. Neil Westbrook            03              53pts
8. Lawrence Drennan     57              60pts
9. John Berry                     112              73pts
10. Howard Garner             67             74pts
11. Alan Watkinson            23              77pts
12. Chris Chatfield                7               80pts
13. Vicky Gibson                  62              89pts
14. John Pemerton             114            106pts
15. Charles Legg                   25            110pts
16. Dave Williams                33            117pts
17. Ray Woods                       51            122pts
18. Mike Williamson          43            133pts

Ten races sailed.  The next event in the IOM Winter series is on Saturday 25th January.

Wind, sun and enthusiasm by all the entrants for this years Birkenhead Christmas race for the IOM, was evident today at Gautby Road.  As this was the first round of the Northern District Winter Series for the IOM, there were 9 club’s represented, including the host club. This produced the 20 entrants and 16 races were achieved by the Race Officer and Commodore John Brierley, before the light finally closed in. Racing was in 2nd suit all day with some viscous but short lived gusts providing testing moments for most of the competitors.
Early front runner by the lunchtime break after 8 races was John Tushingham from Keighley (Vision) but as the day progressed Graham Elliott (Britpop) from the host club came back into contention and eventually proved a worthy winner in the testing conditions. There was a big battle for the final podium position with Peter Baldwin (Lintel MMX) securing it with a fine win in the last race from Derek Priestley (Dead Reckoning).

It was good to see 10 designs of IOM’s ranging form the Asset of Dave Stewart right through to the current range of popular designs. All boats had their moments today which kept everyone on their toes.

As this was the clubs Christmas race there was no entry fee charged by the club, but all competitors gave a wrapped gift and all those at the prizegiving went away with a prize (not there own gift!).

Thanks must go to John Brierley for acting as Race Officer together with Bernie, Jack and Joyce who provided the supporting roles to make this another successful event.

The next Birkenhead IOM race is our 3rd Winter series on 11th January, all visitors as usual are always welcome.

Merry Christmas.

Next Week (Saturday 21/12/19) is Round 2 of the Winter Series for RG65/DF65.  Visitors always welcome – Start time 12:00.

Click on the Image to resize.

The forecast for this first IOM Winter Series race was rather dire with rain potentially heavy at times all afternoon.  As it was we raced for most of the afternoon without rain, which started during the last race or so, but even then not too heavy, making for a great afternoons sailing. There was plenty of discussion about was it a No 1 or No 2 breeze to start with and the fleet was split nearly 50/50.  Putting a boat with No 1 rig on the water 10 minutes before the start looked like the right choice, but that all changed by start time as we waited for the final stragglers (some who had changed down).  A number of nasty gusts swept down the lake from the clubhouse giving some tricky control issues for those in Top Rig as the race started and didn’t change when coming down the first run.  By the time Race 2 started most of the fleet were in No 2 and things were a little more serene, although there were still a few difficult gusts leading to nose dives if you were in the wrong area on the run.  Seven races were completed before a break for a late lunch, with the wins being shared around the top boats.

After lunch, the wind seemed to have abated and a number of skippers opted to change back up.  There were a few difficult gusts during race 8, but then things settled down to be a good Top suit breeze and anyone who stayed in a smaller rig was now at a disadvantage especially at the sheltered top marks.  Five more races were completed  before the rain set in, the light was fading and racing was stopped.  All of the racing was very close especially at the top of the fleet, where being on the wrong side of a shift could see a lead evaporate very quickly and even lost.  As is often the case though, some helms always manage to make the best of the conditions and the final results after 12 races were:

1. Brad Gibson                 2         17pts
2. Martin Roberts         22         20pts
3. Darin Ballington      85         32pts
4. Peter Baldwin            63         34pts
5. Graham Elliot           117         40pts
6. Alan Watkinson        23         62pts
7. Lawrence Drennan  57         64pts
8. John Brierley              84         72pts
9. John Berry                    12         85pts

For information Brad had 5 wins, Martin 4, Darin 2 and Peter 1