Category: iom

A great afternoon of very competitive sailing with 19 boats on the water.  Was this really a club race afternoon??  Traffic delayed a few visitors from starting the first couple of races and a number of boats were blighted with various technical issues leading to missed races.

The breeze was pretty much as forecast with a good mid to top end top suit afternoon, with occasional gusts mid afternoon that caught some boats out with a major nose dive.  Peter donned the waders at the start of the day and moved a few marks around to give the best course for the swinging breeze.

Brad started off the day well with wins in the first four races, until Rob got in the groove winning the next two after his traffic delayed arrival, with Brad getting the final win before a break.  Consistency of results was proving difficult as getting on the wrong side of some shifts could prove costly.  A good part of the fleet had their moment of glory towards the front of the fleet in at least one race however.  Graham Elliott was pretty consistent during this first session with plenty of seconds and thirds, with Peter Baldwin, Darin Ballington, John Brierley, Chris Harris, Shaun Priestley and Martin Roberts all picking up seconds or thirds at some point.  There was also some good results from Alan Bennett and Tracey Ballington in the first session.

After the break, the wins were shared between Rob (3), Brad (2), Shaun (1) and Graham (1).  Minor places were again shared around the fleet with most of the earlier front runners once again picking up a podium place, with Alan Bennett and Derek Priestley being added to the earlier list.

Consistency and finsihing every race was key to doing well and Brad ended up the clear winner by a 28 point margin from Graham in second and then John Brierley in third a further 25 points adrift.  The final result would have been different though if Rob Walsh had sailed every race (suffering gear failure 3 races from the end and arriving late), Chris Harris having to leave early and Shaun et al hadn’t been delayed by by traffic at the start of the day.

A great afternoon with pretty much champagne sailing and a strong competitive fleet to test everyones’ capabilities.

Thanks to all the visitors who helped give today’s racing that extra edge.  Thanks also to Dave Williams and Judith, without whom the event would not have happened and who even with a number of races suffering from general recalls we still completed 14 races during the afternoon.  Photos courtesy of Dave Williams with a few more  from him in the Gallery via the following link  here.

For the IOM sailors in the North, there is the Wnndsor Trophy open event at Fleetwood next Sunday (8th Septmber and Entry via the MYA Events page) and the next IOM racing at the club is on Saturday 21st September.

The forecast for today had been good since Thursday with sunshine and a decent 10mph WNW, straight down the lake and so it proved to be for the 7 sailors who hit the start line for the first race under the keen eye of RO Dave Williams (who we also have to thank for the few photos).

Peter and John tussled in the first couple of races with Peter coming out on top and Alan and Bill picking up the other podium spots.  Bill then took race three, with John winning Race 4 and Brad making it up to 8 boats with a late start in this race.  Brad took Race 5 and Bill getting his second win in Race 6 before the break.  Peter, John and Brad picked up the podium spots, although at the first windward mark, it could be anyones race, with tight bunching and the favoured side switching within a matter of seconds.

After the break, the wins were once again spread around, with Peter, John and Brad each picking up another couple.  Bill missed out on a win, but had a good run of top three results, along with Brad and John.  There was some good close racing through the remainder of the fleet. Alan picking up some good results in the Corbie 5 on its maiden outing and Charles getting the right setup on his K2 to take fifth place overall and Guy improving during the afternoon (after having some early battery problems) and getting more time on the water after a long layoff.  Neil may well have placed higher, but he unfortunately had to retire and miss the last three races due to gear failure.

The final result was a win for Peter on countback over John who had a better second session, with Bill taking third just ahead of Brad who had to count a DNC of 9 points.

Many thanks to Dave for being RO again and taking the photos.  Next IOM Summer Series is on 31st August.

1. Peter Baldwin         63  Britpop!     20pts (4 wins)
2. John Brierley           84  Venti           20pts  (3 wins)
3. Bill Culshaw            21  Britpop!       25pts  (2 wins)
4. Brad Gibson             42  Post Punk   27pts (3 wins)
5. Charles Legg           40  K2                   55pts
6. Alan Watkinson     23  Corbie 5        57pts
7. Guy Cowper             16  Lintel MMX 58pts
8. Neil Westbrook      03  Widget           65pts

 

Superb conditions for IOM Round 3

A smaller than usual number of skippers arrived to a solid predicted WNW wind that aside from one or two lighter moments, called for B rigs for the days racing.

PRO Dave Williams, assisted by Neil Westbrook had our 10 skippers under way on time at 1 pm. Graham Elliott came out of the blocks at pace taking race one with some crafty shift sailing in a comfortable B rig that had a few shifts for all to think about on the approach to the windward mark and spreader.

 With time alloacted for all skippers to sort their trims, helped by our fleets more experienced heads sharing their knowledge to get all up to pace our race team set about firing a solid 5 more races before a break in the clubhouse. 

At the break, Brad had enjoyed the conditions to put some solid races in. Both Peter Baldwin and Graham Elliott were ticking off consistent scores with both Alan Watkinson and new addition to our IOM fleet Ian Davies scoring a solid 4th place apiece. 

With a break and some checks over rigging and tune complete, it was more of the same for another 6 races. After slow starts bothh Andrea and Martin Roberts found the form they are known for with some solid scores, with Martin in particular warming to his  new to him design.

The afternoon session racing was close with a missed shift often being the difference among the front group. All can say they had their strong moments but just as good racing should be, it was those that got the better of the fine margin moments with smart sailing that scored well in the end.

In the wash up it was Brad who took the win from Graham, with Peter recording a strong day for 3rd.

A very special mention from the day goes to George Bennett who at nine years of age showed some excellent form. George was sailing the TS2 design and as the day progressed, narrowed the margin on the leading group to such an extent that he was mixing it up regularly at a number of mark roundings. 

Certainly one to watch as we go forward and great to have you with us George!

Our next IOM Summer series round is on the 6th of July and being the week prior to the 2 day Fleetwood Ranking, we welcome anyone looking to get in a solid days practice against one of the countries premier IOM fleets.

Entry can be made at https://birkenheadrspc.co.uk/iom-summer-2024-4/

1. Brad Gibson                 42  Post PUNK  11pts
2. Graham Elliott            09  Britpop!       23pts
3. Peter Baldwin              63  Britpop!       35pts
4. Martin Roberts            12  K2                   43pts
5. Alan Bennett               180  Britpop!      49pts  2x2nd
6. Andrea Roberts            27  Britpop!      49pts  1x2nd
7. Bill Culshaw                  21  Britpop!       56pts
8. Ian Davies                      33  Britpop!       75pts
9. Alan Watkinson           23  Britpop!      76pts
10. George Bennett            17  TS2                86pts

If you were unable to sail this week, then you missed out on a great sail with a good top suit breeze straight down the lake along with some sun to warm things up as the breeze was a bit cool.

Dave Williams got things started soon after 13:00 after giving Peter some time to get his boat on the water after the obligatory mark moving before we started.  The line had been shortened for the small turnout of only 5 boats this week and proved to have a fair amount of port bias as the line set for the expected NW wind was more WNW or even W at times.  At least we could get across the line on Starboard and there were a few occasions when it was nearly a Starboard end start.

Sailing his Post PUNK design Brad tended to dominate the results with a string of firsts in the first session of 5 races, before we had a slightly early break to allow Peter time to fix a minor electrical problem.  Peter and Bill were usually fighting for second spot, although Alan was often in the mix as well, leading to some very close finishes.  It was good to see Stan out for his first Saturday outing in the Widget and with some helpful setup tips from Brad getting the best from the boat and keeping him in contention.

In the second session, Brad continued to dominate proceedings with faster boat speed on most legs with the only chance of passing him by catching a good shift or a decent gust.  Peter did take one win after a close port/starboard call left Brad feeling that he needed to do a turn allowing Peter enough distance to keep ahead to the finish.

Peter and Bill continued their battle for who took second place, although Alan was always in contention with one second secured in the afternoon session.  Dave kept things moving well all afternoon and with the small fleet and only a few longer breaks for boat tweaking, we finished slightly early  with 12 races completed.  Many thanks to Dave once again for being the RO and keeping the scores plus taking a few photographs, so that you can see what you missed!

1. Brad Gibson          Post Punk  10pts
2. Peter Baldwin       Britpop!     21pts
3. Bill Culshaw          Britpop!     27pts
4. Alan Watkinson   Britpop!     35pts
5. Stan Metcalfe       Widget        48pts