The forecasts for this the first day of the Championship were not looking very hopeful, although with bright sun forecast for most of the day, there was a good chance of a light sea breeze forming. There were some short lived breeze from the right direction early on, but it was very short lived. We did however, manage to start soon after 10:00 after a short briefing from Race Officer Martin Roberts. The initial breeze did not last and the first race was one where there was breeze, but plenty of holes and changes in direction and two laps of the lake took 20 minutes to complete, with Roger Errington taking the first race win from Nigel Barrow and Roger Crates. Nigel then strung a series of three wins before the first break for “coffee” with homemade biscuits courtesy of Jocelyn Watkinson. There were good performances in these initial races from Graham Whalley, Roger C, Peter Baldwin, Alan Watkinson and Simon Robinson.
Suitably fortified after the break, Peter Baldwin strung three race wins together to Nigel’s single one with the podium filled variously with Nigel, Simon, Bill Culshaw, David Adam, Peter and Neil Davies. We then had a lunch break after 8 races, with Nigel leading on 8 points, Peter second on 12 and Roger Crates third on 25. The sea breeze had now formed reasonably well, although there was still the opportunity to get in a hole or on the wrong side of a shift, with some opportunities to therefore make up (or lose) places.
We then continued the theme of aher 4 race block before a drink break. Race wins were gained by Peter (2), Alan and Nigel, with the podium places shared between Roger E, Peter, Roger C, Bill, Simon, Graham and Nigel. The wind was starting to get more variable in both strength and direction as some cloud cover probably affected the sea breeze and allowed the gradient to have more influence. The top three remained as at lunch time, with Nigel still leading on 18 points, Peter second on 23 and Roger C a further 15 points behind.
Martin advised everyone that we would finish after 16 races and so the final 4 races began with the breeze more variable again, resulting in some difficult decisions for everyone on where to start. Nigel had the best of the final session, with three wins and a clean sweep only spoilt by Roger C who came from behind and sailing through his lee side after the last gate. To be fair, this was anyones race from the leading bnch of 4 with the breeze filling in from the rear, before disappearing altogether as the leaders finished, vindicating the decision to finish on 16 races. Once again, the same names figured in the podium positions, with no one person dominating.
So at the end of Day 1, Nigel leads on 20 points, now 8 points clear of Peter with Roger C a further 20 points adrift. All still to play for tomorrow on day 2 when we will hopefully complete a further 16 races in the available time. A cloudy day is forecast with a light SE breeze of 6-7mph, so the course is likely to be rotated by 180 degrees, giving a further test for everyone to choose the right way around a new course.
Thanks must go to Martin Roberts assisted by Neil Westbrook and Dave Williams (who also acted as photographer) for running the racing and Bernie for manning the galley all day.
More photos from Dave will be added to a Flikr Album on Monday when time allows.
This reschedule of Event #1 in the ND Winter Series for the IOM was after Ice stopped play in December. Looking at the forecast for today might have put off a few from attending, but we had 13 boats on the start line for Race 1 in a light 4 or 5 knot breeze almost straight down the lake. There was a slight delay to proceedings whilst Neil moved marks around after a 180 degree wind-shift occurred whilst we were about to start the briefing as a sea breeze formed early. The breeze held for most of the day, with it strengthening after lunch and then dying back as the rain arrived for the last few races.
Darin Ballington (Pikanto) set the early pace with a win in Race 1, followed in Race 2 by a win for Bill Culshaw (Britpop!). Next to gain a win was Graham Elliott (Fractel) in Race 3 and then James Hadden (Britpop!) had his first win in Race 4. Next to see the front was Brad Gibson sailing his pimped TS2 with wins in both races 5 & 6, followed by another for Bill in Race 7, when we had a break for an early lunch. So 7 races and 5 different winners with 4 different designs. Key to getting a good result was choosing the right place to start and staying in the pressure. At the break James was leading by one point from Brad, with Bill 10 points behind them. In the mix at this point and close behind Bill was Rob Walsh sailing a Lintel, with a number of results in the top 3.
After a short break for lunch, another 5 races were sailed in an increasing WNW breeze and some sun. Brad took race 8 followed by another win for Darin in race 9. After a string of good results, James picked up another win in race 10, before Rob picked up his first win in race 11. Obviously eager to get to a drink at the next break, Brad gained the win in Race 12. This left the top three after 12 races as James, followed by Brad and Rob.
There was only a very light breeze from over the houses today, with some occasional pressure, but also some holes. A course was setup starting from the far end with a windward mark and spreader at the clubhouse end and a gate on the far side below the start. Boats usually had to tack to make the Windward mark, but it was never too clear cut which was the favoured way there.
The expected gales for the North West seemed to miss Gautby Road. The little wind that did appear was not consistent, initially from over the houses then veering from the clubhouse end. A course was eventually set and racing started with the 10 competing sailors on their best behaviour on the start line with very few call backs. 
