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Category: Fleets

IOM Social racing #4 18/7/20

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

RG65 Social Racing #1 11/7/20

Five RG65 skippers were treated to a super sunny afternoon sail in a decent top suit breeze of 6 to 10 knots with a few stronger gusts from the NNW.   John Brierley set out his stall for the afternoon winning four of the first 6 races before there was a short break for drinks, with Neil Westbrook and and Peter Baldwin taking the other two wins.  After initial problems with a wayward receiver and missing the first race, Dave Williams was loaned a replacement and went well to gain a second in race 2.

After the break, John continued his wining ways with another two and a further one each for Neil and Peter.  Alan Watkinson came good in the very last race, gaining a second after some early problems with rig selection and setup.  This gave John the overall win after 10 races, with Peter second and Neil third.  Many thanks to Bernie for acting as RO and scorer for the afternoon.

  1. John Brierley           84     Uno                         10pts
  2. Peter Baldwin          63     Pocket Rocket    16pts
  3. Neil Westbrook       03     Pocket Rocket     19pts
  4. David Williams        33     Pocket Rocket     28pts
  5. Alan Watkinson       23     Scurry                     32pts

Next week (18/7/20) continues with IOM Social Racing #4; if you are interested in joining in, please contact Graham Elliott to be added to the list.  Further events listed on the 2020 Calendar.

IOM Social racing #3 4/7/20

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

IOM Winter 2019 #7 7/3/20

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

RG65 & DF65 Winter Series #4 15/02/20

Another week on and another storm in the form of Dennis threatened to batter the boats at this, the last of the RG65/DF65 Winter series.  As it turned out, the club happened to be in a fortunate location with manageable winds and very little rain.  The average direction at the start was SSE and so diagonally across the lake from the clubhouse to the far corner.

Four RG’s and three DF’s were on the start line for the first race after John Brierleys journey from North Wales was blocked by floods and fallen trees and other visitors decided that Dennis was going to cause problems for their journey.  The three DF’s opted for their B rig due to the expected gusts whilst in the RG’s there was a mix of B swings and low aspect A conventional rigs.

Key to getting a good result was keeping the boat moving and being on the right tack for the rapid shifts that occurred.  Boats could be overpowered in a gust one second and sat waiting for the wind the next.  Seven races were completed before tea with some strong gusts causing problems downwind for most boats.  At the break Neil had three wins, with Alan and Peter two apiece in the RG fleet.  Andrew took the lions share of 6 wins in the DF fleet with Richard one, having taken the first.

After the break, the wind initially seemed to have moderated due to the light rain now falling, but the rain soon stopped and the gusts started again, some of which were from a S or SSW direction.  After completing 11 races, the RG wins were shared between Neil (conventional A) with 5, Peter (swing B) with 4 and Alan (conventional A) taking 2 wins. Peter took the day by two points from Neil who had an unfortunate sinking feeling during the last race, with Alan in third.  Andrew comfortably took the overall win in the DF fleet with 10 wins, with John Carlin second after Richard dropped out at race 6.

RG result

  1. Peter Baldwin            63            14pts       4 wins
  2. Neil Westbrook         03            16pts       5 wins
  3. Alan Wilkinson          23            22pts      2 wins
  4. Dave Williams            33            30pts

DF result

  1. Andrew Peter             19             9pts        10 wins
  2. John Carlin                  11            20pts
  3. Richard Robinson     01           26pts         1 win

Next week (22nd February) is round 6 of the IOM Winter series.

IOM Winter 2019 #5 8/2/20

With storm Ciara about to hit our country some skippers chose to stay away but 8 skippers saw the opportunity to enjoy yet another days great sailing at Birkenhead with the sun shining and a good top suit wind with plenty of gusts to contend with.
After a closely fought battle over 12 races it was Brad Gibson who took the win with 6 wins sailing his Red Wine from Graham Elliott sailing his Widget.
Again, thanks to Bernie, Jack and Dave for running the race, much appreciated.
  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