A select group of six IOM helms turned out for this afternoon at the start of warmer weather. With a high pressure sat over the area hopes of a decent sail weren’t very high when arriving at 12:00 to a flat calm lake with the merest hint of a breeze. Fortunately by the start of racing a gentle 5 or 6 knots was blowing from the NW which held for most of the afternoon leading to close racing with a number of place changes if you got the shifts wrong.
Under the eagle eye of Start Line Judge Dave Williams, John Brierley started the day well with a close win over Andrea Roberts trying out the “Vanilla” sailed by Martin two weeks ago. Andrea then proceeded to dominate the fleet by taking the next three wins, before Martin took race 5 and Andrea the final win before a short break.
Martin spent his break on re-rigging the jib on the Rubix of Charles Legg (sporting a new set of Housemartin sails), which helped place him in the mix for most races.
Racing re-started in a slightly lighter breeze, although it soon returned to previous levels. Peter won Races 7 and 9, Martin took Race 8 and Andrea the final race of the day. Neil Westbrook took several second places in his Widget, proving that this older design can still hold its own in Club racing.
Andrea took the afternoon comfortably, with Peter second and Martin third, followed by Neil in fourth and without a race win. Thanks again must go to Bernie and Jack for running our racing and the photos are courtesy of Dave Williams (whilst he wasn’t watching the line and calling us back).
- Andrea Roberts 122 Vanilla 12pt 5 wins
- Peter Baldwin 63 Lintel MMX 19pts 2 wins
- Martin Roberts 55 Widget 22pts 2 wins
- Neil Westbrook 03 Widget 27pts
- John Brierley 84 brit pop 32pts 1 win
- Charles Legg 25 Rubix 42pts
After 10 races
After the heavy and persistent rain in the morning, it was easing up by the time rigging commenced for most sailors and then dry by the time racing started. Peter made some minor changes to the positions of buoys ready for the first race to start in a decent Top Suit breeze from the ESE, with significant shifts from E to SE accompanied by some decent gusts.
Bill Culshaw started the day with a good solid win in Race 1, before Martin Roberts took Race 2 and then Peter Baldwin Race 3. Martin won again in Race 4, Peter took Race 5 and Bill Race 6, giving an even split on wins going into an early break so that Martin could repair a broken shroud without delaying proceedings or anyone missing a race.
After the break, with shroud repaired and boat setup again, Martin took Races 7 and 8 before Peter gained wins in races 9 to 11. Bill unfortunately had transmitter problems for two races and so his challenge for the day ended by picking up two DNF’s. It was all to play for in the last race, which Martin won with a clear and unassailable lead. Peter got caught up with John Brierley on the final beat to the finish after John temporarily lost control whilst on port, leaving Bill to take second spot. This left Martin with the overall win and Peter in second one point behind, ruing the loss of second place. Bill still ended up third, able to discard his two DNF’s ahead of John who had a consistent afternoon, but with a win eluding him and just making the difference. A great afternoon sail with thanks to Bernie and Jack as usual with the sun putting in an appearance by 2pm just to top it all off.
Scoring footnote – it turns out that if the points had been tied, Peter and Martin could not have been separated on their counting races, so Martin would still have won overall by beating Peter in the last race.
