DF65’s
Another crisp start today at Gautby road, but sunny and very happily nice and dry. The wind direction was South Easterly or South S. Easterly, but varied during the morning going slightly right mid-morning and then back again towards the end of the racing.
Good turnout of 8 skippers despite one or two regulars missing, and really close racing with everyone putting in some good results over the 8 races. The close racing also resulted in a number of close encounters of the boat to boat kind with the resulting turns affecting results. There were also a couple of proper entanglements with John being particularly unlucky to be collected while clearly leading a race.
As there were only 8 skippers it was agreed that race winners would record the results, while starts were “self-monitored”. Perhaps because of this the fleet wasn’t at all line shy, and although the starts were in fact pretty fair a dedicated RO might have called a few generals during the morning.
There were three winners during the morning with John starting where he left off last week with a clear win. Mike then managed three bullets and James then put in a couple. As always the start was critical and starting from the favoured pin end and getting the bow down on starboard worked for the first four or five races, but then – as mentioned – the gusts started to pull right, and it payed to start further up the line towards the committee end. James also made a couple of early port tacks pay to pick up a starboard lift along the club side of the lake.
The approach to the windward mark remained tricky, with some really flat patches in some races and the run had some very slow areas as well. Despite doing his share of turns during the morning Mike held on to win from James who had to miss the last race due to time pressure. .
The usual thanks to Commodore Dave for keeping things moving as well as finding time for a few photos and to Malcolm for doing the results which are shown below.
DF95’s
7 skippers wrapped up well to combat the bitterly cold wind with sunny intervals. Much like the morning, the wind was predominantly blowing from the south, blowing from the club house corner of the lake. A similar course to the morning was used with the usual windward mark, spreader and gate, and finishing half way up the lake. The breeze was perfect for ‘A Rigs’. With only 7 boats the starts were self monitored, and first to finish recorded the results. 19 races were sailed providing 2 discards.
It was good to see John Carlin on the start line for the first time in a while and from the start showed the way for the rest of the skippers to follow. The start line looked to have a heavy port bias but this was not necessarily the case, with some skippers starting on starboard and tacking early onto port whilst others held the starboard start as far as possible up the lake before tacking. In the end it didn’t seem to matter with both options proving successful in different races, typical Gautby Rd unpredictability. It was much more about which shift to tack on and which ones might leave you headed going nowhere. This was never more in evidence than when approaching the windward mark where the wind was at its trickiest. The downwind wasn’t as much of a test with not many places being exchanged. The final beat from the gate to the line was a conundrum, port gate or starboard gate was the question the helms had to answer, there wasn’t an easy answer and many places were lost or gained on the final leg.
John C was off to a flyer with 3 straight wins, although Clive did push him right to the line in the first 2 races before Andy took over and pushed him in the 3rd. Further down the battle was just as competitive between Malcolm, Steve, Stuart and John B with positions being swapped throughout the race.
Race 4 and Andy went one better taking the win from Clive with John C 3rd.
Race 5 and it was business as usual for John C taking the first, of 4 straight wins, whilst Malcolm took a 2nd place and Steve the 3rd.
Race 6, Clive followed John C to take the 2nd spot and it was John Bs turn to take the final podium spot. Unfortunately we lost Andy for the rest of the day with technical failure. Races 7, 8 and 9, saw John C taking the last of his run of wins with Clive taking the win in the final race, with Malcolm taking a 2nd and John B and Steve picking up a 3rd place each.
This all made the lower positions very close. There was no doubt about the winner and congratulations go to John C for a solid set of results
Thanks to Clive and Andy for the photos
Results
- 50 John Carlin 7pts 7 wins
- 93 Clive Warren 14pts 1 win
- 2019 Malcolm Harvey 24pts
- 288 John Beech 29pts
- 04 Andy Mearns 34pts 1 win
- 637 Steve Miller 34pts 2 thirds
- 805 Stuart Mearns 34pts
Plenty of layers were required today and caution on the icy footpath. An A+ rig was selected for the light wind conditions.
Starting looked quite straight forward with a strong port end bias on the start line however this didn’t always prove successful with the dying wind on the far side of the course and slowly moving round as the morning progressed. There were a few start line collisions and the usual merry quips exchanged!! Gaining a good start however, wasn’t necessarily a guarantee to be in the leading pack at the windward mark.
There was plenty of potential for errors to be made up the beat as shifts were missed or the wind didn’t behave as it should (or expected)! The port side paid off for the first few races but gains would be made to starboard as the wind slowly moved round to the South.
The downwind leg seemed easier to stay ahead with few place changes and little congestion at the leeward gate with the near mark paying consistently. However, places continued to change on the final approach to the finish line. Competition was tight throughout the fleet with Mike and John tussling for 1st place with a tight following pack of Alan, James & Clive.
With ice covering the lake Friday, there was some trepidation from travelling skippers as to whether racing would go ahead for Round 1 of this seasons IOM Winter series.
Old heads, long schooled in the ways of the ‘Paradise Peninsula’s Micro Climate’ were spot on with skippers arriving to no sign of Ice, the odd spot of liquid sunshine but little to no sign of the predicted Westerly winds.
Racing got underway from the far end beating towards the clubhouse in a faint SE wind with Brad Gibson, Graham Elliott and Martin Roberts fighting a close 3 way battle in race one. Brad kept the momentum going to take races 2 and 3 before an early halt was called with the land breeze all but dissapearing.
Racing resumed after snacks and warm tea and it was Graham Elliott streaking to an all the way win in race 4. Both Alan Bennett and John Brierley were finding form with the former taking race 5 and the latter being pipped at the post in race 6 by Brad.
As the light slowly faded, sails becoming increasingly more difficult to set in what was left of the wind, time was called following race 7 taken by Graham Elliott.
Final placings after 7 races with one discard had Brad winning on 8 points, Graham second on 12 and Alan pipping John on counback for third with both on 19 points.
Commodore Dave chased everyone for a prompt – or even early – start on a standard course. The existing start mark positions offered a choice between a very starboard – or a very port – biased start line. It was so light and fluky that no one reckoned it was worth paddling to do a reset so the starboard biased line was chosen as the “least worst” option. This full course was used for race one, but as the race duration was close to 20 minutes overall it was then agreed to run a shortened Port hand course using the finish mark as the windward mark, and the leeward gate as a leeward mark and spreader. This worked well and enabled the fleet to get in six races until on the seventh, as noted below, the wind went to nothing although Alan had sailed a perfect race and was the only boat to get across the line although Richard got very close before all the other competitors were finished on the water
The wind was really very light and patchy, but it seemed initially to pay to get right down to the pin and then try and get away on starboard. This seemed to pay to start with but in later races it began to pay to start nearer the clubhouse side and then make a short port tack to stay in the middle of the course and keep the options open.
What breeze there was came – as forecast – from the South East, and stayed in until a bit of drizzle brought in a slow reduction in pressure until in race 7 it went absolutely flat, and it was agreed to finish the morning session by giving places on the water.
Various boats showed good speed at different times, including Andy Mearns who was suddenly right on the pace after some mid-session tweaking. There were four different race winners over the morning’s racing, and despite the conditions racing was very keen. With a couple of extra race wins Mike dsp was able to stay clear of the pack on a day where luck was definitely a factor.
Full results as shown below with the usual thanks to Commodore Dave for moving things along, and to Malcom who kindly ROd for us and did the results as well.
In both races one and two Derek Priestley got away sharply at the pin end and was able to tack on to port to lead the fleet up the lake to sail away and bag two bullets. Whilst this would suggest that starting at the port end was the way to go for the morning, as the racing progressed and with considerable shifts developing those getting away cleanly at the starboard end of the line, with potentially more breeze further out on the lake, also started to feature high on the scoreboard. In races three and four the local lads Graham Elliott and Martin Roberts, perhaps not happy about being shown the way around ‘their lake’ by Derek took a 1st each, although Derek was still in the mix scoring two thirds and then a first again in race five. Darin Ballington also featured highly in several races in this first session, with two seconds and a third.
Whilst getting a clean start was a priority, the challenge for the whole fleet was getting in and out of the leeward gate unscathed. With a 20 strong fleet it was always busy at this end of the lake. Tacking through the middle on the shifts rather than opting for a safer but potentially slower option to sail around the fleet wasn’t for the faint hearted, with several well placed skippers sadly finding this out the hard way.
After a short drinks break another five races got underway and it was the same three sailors in Derek, Graham and Martin hogging the top spots, but with other helms not far behind. Peter Baldwin, who was finally getting into gear, Darin Ballington and Robbie McIntosh all picked up some low counting scores. John Brierley also had a good albeit not consistent morning with several low scoring races, although his day would eventually be cut short due to technical issues with his boat. In race nine, Gary Parkin sailed a great race and was a shoe in for the win until he misjudged and hit a leeward gate mark on the last rounding. The chasing pack pounced and he dropped down to 7th.
At the break for lunch, with three hours before the cut-off time and ten races completed, all seemed good for sixteen plus races. However, as the afternoon session began the signs were there that it might be more of a challenge as the breeze was beginning to fade. In the lighter breeze both Graham continued as he’d left off scoring 1, 2, 1 in the first three races. Martin and Derek were also up there picking up podium positions, but others were coming to the fore. Peter took a 1st and 2nd in these three and Roger Crates picked up his second 3rd of the day.
By race fourteen, as the breeze leaked away, it was clear that getting to the extra discard at race sixteen was going to be difficult, but it could be done. In the fickle winds now seen, keeping the boat moving even if not in exactly the direction you wanted was key. Martin made the best of what wind there was scoring a 3, 1, 2 with Peter also taking another 1st and 2nd to add to his scorecard. Conversely Graham didn’t feature in the top three in these last races, which made it very tight for the overall. Roger picked up a 1st, Derek another 2nd and Paul Plested popped up to take take two thirds.
By 3:30pm the wind had gone completely, and with sixteen races done Graham Elliott came out on top with 30pts to take home the Strebor Trophy. Martin Roberts, in a closely fought competition, was just one point behind Graham in 2nd place on on 31 points. Derek Priestley finished 3rd overall and Peter Baldwin was 4th. Whilst others may not feature in the top spots overall, there was clearly some great racing throughout the fleet. Rod Radbourne put together a good series of races with all counting results being single digit scores and several others had some low scoring placings, if not the consistency they might have wanted. Great also to see the both Clive Warren and John Tideswell, both newcomers to the IOM class, getting involved and no doubt learning a lot from the experience.
