A nice Southerly greeted us at the Dam for todays IOM racing - our second ‘Super Wednesday’ for the year. A rigs were the universal choice today and were kept throughout the whole day even though the wind strengthened for the afternoon session and nose dives and round ups proved that we were pushing the limits of this rig. 
The wind was very shifty and frequently a wind change would only last for moments. Often you went about on a big header only to find that a few seconds later the change had reversed itself. 
Dave Woolley had some electrical issues with his boat and did not make the starting line today but generously stayed to do PRO duties for the whole day. Thank you greatly Dave.
The mornings handicap event resulted in a tight scoreboard featuring three tied results. Gary McCarthy won with a very consistent scorecard - nothing worse than 4th after taking the discard. He was just one point ahead of Alan Short who had two race wins to his credit in a six race series. Al finished the day sailing off an impressive 50 second handicap. John Penman completed the podium finishing the morning very strongly with a win and a second in the last two races. Well sailed all!
The idea of a Super Wednesday is to put a bit of variety into the sailing program. Sometimes on these days we will be sailing long distance races. On other occasions, as today, we will have our usual (but shortened) handicap series in the morning and then something a bit different in the afternoon. Today’s afternoon event was short course scratch racing. A ‘gates-both-ends’ course was used. We started between buoys 5 and 6 and raced up to buoys 3 and 4 (three laps). The gates-both-ends feature threw in an extra element of decision making into the racing especially on such a shifty day as the best buoy choice was never clear. The thing that I enjoyed about these races was that you always felt that you were in the hunt and a favourable shift could propel you from the back to the front of the fleet (but just as easily the vice versa could occur).
Honourable mentions go to John Hall and Alan Short. John who took out race #3 said that he could not remember the last time that he won a scratch race. And Al’s win in race #4 was his first ever scratch race win and he did it after returning from an OCS start! Congratulations to you both.
The winner’s dais looked a bit similar to the mornings event with Gary McCarthy taking out the day again with the most consistent scorecard (all podiums!). Phil Jackman snuck in for second place with impressive results for an older boat in a scratch event. John Penman again took third overall and was always at the head of the field in the afternoons races. So congratulations John, Phil and Gary.


Coming up:

Saturday: IOM CLassics at Risdon Brook. Gates open around 1000 once Park Run has concluded
Sunday: IOM Scratch racing at Montrose. 1:00 button press 
Next Wednesday: DF95 handicap racing at Risdon Brook Dam. 10:30 button press


Shorty

​A last tune up for three of our own, who are about to head to NSW to compete in the A Class Nationals.

Seven sailors today, with a mix of Blisters, Venom and a Sweet 9.

Eleven races completed for the day under the watchful gaze of Ray Joyce, who officiated proceedings for us today.

Stu Dawes had a great day - showing that there is plenty of life left in the Venoms still, winning the day on 17 points.

Lisa took out second spot with 26 points, with Phil (Port Tack) Turnbull taking third with 29 points.

Thanks again to Ray for doing the PRO duties today - and tot he many members who turned up to watch the racing.

Photos from today - kindly taken by Ray, can be seen by clicking on this Link

Coming up

Wednesday sees IOM Handicap at the Dam, starting at 1030.

Next Sunday is IOM Scratch Round 3 , at MBYC, button press at 1300. Any volunteers for PRO would be appreciated for this sail day. Please contact Ray if you're available.

Kyle

​A difficult day today on the water. Initially, we were all huddled in the MBYC shed, wondering if we'd get a start. Drizzle turned to rain and the forecast was bleak.

Eventually, enough sailors said yes to an attempt at sailing and we were rewarded. The rain abated, but not much wind came in and we sailed 8 races in a 1-4 knot breeze from the North West through to South East.

We didn't run with a Pro today. Stu set the courses and we policed each other at the start line. Thanks to those who were called and went back without fuss for a restart. It makes things so much more enjoyable with simple compliance to the rules.

Today, Gary McCarthy was the one to beat. He had his GC24 tuned beautifully, and sailed th elight weather courses really efficiently. A worthy winner today with 11 points.
Lisa overcame her early setback with the winch and sailed well throughout, with a 14 enough for second place overall.
Roddy Jackman also had a real good day, finishing one behind Lisa in third, on 15 points.

Andrew Wardrop dominated the Silver Fleet with his new Proteus 3D Printed IOM. Taking the day out with 7 points.
Simon Delaney took out second place on countback to John Short in 3rd, both on 12 points.

Coming up

Wednesday is IOM Mid Week Handicap at the Dam, starting at 1030.

Next Sunday is A Class Scratch Scratch at Montrose, starting at 1300 - Club boat available for anyone who wants to give it a go.

Kyle

 ​For the Classics and Woodies, we decided to run today's sailing like the successful round we had at Trevallyn last year. Two Woodie races followed by two Classics races and so on.

With a long lunch break in the middle due to lack of wind, we still got in 8 races with each division, which was a fantastic result.

We had 10 Woodies sailing today, and 7 Classics.

Stu Dawes ran proceedings with good overall control, which is why we got so many good races in. Sometimes the wind didn't co-operate for us with the significant shifts, but we could only work with what was in our control. That said, just one race abandonment and some really good courses ensured that we all enjoyed the day as much as possible. Great to note the amount of sailors finishing the day saying what a pleasant day's sailing it was.

In the Woodies division, the competiton was really close, as evidenced int he final results. 4 points separating 1st and 6th place!!
Rod Marshall came out winner of the Woodies with 18 points.
Second place went to Andrew Wardrop on 19 points
Third was Wayne Behrens on 20 points.

The Classics division was also hotly contested with 3 points separating the top 4.
Peter Webberley took out the Classics with 14 points.
Lisa Blackwood took out second on countback with 16 points.
Kyle Stewart took 3rd, having lost out on the countback - also on 16 points

Well done everyone on such an enjoyable day. A longer one with the 11am start through to 4 finish, but the extra two hours allowed two sets of 8 races with a fairly lengthy lunch break.

Thanks again to Stu for doing the PRO duties today. It was really appreciated, as well as to John Hall who also came to PRO, but was given a Woodie to sail instead :)

For those sailing IOM Scratch tomorrow, see you at MBYC for a 1pm button press.

For anyone interested, we will also be at MBYC on Monday from 1pm, sailing the A Class yachts in preparation for the National Champs in a few weeks time. If you'd like a sail, feel free to come along. We also have hte Club A sitting in the boat shed for anyone who would like to have a sail of that one as well.

Kyle

With a  lovely summer’s day, a temperature nudging 30 degrees and a North Westerly of about 5 knots the scene was set for some more DF95 handicap racing at Risdon Brook dam.
Lisa Blackwood kindly offered to do the PRO duties today giving our regular DF95 PRO Andrew Wardrop a well earned day off. Thank you so much for your work today Lisa! Some of the courses that Lisa set were quite creative and they worked well for the conditions even though there were considerable shifts happening throughout the day. 
For the last two races Lisa set a course involving gates each end (ie every buoy was a gate). You had to think carefully about your selection. It was not just a matter of making the choice on the basis of windward or leeward buoy as sometimes one buoy was favoured with more wind pressure.
Buzzy Behrens came out on top today a good 5 points clear of second place. Buzzy has developed a reputation for his knowledge of the dam especially when conditions are a bit flukey. Second place went to Richard Whylie who had the most consistent scorecard featuring lots of 3rd and 4th places. And Chris Wood took out third place and was one of four skippers to win two races. Congratulations Buzzy, Richard and Chris.

With the IOM Woodie and Classics sail day this coming Saturday, Peter Webberley has generously offered te use of his spare TS-2 for anyone that would like to have a sail. If interested, please contact Peter or Kyle.

Peter also has an IOM Woodie (Ellipsis) for sale at the moment. It is listed on the RBRYC Website in the Club news / For Sale area



Coming up:
Saturday: Woodies and Classics Invitation at Risdon Brook Dam (11:00 button press)
Sunday: IOM scratch racing at Montrose (1:00 button press)

Monday : A few skippers will be sailing their A Class boats from 1pm for preparation for the Nationals a few weeks later. Everyone is welcome to come along as well if htey wish to have a practice sail.
Next Wednesday: IOM Handicap Shield racing at Risdon Brook Dam (10:30 button press)


Shorty

​A difficult day overall today. Some nightmares returned with wind direction scarily similar to last years IOM Nationals. Strength from nothing to 25 knots with not much time between extremes, with a few rain squalls added in for good measure. As our friends at MBYC reported on their sailing results today "The forecast was of the type "it may blow and it may rain but it may not, and if it does we have no idea how hard or where from."
So it proved to be."

We had six sailors along today and with John Short directing things for us, we got way nicely on time. Unfortunately, Ray had a boat issue just prior to button press ont he first race, however was fixed for race 2.

Boats were either in C (Ray, Kyle and John) or C2 rigs (Lisa, Rod and Stu), wit Lisa changing up to a C for the last 3 races. In a way, it did handicap things a little bit, but it's what the skippers felt was right in the variable conditions.

We got 10 races finished in the session, with Kyle running away to a dominant win today on just 10 points.
Ray took out second spot, with 19 points and Lisa rounded out the top 3 with 21.

The day required a lot of concentration with a heavily flowing tide and a lot of effort spent in looking for ht eright breeze and being on the correct tack to take advantage when you could.

An enjoyable day overall, with a few sprinkles of frustrations that all days have.

Unfortunately, that's the last Marblehead sail till Mid March (John Emms Memorial), after the National Championships.

Coming up

Wednesday sees DF95 Handicap at the Dam, starting at 1030.

Saturday is the IOM Woodie/Classic day at Risdon Brook, button press at 1300

Next Sunday is IOM Scratch, also at MBYC, button press at 1300

Kyle