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Eleven IOM’s fronted for today’s racing in cool conditions, with a basically westerly air stream in mid A rig conditions. Unusually for Montrose, the breeze was very intermittent with a moderate current and quite bumpy waves considering the lightish breeze. Nine races were completed with a beat to the outer northern mark down to blue and red - 2 laps. Just before lunch the breeze kicked in so the fleet returned for a rig change and a bite to eat. After lunch the breeze started to abate which helped Justin as he was the only one to stick with his A rig and scored 4 wins for the day. Rod M had 2 wins sailing his Corby 5 - next week we hope to see his new Red Ant woody on the water. Ray & Chris were sailing very consistently with Chris flying a new set of his home made sails ( very nice). A good days sailing which would have been enhanced with some sunshine. Winners today, were David Jones, in first, with Ray Joyce and Justin Rogers tied for second. I believe this is Justin’s first podium finish for a day’s sailing. Well done Justin. 
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Great to see a turnout of 11 sailors today, as well as a welcome return to Mathew Gray, after an absence of a few years. Great to see you back. From reports, the breeze was nice most of the day, with the only complication being the appearance of the rain on a few occasions. Very close results at the top. Lisa taking out the day on 20 points - a very consistent day with worst counted score a third. Second was Rod Jackman - a welcome return to the top of the leaderboard - on 26 points, narrowly edging out Stu Dawes, in third, on 26.1 points. Interesting also, to see 9 different hulls out of the 11 competitors. A real nice spread of designs.  As predicted, light winds today oscillating between north & south with some westerly slants. A rigs all day with a number of course changes and a few very light patches, but the boats were never becalmed - putting a premium on keeping them moving. The fleet of 13 achieved 10 races, and when the sun came out about midday and the temperature rose, the sailing was excellent. Not sure who was starring - certainly not me as I had a number of seniors moments trying to sail the correct courses (ed – think again Andrew….). Did have one race chasing Peter Turner sailing an older design which just sailed away from me. Peter (Goat) is a very experienced sailor who with a bit more familiarity with the IOM will be a real force to be reckoned with. John Banks again was PRO so thanks for his efforts. Our run of excellent sailing at Montrose this winter has continued its run. Andrew  Well, what can we say with this one. A phone call early, checking to see what my thoughts were with the rain predicted for the day. Obviously, to cancel the day due to the inclement weather, we should get the consensus of the skippers who turn up. All the entered skippers did turn up, but there was quite a negative vibe amongst the group initially. While it was pouring down, and all the skippers were sheltering in the boat shed, we took a vote and the option to sail won by the narrowest of margins, so we all got set up. B rigs and wet weather pants/jackets were the order of the day. A wonderful 10 knot or so breeze from the south east gave us an opposite direction course to normal, but the permanent buoy placements were still more than adequate for the days sailing. Mike Hickman, ably assisted by Les Hanson set the courses for us and we were soon under way. Stanza's of three races between breaks ensued, and by lunch time, we had seven races completed. Another eight were completed by the close of the day. Surprisingly, we were rained on hard for the first few races, but then we were rewarded with a mostly rain free day with the exception of the second last race. The racing was very close throughout, with a single bad tack being the difference between first and sixth place. In the end, there were two standouts with their consistency though, with Ray Joyce coming out the winner on the day with 21 points - of note was his worst counted race being a single third place, which shows the importance of consistency throughout a regatta. Close at his heels was John Cole-Cook, with his brand new Red Ant F-6, a great result for its first competitive outing, having only hit the water for the first time yesterday. Ray and John were in a class of their own for much of the day. Third place was Kyle Stewart, a good consistent performance in his home built Indie, narrowly edging out Rod Marshall, who had his best regatta performance to date. His Mantra 2 showing a lot of pace. Justin Rogers sailed his first RM day, and acquitted himself very well with his borrowed Boogie. Still quite competitive, and with improvements to come with a bit more time on the water. Keep at it Justin, the rewards will not be far away. Thanks again to Les Hanson and Mike Hickman, for taking on the PRO duties on the day. The vibe of the days racing when in the bar afterwards was very good, everyone having enjoyed some really good racing in some fantastic wind conditions. The competitiveness of the racing on the day was first rate and will surely see the fleet of RM's increase in both numbers and competitiveness as time goes on.  The 13 gentlemen who faced the starters gun certainly enjoyed the promised excellent racing in mid A rig conditions on our favoured course on the southern Montrose point. As for the promise of a barmy 14 deg, it was very cold . A full eight handicap races were sailed with the four after lunch in quite light conditions. John Cole Cooks Topico was showing excellent height and boat speed in the calmer conditions. Phil Turnbull had a couple of wins & Chris Wood & John Hall were also sailing well. Hopefully next Wednesday will bring warmer weather. John Hall advised that the dam walkway has now been repaired & it is expected that we might get back there in November. This coming Sunday is our RM State Regatta. Please get entries in by Friday evening. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be quite wet, and windy, with another easterly low influencing the weather for the weekend.  Seven sailors turned up today, in what was a very light weather day. Stu Dawes was on song, hardly skipping a beat, with a well deserved win. David Jones came in second, 5 points adrift, with Mike Hickman rounding out the top three. This Wednesday has the IOM Handicap starting at 11am at MBYC, and we have our RM State Regatta next Sunday. There is s light glitch in the on-line entry, due to us moving the event back a week, but we hope to have that fixed tomorrow, so please get your entries in as soon as possible. From reports, it will be quite a well attended regatta. Coming up soon, is the A Class State Championship, held this year at Winspears Dam, Devonport on the weekend of 12/13 September. Having sailed up there in the event two years ago, I can attest to it being a well run and enjoyable weekend, and fully recommend sailing in it if possible. It would be appreciated if you can get entries in there as soon as possible, so the organisers can to all their pre-championship work done in good time. If you feel like having a sail, but don't have an "A", let me know as there might be a few about that can be borrowed on the weekend. My GothicA will be available as I cannot make it this year (son's birthday on Saturday). Kyle  I have been involved at the club for around 5 years now from memory, and today is the first time that I recall that a scratch day was devoted to the A Class. Hopefully a sign of more to come, with it being well received, and I think with three missing that all had legitimate reasons for not being able to attend. We had six sailors turn up today, with a strong breeze forecast, which came through by lunch time – with gusts to 30 knots. Six sailors, and six different designs – from previous century yachts to two that had their builds completed this year, immediately prior to the Nationals in February. Unfortunately, two sailors got started, but failures had them back to shore without recording a finish. Nothing too serious, but work to be done in the workshop for both of them. Of the four remaining yachts, some real close racing ensued, with three victors for the four races completed. Not sure about the others, but I really enjoyed the heavier conditions and the ability of the “A’s” to get on a wave and surf for long periods of time. Some really fun stuff. A handkerchief could be draped over the four sailors by lunch time, with just one point between everybody, but unfortunately, with the club yacht having issues and Andrews borrowed yacht straining under the wind pressure, it only left Mike and myself able to resume after lunch, so we called the afternoon off and finished early. With a bit more sailing, the yachts will become much more reliable and able to handle the heavier conditions with ease, but one step at a time. A good sailing session regardless, and I am sure the sailors on the water really enjoyed themselves, as well as the members who came along to watch as well. Thanks must go to Stuart, Les and Lisa for assistance with mark setup early on, and Pro duties. It is always appreciated. Chocolates for the day goes to Mike, on six points, on countback to myself in second, on countback to Andrew in third – with Ray in fourth, just one point behind, on seven points. Wednesday sees the return of the DF95’s to Montrose Bay, for the Monthly DF95 Handicap series, from 11am.  |