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Todays forecast was spot on with early rain followed by a light NNE by the time our fleet of 10 started the handicap series, fortunately in no rain. The courses during the morning were varied to suit the shifting breezes, which is one of the great advantages of sailing at Montrose. Peter Turner succumbed to radio problems but did win one race before the gremlins got him. Jammy had two wins and sailed consistently all morning. Buzzy was very consistent, sailing the Trojan with two wins . Kim, sporting a very nice new set of A sails, was also sailing well again with two wins. The full compliment of 10 races were completed for another satisfying day. Andrew In further good news, we received an email from Risdon Brook management, and the repair work at the dam is progressing well. We will have the dam as an option to sail at again soon. A photo sent through shows the highest level I have seen there.  
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What a wonderful day at MBYC today. Maybe a little cool to start with, but a nice B Rig breeze from the south in the morning, which only strengthened as the day wore on. The B Rigs were the order for the entire day. The long distance course was set by Les, which had us traversing the entire length of our course, twice over. It gave great time and distance to have the various wind shifts to come in to play, and allow the skippers a bit more time to plan how they were to attack each leg. I am pretty sure we all had our share of both hero and zero moments out there - but that really added tot he enjoyment of the day. Rod Jackman came out early for a look, and helped Justin out early, both with rig setup and some course instruction. Thanks for that Rod. This sort of assistance is really what our newer skippers need to develop their sailing craft and maximise their enjoyment on the day. Justin must have taken everything in, winning the first race of the day - quite easily, and then topped it off with two more uninstructed wins as well, to finish the winner on the day (I believe his first Series Round win - congrats), with 16 points from the 9 races. 7 points behind, in second, was yours truly - one of the best days the V8 has had in my hands. Third was John Cole-Cook, with his Topico, 3 points further behind, on 26 - having survived a countback for third with Andrew Wardrop just missing out. Even the beer afterwards with a chat, back at the MBYC bar was nice, relaxing and enjoyable. Thanks again to Les, for setting out a really great course for the day. I have no doubt that everyone really enjoyed the longer races. This coming Wednesday is the usual IOM Handicap racing, starting at 10, and next Sunday is IOM Scratch Series Round 5, starting at 1pm. The week following that, we have our IOM State Championship, on both Saturday and Sunday. If you are considering competing, the on-line entries are linked on our Ranking Events page. If you aren't competing but would like to help out on either or both days, let me know, so I can add your name to a volunteers list. We have a few northern competitors this time, and will be considering having a BBQ afterwards on Saturday if anyone is interested. Just let me know for catering purposes.  Forecast of light winds was again correct today for a modest fleet of 8 IOM’s. Buzz sailed two races and then succumbed to a winch problem that couldn't be resolved despite much gratuitous advice from fellow sailors. Rod M, John CC , Stuart D and myself had 2 wins each but from a handicap time spread from beginning to end Stuart D put in the best performance. He was particularly quick in the very light conditions after lunch. For those who are interested, we sail again tomorrow at 11am open to any class. Andrew  Not too much to write today, as I wasn't there for too long. That said, it was a nice breeze from the north early, with all skippers setting up their B Rigs, and 15 minutes before the start of the racing, the wind dropped right off, and everyone changed to their A suits. Stu got off to a great start, with Ray very close behind. Unfortunately, Cookie had a teething issue and missed the first four races, but got under way after then. His new F-6 looking the goods. Andrew really found his groove today, and with a nice new jib, he seems to have found the sweet spot with his Indie, winning five of the twelve races. Thoroughly earning the win on the day, with 21 points. Stu came in second, on 26 points, on countback to Rod, who had an equally impressive day. Thanks again to Les, for doing the PRO work today, and welcome back to Anne Cole-Cook, who assisted Les at the start/finish line for the day. We have an extra sail day this coming week, with Show Day being a sail day for those who wish to. Any class yacht is welcomed, and we will be starting at 11am. As usual, we have Wednesday IOM Handicap, starting at 10, with handicap racing commencing at 11, and Long DIstance racing next Sunday, from 11am. This is also a great chance to catch up and have a chat during the lunch break with fellow sailors and your committee. Multiple committee members will be there to answer any questions you may have - or take on board any suggestions you might have as well.  The forecast was spot on today, with light NW winds slowly strengthening during the morning for some close A rig sailing. By our lunch break the breeze had increased to top of A rig. The breeze moderated a little during lunch but then increased again to the point that sailing was called off after 8 races. I thought Rod Marshalls new Red Ant Woodie sailed very well, so its good to see a reward for Rod’s efforts, with a first place for the day with 3 points, Second, was Rod Jackman on 6 points, with John Hall just two points further back in third. Kyle turned up at lunch time and had his part built IOM “Night Hawk” with him. I must admit I was quite impressed and think it will be a competitive IOM at a very low build cost . If you want information about it, or a kit to build, contact Kyle Andrew  The weather prediction was right for the first part of the day today, with very light winds greeting the 14 competitors. After a brief briefing, with Les making sure everyone knew the state of play for the day, we quickly got away right on the 1030 allotted time. Two races were initially completed, before we joined with our fellow MBYC members for the opening of the dinghy sailing season ceremony, as well as a pesentation to Martin Grose as a show of appreciation for the efforts put in with equipment manufacture for the club. Another four races were completed prior to lunch, and the leaderboard was starting to develop, with Michael Hickman, breaking away early, with John Cole-Cook and Wayne Behrens not far behind. At the conclusion of lunch, it looked like the forecast was right, with the Westerly wind dropping right off, making sailing rather difficult. That said, the sailing remained close and enjoyable overall. Coming into the last few races, an unpredicted strong southerly developed, and we soon had yachts spinning around, and carrying on as they always do in an over-powered situation. At the close of the 13th race, we considered changing rigs, as it was no longer viable to start a race in A rigs, but by the time we would have been ready again, the allotted finish time would have passed. At the end of the day, Michael Hickman proved too consistent, with a score of 26 to take out the Regatta, with John Cole-Cook (30pts) in second, and Rod Jackman (40pts) in third. It was great to see such a good turnout at the regatta, as well as some fantastic, tight racing. Thanks to our northern invader, Ted Stevens, for making the effort to come down and sail with us. He was very pleased with his finishing performance, in front of his expectations. Maybe the bar needs to be raised for the upcoming states. Hopefully, we might see some more northern competitors in future events. Big thanks also, to Les Hanson, who conducted the PRO duties with his usual distinction. What you do for the club is really appreciated, and your assistance makes the day so much more enjoyable for all the competitors.  It took a while for todays perfect sailing conditions to arrive with no racing before lunch due to no wind so an early lunch was called at 11.30 A gentle sea breeze started to fill in and we were back on the water by 12 noon. From there, we completed 10 races in perfect DF95 conditions, giving our 9 skippers some close and enjoyable racing. We welcomed John Short to our fleet today, sailing 74 and look forward to seeing more of him. Jammy was sailing well winning 3 races from a starting handicap of +35 sec. The computer will reveal all. After adding up the ten races, the results were as close as we have seen for a long time. First place, by count back, was Andrew Wardrop, on 13 points, with Stu Dawes in second place - only separate by Andrew's three seconds to Stu's two. Just one point further back in third place, was David Jones (14pts). Of note, we had eight winners across the ten races, showing the competitiveness of the field and effectiveness of the handicap method For those of you who were asking how Kyle's plywood “Night Hawk” is progressing here is a link to some photos at the bottom of the page. He will add a blog to the RBRYC page in the next few days for those interested. https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3320635-Plywood-IOM/page21  |