Last sail before Christmas today with a fleet of 13 IOM’s sailing in light to moderate northerly breezes in warm conditions with quite a few holes to be traversed.
 
Usual format with 8 races completed in the handicap series. Rod Marshall had his B2 going very well today so he should feature in the results.
 
To even out the wine winners I have now split the fleet in 2 ( for wine prizes only ) The more experienced sailors with the better boats are in the white fleet & the less experienced with older boats will be in the pink fleet so we will see how the results come out. For interest, a similar method will also be trialled for the scratch races, possibly based on average ranking of the last five rounds compared to the current rounds result for a “handicap” result on top of the standard scratch result – to make it more interesting for the newer sailors and those with older yachts as well.
 
Interestingly, Rod Marshall in the Pink fleet took out he honours overall for the day. Great effort Rod. Highest ranked “White Fleet” sailor was Chris Woods, with yet another fantastically consistent performance. The handicapper is watching both of you….. Great also seeing Paul and Justin Rogers making their presence felt, with a couple of seconds. Wont be long and consistency will come along as well guys. Keep the efforts coming along.
 
The dam level has taken a solid drop in the past week so I will check it again before we recommence after Christmas on the 8th of January to make sure the dam is still sailable.
 
Have a good Christmas to all club members & thanks to the Wednesday sailors for your continued support.
 
This coming Sunday, 22nd December is not an official race day, however, there is a good amount of interest with the RM sailors planning on sailing from 1pm at MBYC. If you have an RM and want to come and enjoy an afternoon’s sailing, please come along. If you don’t have an RM and would like to have a sail, you are also most welcome to come along. At a guess, I think we will be having some short races for practice with starts etc.

​Well, the last “official” hit out has been a resounding success, with 15 sailors fronting up to sail the last Scratch Series round for the year. It was fantastic to see some not-so-regular faces coming along for the day, and also a warm welcome to two new Sunday sailors, Paul and Justin Rogers.
This week, because of the inclement weather, we decided to set the course up in front of the clubhouse, rather than get rained on horribly (as was threatening) at the point. A bit of a late start with the lack of wind, but we finally got under way. With the exception of two races, we only sailed one-lappers in order to keep race times to around 10 minutes. We attempted a two lap race and a modified one and a half lap race, but wind proved too unreliable to get the course length in the allotted time.
 
This week, by the end of our eight races, Wayne Behrens came out well in front, taking three wins. Certainly has the Trojan going well. Ray Joyce came in second, 6 points adrift, with Mike Hickman a further four behind, on 24 points.
 
Given the amount of yachts on the water, there were very few penalties for contact and early starts, which was great. I’d also like to thank Anne Cole-Cook and Phil Turnbull for their assistance of the Pro throughout the day. It certainly would have been much harder without you there helping.
 
Following the sailing, we went indoors for our end of year BBQ and presentations. It was fantastic seeing 25 people there to help celebrate the year we had.
 
Before going to our winners and champions, I’d like to thank everyone who brought along a dish to help cater the meal, as well as the many helpers doing the BBQ, preparing the salads and deserts. After a lovely, relaxed meal, Mike Hickman and John Hall ran through the presentations. All the details are listed below for those who could not make it today. Congratulations to all winners.
 
Afterwards, John Cole-Cook, who recently returned as top ranking “Legend” class at the recent IOM Worlds in Brazil, gave a speech on his experience at the World Championships, and some of his many learnings from the experience. Some very interesting and relevant points brought up about mark rounding and communication amongst skippers. A massive importance to not only the top ranked skippers, but most of the sailors that John watched, in avoiding contact at pretty much any cost – as contact, and the likelihood of losing a lot of places was so important to avoid. Simple things such as call outs like “John has this mark” well before rounding a mark, to try to ensued everybody gives respectful distance prior to rounding, and then resuming tight, close racing as soon as they have rounded the mark. Something that resonated with me personally, as I myself have fallen foul of being too close at mark roundings, fouling not only myself, but also other innocent sailors. Something personally to work really hard on next year. John has kindly offered to talk about his experiences to anyone who would like to hear about them.
 
To todays scoresheet, as mentioned, Wayne was way too good today, with Ray and Mike rounding out the podium.

​I have also attached our final series results, summarised below. Congratulations to all winners;

​With the “Official” part of the year over, it is interesting listening to many people about the club, where it has been and where it may be heading. John touched on it while talking about his World’s experience, that our club over the past few years has really seen improvement, not only in its competitiveness, but with some new faces coming on, and with functions such as the end of season one, such a good atmosphere amongst many friends. The partnership with MBYC has really helped the club, with the availability of their fantastic facilities, where we can have a nice warm and welcoming bar to chat after a sail day, or for our functions. In multiple ways, this is also a benefit starting to come through from Rob Gavin’s work a year and a half ago with his workshops on our strategic plan for the next 5 or so years.
 
Personally, I’m a believer that a club doesn’t have to change a lot, it just needs to constantly evolve to be a better one moving in to the next year than it was when it entered the current year.  On that point, I believe the club has achieved that this year. We have not been without issue obviously, but I hope that its members can see that we are working hard to become a better club tomorrow than we were yesterday. That is not a bad thing about yesterday, but a sign of a healthy club in that it constantly looks to evolve and become better for not only its members, but the general community it is a part of.
 
Upcoming Sailing
Although the year is “officially” finished for the club, we still have two more sail days planned.
This coming Wednesday, 18th December, will still be the regular IOM Handicap at Risdon Brook Dam, starting at 10am for an hour of scratch racing, followed by the handicap races at 11.
Next Sunday, 22nd December, some of our Marblehead sailors are heading to MBYC for a 1pm start for practice. Whether you have an RM or not, if you would like to come and have a sail, please feel free to do so.
 
To close out (sorry, this one is a bit long), if we don’t see you beforehand, have a great Christmas and new year. Relax and enjoy – and be safe. We look forward to seeing you on the water again in the new year. Our calendar is updated on the RBRYC Website, with the first Summer Series event being on Sunday, 5th January (IOM Summer Series Round 1). I’m not sure if Mid Week sailing commences on January 1, but we will let you know. I’ll be in bed early the day before so will be good to go, but it depends on expected turnout.
 
Thanks for a great year, and look forward to a better one again next year.

As predicted an excellent days sailing at the dam today. The dam has dropped a little, but hopefully this is temporary. The winds were north west with an occasional gust from the west & varied from mid to top of A rig.
 
An excellent fleet of 17 boats fronted the starter for the scratch series & then went into the handicap series. Eight handicap races were completed using a rotating PRO system which worked quite well. We had a couple of new potential members sailing borrowed boats who seemed to enjoy the day & now have plans to purchase boats.
 
Rob Gavin sailing his Mad Max which has had some tuning attention from Ray was going very well so we hope to see Rob sailing more before he gets absorbed in his Japanese electric car.
 
Thanks to all those who undertook PRO duties & a reminder that we will be sailing next Wednesday at the dam.
 
Andrew

Well, the event has been run and won. The start of the second day started off very much opposite of yesterdays conditions. Nice sunshine, but no wind whatsoever. We attempted an initial race, but was abandoned on exceeding the time limit. Not much fun drifting around on the tide. An early lunch was called without a race finished, and we were hoping for at least something after lunch.
 
With a 1pm resumption, the wind did make an appearance in a SE direction, making the start and eventual course very awkward for the PRO, but we all did the best with the cards that fell our way. In to the second race, the sea breeze decided to fill in, and after the third, we had a rush for bulk rig changes to the "B's". Following on from that, we got a few good "three in a row" stanza's up to our allotted finish at 3.30pm. We completed 8 races only for day two, but that was enough to make some considerable changes at the top of the order.
 
Kyle Stewart suffered some equipment issues, which will no doubt be fixed up for the nationals, while John Cole-Cook must have had his spinach this morning for breakfast, taking out 5 of the 8 races on the day. Also dominating for much of day two, Ray Joyce quickly broke down the overnight deficit, to blast through the overnight leader and win the Championship - by count back to John Cole-Cook, with Kyle Stewart just edging out Lisa Blackwood for third place.
 
The entire weekend was enjoyed by all competitors, made all the more enjoyable with the able assistance of the volunteers, Ken Dobbie, Anne Cole-Cook, Peter Germain, and Don McLeod. Events like this just don't happen without the help of volunteers. It was also great seeing the comradare amongst competitors, with help openly being offered to those that needed some fixes or assistance to get their yachts on the water after breakages etc. That sort of thing brings sailors back week after week, and it's great seeing this happening at the club.
 
This Week
Wednesday 11th December is the regular Wednesday IOM Handicap at the dam, starting at 10am for an hour of scratch racing, followed by handicap racing from 11am.
Sunday 17th December is our last Sunday sailing for the year, with IOM Summer Scratch Round 6 scheduled, from 1pm. Following the sailing, we will be having a BBQ for all of our members, family, and friends, from 5pm. We are going to be celebrating the sailing year, with winners of Summer, Winter and Overall Scratch series for IOM and Marbleheads, Handicap perpetual trophy, as well as our equally important Most Improved and clubman trophies. Your committee would really love to see a great turnout for the afternoon, but we also need to have some idea of likley turnout so we can cater for it effectively. That said, could you please email me to indicate that you intend on coming - as well as any diet requirements for those with allergies or other needs. It would also be appreciated if people could bring along a salad or dish to add to the BBQ for everyone to share. Your committee look forward to seeing you next week to celebrate our year of sailing.
​

​Well, the RM’s have been run and won for the year, and what a collective improvement the club has made throughout. Looks like Ray has found some very welcome competition, which will make our collective competitiveness so much better. Only wish I could have been on the water, but thems the breaks. Maybe the results show that I should build and let others sail.......
The fleet started off with a mixed bag of B and C rigs, with the wind shifting towards the West just before racing started. I only got to see one and a half races, but the competition was quite close and respectful (as we always aim to be).
Stu Dawes started well out of the blocks with a couple of bullets in the first two races (looks like that’s not such a bad yacht, Stu), and maintained some great consistency over the day. Consistent enough to take the honours on the day with 12 points, with Ray Joyce coming in second on16, and Lisa Blackwood taking out third just two points back on 18.
In the “classic” division (my own rules there), Joh Hall took the honours, edging out Les Hanson by two points, with Phil Turnbull coming in third.
In all, a good day at MBYC, and hopefully with the warmer weather coming on, we will see some more “Classic” and “Modern” RM’s hitting the water. We do have an RM Boogie available for Sunday use if there are sailors interested in having a go. While not up to Modern performance standards, it is a very good yacht to sail and will perform very well. Just contact me if you’d like to put it on the water on an RM Sunday.
 
Next Week

• Wednesday 4t December – DF95 Handicap at Risdon Brook Dam. Scratch practice at 10am, with handicap starting from 11
• Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th December – RM State Championship Regatta – We are confirming our PRO’s for the event – thanks to the volunteers so far, but if you’d like to come and have a look and potentially observe or help out in some way (rescue boat even), it would be really appreciated. Contact John Hall if you think you might be able to help out.

Put it on the calendar
Sunday, 15th December is our last Sunday sailing for the year. We will be having a BBQ and presentation of awards on this day, after the scheduled sailing is finished. Please lock the date in if you can for the presentations and BBQ, and we will provide more detail as it gets closer.