​What a surprise today was.

The committee turned up early for a meeting, and Elwick Bay looked like a mirror. It hadn't changed at the end of the meeting, and by 1240, things were looking positively grim, with no wind on the horizon.

Then, at about 1245, we could see a small amount coming over to us from the Bowen Bridge, and within another 10 minutes, a wondersul southerly had filled in, sending the skippers back to their cars for a change to B rig.

For the first time in weeks, the wind made it easy for Les to set a course for us and we were very quickly into the racing. Ten yachts in all on the water for the first race, but unfortunately, we lost Darc in the second race to rudder servo failure. The MBYC rescue boat thankfully were soon on the scene picking the yacht up and delivered it to our rescue boat, which was also on its way out there.

Thankfully, that was the only breakdown for the day.

The wind strengthened in the middle stages to the top of B Rig, with some considering a change to C, but didn't eventuate. We had a lot of really close racing throughout, which was enjoyed by all.

We must give welcome to new member, John Short, who sailed his DF with us for the first time today. Unfortunately, only equipped with an A rig at the moment, but thanks to some very generous members, John will soon be kitted up with a B Rig as well. Although hampered by an over-powered rig, John really enjoyed himself, and is keen for more racing.

By the time 4pm came around, we had two fighting out for the points today, with Mike Hickman taking the chocolates with 19 points, with David Jones hot on his heels, on 21 points. Stu dawes rounded out the top three, on 31 points.

Well done to everyone today. I can think of very few instances where penalties needed to be called. It's great seeing skippers doing the right thing and taking their penalty turns without being called on to do them. The exact example we want to set.

Results at mysailingresults website

Wednesday is IOM Handicap, starting at 10am - with RM Scratch next Sunday. I believe that next Sundays sailing may start at 11am due to a real low tide next week, but John will be in touch closer to the day.

At 9am at Montrose, we had a B rig NNE breeze, but by the time we started, a gentler A rig breeze prevailed which at times was light and fluctuating in direction.

We managed to set some good courses, utilising mark 13 for a long beat back to the finish.

Twelve boats sailing today, with Kim getting line honours in 2  & Peter S 3 wins.

After lunch the breeze freshened for a while from the north for some excellent sailing.

No retirements. Another excellent days sailing at Montrose


Andrew

​I thought today we would get a low fleet turnout after a tiring weekend of sailing, but 13 keen skippers turned up for the racing.

Unfortunately 15 didn't even get wet as a result of a rudder servo failure and 74 had electrical issues, so Paul swapped to the club boat 67.

Good to see Paul Jewell and John Banks back sailing and sailing well. John’s Noux was showing excellent boat speed in the light conditions after lunch. 

We started with B rigs in a reducing northerly breeze, until lunch, where we changed to A rigs.

Ray forgot his A rig, so gracefully retired after lunch.

Notable performers were Stu Dawes 64, Rod Marshall 51 and the always consistent Phil Jackman 07.
 
Racing was abandoned after race 7, when the water glassed out .

An excellent days sailing.


Andrew

We started day 1 with a very light northerly as we were setting up, but it changed to the predicted westerly before turning SSW before the first race started. A fantastic field of 19 turned up.

Given the tricky wind direction, we sailed pretty much the same course as our long distance day a few weeks ago, which gave heaps of time to sort out the sailors and gave many options for the actual sailing path, rather than the traditional shorter courses that can resemble a soldiers course at times.

We only got 8 races in today, in both A and B rig conditions, with the longer courses, and the wind delay at the end of the day, before we decided to abandon the day 10 minutes early with lack of wind.

At the end of the day, we have Lisa Blackwood in first position, on 16 points, with David Jones and John Cole-Cook not far behind, both on 19 points. Mike Hickman kicking at their heels, two points further afield.

Day two started with a little more wind than anticipated. The katabatic was in and we had a light northerly as we were setting up for the day.

Unfortunately, that soon dies out, and we attempted to get a start on the racing. The first of the day was painfully slow with the lack of wind, but finally got a result from it. We then had a small delay to wait for something to turn up.

It soon did, and we got one more race, as painful as the first one, before we stopped for a very early lunch in the hope that the expected 1pm SE would come a bit early.

Post lunch, the wind did come up a bit, and we got some fantastic racing in. Many even changed out to B rigs mid afternoon with the increase in wind. In the end with that, there was little advantage gained by either A or B rig.

Unfortunately, we lost a few competitors during the day with equipment failure, but they will be back on the water again very soon.

It must be said that the two days racing was very competitive, with 11 winners across the 20 races. It really shows the level of the field on the weekend.

That said, the field did spread a bit from yesterdays results, and the leaderboard did have a bit of a shakeup.

Lisa Blackwood continued her consistent sailing, stretching her 3 point overnight lead to a convincing 18 point win, on 53 points, with Michael Hickman also very consistent, in second place with 71 points. Ray Joyce shot up the leaderboard today with a great day, finishing in third on 94 points, with Mat Gray making a welcome return to competitive racing in fourth, on 99 points, just ahead of Rod Jackman, in fifth.

No championship can be run without the tireless work of its volunteers. This not only goes to the efforts of the Pro, but alo those who turn up early to get everything ready, and hang around to help pack up. That said, a big thanks has to go to Les Hanson for his work as Pro over the weekend. Setting the courses was a very hard job with 180 degree wind shifts within the one race. Your work is very appreciated. Helping Les, was Anne Cole-Cook and Andrew Wardrop, handling the scoring and observer roles respectively. Your assistance to make the event a success is to be commended.

RBRYC members should be proud of the efforts over the weekend. It was also fantastic to see the amount of the general public, as well as members, both present and past, who stopped to watch over the weekend.

​This coming Wednesday is a return to the IOM Handicap, from 10am, and we have the RM Scratch series on next Sunday from 1pm.

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