A day of NW to West winds greeted a fleet of 11 skippers who braved a rather chilly start to the day with very gusty winds with rather a lot of holes. RO Stu Harris set the best possible courses considering the difficult conditions with most of the fleet carrying A rigs before lunch which then went t B rigs after lunch. The first race was won by the Trojan(60) from Roddy (0) & Darce (5). In the second race drama struck the fleet when Dennis Lees blue V9 became entangled in mark 5 after a collision. The boat was dragged partly under the water with the main hatch popping off & by the time the dinghy reached it only air in the bow kept it slightly above water. Fortunately it was retrieved just as it started to go under the waves, after being emptied of water & allowed to dry out a little the electrics were found to be working. After an early lunch the racing recommenced under B rigs 2 races won by Wayne Turner who went on to win from the Trojan with Rod Jackman 3rd. All in all a challenging & interesting day . Next Sunday is a IOM teams event starting at 11.00 am As you can see from the superb photos that Ray Joyce took, the only thing lacking for a perfect day's sailing was a steady breeze. I've used the term Swiss breeze before and today was no exception with the breeze swinging 180 degrees between the north and south up to 10 or so knots in the puffs, and holes you could park a maxi in. PRO for the day was Stu Harris with his bag of goodies as far as the format of the racing. Today saw two starting lines for the handicap races and two long distance races. The "Front Row" starting line was for the zero or scratch markers and the other for the rest, off their respective handicaps as well. I managed a win in the first race off 60 seconds with Alan Furmage second and Denis Lees taking out third place. Race 2 was another short course with Kim Potter taking the win from backmarker David Jones and the consistent Denis Lees in third place again. Race 3 was declared Long Distance and the usual handicap adjustments were given. I big pat on the back for Wayne Turner winning off scratch, followed by fellow scratch marker Craig McCauley and the Silver Fox, Peter Darcy taking third place. Lunch was called as the wind was having one of its indecisive moments. Alan Furmage was at the top of the leader board after 3 races with 14 points, Wayne Turner second with 15 points, yours truly and Darc tied in third place with 18 points, Kim Potter and Bruce Rose tied for fifth on 21 points and Denis Lees in sixth place on 22 points. Race 4 was another long distance with Chris Wood finding the quickest way to the finish with Andrew Wardrop and Mr Consistent Denis Lees rounding out the podium. Race 5 was back to the short course and I don't think I have rounded the top mark with that many boats even in the National's. Bruce Rose managed to avoid the problems taking the win from John Banks and Denis Lees yet again in third place. After 5 races Denis led the score board with 9 points, myself in second on 10 points, Kim Potter and Alan Furmage tie in third on 14 points. The last race winner was yours truly followed by Darcy and Bruce Rose. Final results for the day saw myself win the Plonk Trophy from Peter Darcy and Mr Consistent Denis Lees in third place, all V9s. The Coordinator's prize goes to Wayne Turner. Sunday is IOM racing as advised in my previous report. Til then, wet sails, Stuart Dawes.
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