IOM Classics and Modern Mid Week Handicap

​A lovely Northerly of around 10 knots greeted the skippers for todays IOM Classics event at Risdon Brook Dam. As there were six Classic boats we decided to run the Classics and the Modern boats as two seperate event.s The Classics all started the day on 0 handicap (with race penalties of 5 and 10 seconds) while the modern boats started 60 seconds later and had their own penalties in operation. This system worked very well as skippers felt confident that you were racing boats of similar speed. We will probably use this organisation as a template for future Wednesday Classics and Woodies events. It was important to have a dedicated PRO though as the boats needed sorting into their fleet results as they finished. So it was great that we had two officials in Phil Jackman and David Woolley invigilating today. Thanks for your work Trout and Sheep.
 
It was so good to have Rod Jackman back in the fleet today after a long absence adventure travelling in outback Western Australia. Rod was in good form straight away both with his sailing and his trade mark humour. He was always at the head of the fleet before having to leave early for an appointment. Welcome back Rod.
 
We also welcomed Ant Mountain to the IOM fleet. Ant has been sailing DF 95’s and 65’s around the different venues for a couple of years now but today tried out the club IOM. I could tell by how tightly he was gripping the transmitter and the smile on his face that we weren’t going to get the boat back from him and sure enough at the end of the day he was arranging to lease the boat for the rest of the season. Ant sailed really well for a first day out and proved how competitive are will be by winning race #9. Congratulations on your efforts today Ant and welcome to the IOM fleet.
 
The winner of the Classics fleet was Peter Webberley racing that shiney gold TS2. Peter won three races today and took the top spot from Andrew Wardrop and Rob Cooney who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
 
Jammy Jones took out the Modern fleet division. It was a really good effort especially seeing that we all started the day on the same handicap. Gary McCarthy took second spot and Ian Hey third in a tightly contested scoreboard.
 
A feature of the results today was that every skipper (in both divisions) had at a race win. Today its congratulations to all!
 
The wind did lighten a bit as the day proceeded but held nicely for us to complete 11 races. On the way home I noticed that a light sea breeze had made its way up as far as the bridge. I don’t think that it would have made it to the dam today but it was definitely a sign of some great summer sailing ahead.
 
Coming up;
Saturday: John Emms Memorial for Marblehead. Button press at 1030. If you have not yet entered, please get it in as they close on Friday at 5.30pm
Next Wednesday: IOM Super Wednesday at Risdon Brook Dam (Handicap morning/ Scratch afternoon). 10:30 button press
 
Shorty