IOM Mid Week Handicap

The forecasted sunny day with a moderate wind was enough to get a good fleet of 16 starters to today's handicap ta the dam. And the forecast did not disappoint either as it was a super day to be sailing. There was a strong Northerly katabatic wind of may be 15 knots when we arrived – enough to fool a few into putting up their B-rigs for the pre-event scratch races. By the time the 11:00 button press had come around though it was pretty evident that the wind was dying and A-rigs were the universal choice. The wind did moderate as the day proceeded and the last races were held in about 3 of 4 knots. But it was an excellent sailing wind!
 
Graeme Cooksey launched his new woodie. A Corbie 6 – beautifully built too! Graeme said that it needed 250 g of weight correctors which shows great building skills as it is difficult to make them come in really light. Graeme only sailed a couple of races today but had a nice second place in one of them.
 
It was good to see John Banks at the Dam today. John helped me do PRO duties and I needed help too as many of the finishes were really tight with most featuring the whole fleet finishing within one minute.
 
Third place today went to Peter Turner. That Mad Max has some real speed given the right conditions. Peter won two races today.
 
Second went to Andrew Wardrop in a welcome return to the podium.
 
And today’s winner was Ricky Price. Ricky seemed to always be near the head of the fleet and finished the day with four race wins in the tally. Congratulations to  the podium place getters!
 
Next IOM day will not be for a fortnight but on that day we thought it would be a good idea to have a ‘weigh-in’ and bring the scales for all boats. Remembering that the legal weight is 4 kg (with battery – ready to sail), it might be worth having a look at you boat in advance!
 
Coming up!
 
Sunday: Scratch racing for IOM’s at the Dam 10:00 button

Next Wednesday: Handicap for DF95’s at the Dam. 11:00 button.
 
John S