IOM Mid Week Handicap

It was a cool 13 C at Risdon Brook Dam. This combined with an unfriendly ‘not much’ to about 15 knots of wind swirling from all points of the compass kept our numbers down to 13 skippers for today’s IOM handicap.
Welcome again to Paul Matthews - this time his first outing with an IOM. Paul will be using the club boat throughout the winter. Great to have you racing with us Paul!
The fashion news: Rod Marshall was looking really dappa in his new beanie – bright yellow to match the colour of the Rockstar. Rod spent last week bagging out Pete Sylvester for having a lurid orange beanie to match his boat so Pete thought it only fitting that he ask Veronica to make one for Rod. Actually they are very nice hats and so totally suitable for today’s chilly conditions. And maybe a secret to success too as both made the overall placings today. I reckon that Veronica could well start a small business with custom colour beanies for the skippers.
The wind gradually picked up throughout the day but all skippers stayed with A-rigs as they were needed in the light patches. In race 8, however, the breeze strengthened exponentially to possibly 30 knots leaving boats uncontrollable. No-one saw it coming! Only three skippers were able to manage the hostile conditions and finish the race. We were probably fortunate that damage was limited to a couple of shredded sails and that everyone was able to get their boat ashore. We decided to end the day at this point both for safety and to limit further damage.
Today’s overall winner was Pete Sylvester finishing a couple of points clear of Wayne Behrens and Rod Marshall. Congratulations to all. 
It was, in fact, a fairly tight scoreboard featuring a three way points tie for 5th 6th  and 7th place which caused me to check that the programme had correctly sorted out the positions on count-back.
As far as next week’s handicaps are concerned you may notice that there is little change. This is because the podium was well shared around today. Pete Sylvester and Wayne Behrens had the most frequent visits to the podium and are each dealt a 5 second penalty for next week. Most other skippers got to the podium about twice indicating that their current handicap is fair. Lisa gets a 5 second benefit for the next event having sailed all day for one 3rd place. There are no benefits for Rod Jackman and John Banks as it is necessary to complete a substantial majority of races for a handicap review.
On leaving the dam today Pete Sylvester found a vehicle number-plate on the Dam track (No:   L 64 NM). Contact Pete if it is yours!
COMING UP:
CANCELLATION:  The DF65 State championships that were to be held in Launceston have now been cancelled. So;
Sunday: IOM Scratch at the Dam, button press at 10am
Next Wednedsay: DF95 handicap racing at Risdon Brook Dam. (11:00 button)
Saturday 4th May - Herb Tyson Memorial for A Class. Enter on-line through our site ASAP.
Sunday 5th  May - 42o South Regatta for DF95. Enter on-line through our site ASAP.


Shorty