IOM Mid Week Handicap

​There was a fairly thick snow cap on the mountain this morning and the Southerly that created it was cool enough too. It was South-West on the river but presented Southerly on the dam with scuds and cats-paws spilling across the surface. It provided for tricky sailing conditions for the 11 skippers that came for racing today.
 
A-rigs were universally chosen and needed for the calm patches. There seemed to be a lot of weed around today and most skippers fell to its snare at some time.
 
We welcomed Rex Calvert to the group today. Rex is a regular with the Forcett Lakes club. With the name of Calvert, Rex is no stranger to yachting and pulled off a couple of podium finishes during the course of the day. We hope that you enjoyed your sail with us Rex.
 
Pete Sylvester turned up at lunch-time - just running an errand - but was happy to jump into the PRO’s position for the afternoon. Thanks for your work Pete. I was particularly appreciative of Pete’s volunteering as it freed me up to sail in the afternoon session. There is still work for me to do in setting up and tuning the new boat but I can feel its potential.
 
Third place today went to Wayne Behrens with a couple of wins in his race tally. Wayne’s vast experience of the dam under different conditions helped in today’s challenging conditions.
 
Stuart Dawes rigged the Plan B with much looser jib sheeting and was please with its performance. He took second place overall today.
 
Today’s winner was Ray Joyce. Ray had nothing worse than 4th in his total today (after discards), which was a great effort on a day when it was difficult for most skippers to maintain consistency.
 
Congratulations to all.
 
Sunday’s racing will be for DF95’s at Risdon Brook Dam (1:00 button press).
Next Wednesday’s handicap at the Risdon Brook Dam will be for IOM’s (11:00 button press).
 
John S