IOM Mid Week Handicap

It was fairly breezy for todays IOM handicap event at Risdon Brook dam with a good 15 - 20 knots of North-wester prevailing. B rigs were the unanimous choice for the mornings sailing and at times the yachts were overpowered on the downwind legs. ​

Phil Jackman again did the PRO duties and we thank you Trout for your work. Trout did say that he expects to be back racing very shortly which will be great.

We welcomed Peter Ross (Rosco) to the group. Peter is a frequent sailor at Puddleduck and has recently purchased John Banks’ Noix IOM. It was his first sail of this boat today. This was a tuning run for Peter and as he only completed a few races his results were not recorded today but we did see enough to know that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future. We hope to see you regularly Peter.

During the afternoon session the wind freshened a bit more and most skippers headed to their rig box and suited down to the C-rig though Andrew Wardrop and John Penman stayed with their B-rig. Fortune favours the brave is the saying and it held true for Andrew and John. Sticking with the B was the best choice and Andrew and John shared 1st and 2nd places for the last two races. 

John was particularly fortunate in the last race as his boat battery died just after rounding the final gate. Somehow the boat managed to sail by itself for the upwind leg and through the finish line to win the race! 

Just as race 10 finished a serious gust of perhaps 30 knots hit the fleet. While some of those with C-rigs were calling for more racing it was probably a good thing that we had completed our sailing for the day as the conditions had reached boat damaging potential.

On a day where everyone reached the podium at least once, third place overall today was taken by Andrew Wardrop reaping the benefits of wise rig choice. Lisa Blackwood took out second with consistently good performances. It was John Penman’s day though and a particularly impressive one too as John had to miss two races with rigging issues. They were his two discards and apart from that it was an all podium finish for John. Congratulations to the podium trio - John, Lisa and Andrew!

Coming up:
Sunday: DF95 scratch racing at Risdon Brook Dam (1:00 button press)
Next Wednesday: IOM Handicap racing at Risdon Brook Dam (11:00 button press)
 
Shorty