IOM Southern Tas Championship

​Interesting contitions met us today at Montrose Bay Yacht Club. A consistent NW breeze all day, made very difficult with two distinct wind patterns - one a mid A rig around 8 or so knots, with gusts exceeding 20 knots.

Sailors mostly started with B rigs, but all had changed to A after a few races after the few brave A rigged sailors coped quite well in the early conditions.

By the lunch break, Mat Gray was the early leader, with Michael Hickman just behind in second, and Ray Joyce challenging early in third.

After lunch, the wind seemed to have increased, but we all kept with the A rigs, realising before long that we should have changed at the lunch break. A quick rig change ensued and we stayed on the B's for the remainder of the afternoon.

Unfortunately, there was an amount of attrition during the day, with some equipment breakage with the gusts that came through. All easy fixes, but not during the racing day.

Once the 13 races were completed, Anne Cole-Cook tallied the results, and from what I have been told, we had a first time winner of an IOM ranking event in Ray Joyce. Hardly making a false move and completing a really consistent day. Winner on 34 points. Five points further afield, was Mike Hickman, on 39, with Lisa Blackwood in third, on 45 points.

Part of making this day so enjoyable, was the inclusion of our visiting sailors, Ted Stevens from the NW of the state. Always a pleasure having you sail with us Ted. Thanks for making the trip down. We also had a NSW competitor in Alan Griffith. Alan enjoyed sailing in much different conditions, with the extra wind, and wavy conditions. We genuinely appreciate the effort you made in coming down and sailing with us. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we enjoyed having your company.

Sailing days will not happen without the help of our volunteers, and they should never go unnoticed. Big thanks to Les Hanson, a hard job as Pro, but very well done. Setting the ground rules early, which really helped keep everybody nicely in line from the start. We also had Anne Cole-Cook assisting with recording the finish order and getting all the data put into the Laptop. A massive time save for the end of the day, helping getting final results out quickly and efficiently. Thanks for your assistance as well, Anne.

We also enjoyed the support of an amount of observers for the day, with Phil Turnbull, Jeff Byerley, John Murrell, and Chris Wood. If I missed any of the helpers, please accept my apology (it's getting late and I am tired...).

In all, a fantastic example of an excellent days sailing, with many people stopping by to enjoy the racing in progress.

Congratulations to our winners today, and all the sailors throughout the day. Couldn't ask for a better example of serious, enjoyable sailing that would have been great for any interested observer to watch.