IOM Summer Scratch Round 2

 ​Looked like an idyllic day at Montrose today.

The first race started with a light ENE breeze, but the sea breeze soon filled in and fantastic conditions were reported from the afternoon.

A bit of a change today, with a designated PRO, that was rotated each race, in order to keep things under control and moving along nicely. After a few weeks with some concerns over some course confusion and a few in-race arguments on the course, the committee have committed to to clamp right down and make sure that on-course behaviour is up to the standard that we all want, which is that which will look favourably to the ever present public exposure and to all potential new sailors. This was intimated in a pre-race day briefing and will also be followed up in the coming days with a communication out to all members, so everone is fuly aware of expectations on course. Nothing big at all, but just a bit of a reset from some past concerns.
Back to today's sailing, and it was great to see 13 sailors on deck today. A nice strong fleet, with a healthy mix of experienced and not-so-experienced sailors on the day.

We had three standout performers today, with Mat Gray, Michael Hickman and Lisa Blackwood duelling for much of the day for the honours. Mat came out n tip after the allotted 11 races, with 19.8 points, with Michael less than 1 point behind in second, on 20.9 points. Taking third was Lisa with 22.9 points.

On handicap, John Hall had a great day, taking out the day with 3 net points, with Lisa Blackwood and Stuart Dawes coming in second, with 2 net points.

Some good positive signs as well, looking through the results, with Andrew Wardrop taking a 3rd place in one of the races today, and Andrew Price an excellent 2nd place as well. Well done guys.

This Wednesday is a return of IOM sailing at the dam for Mid Week Handicap.

On Saturday, 12th February, MBYC is holding an A Class scratch day to guage the interest amongst A Class skippers for a monthly Saturday sail day to be hosted by MBYC. This will start at the same time as RBRYC events, so this Saturday will be a 1pm start. If you think you can make it on the day, please let me know so we can get a feel for how many yachts are likely to turn up. For simplicity, we plan to sail out the front of MBYC clubhouse and then get a feel from skippers about preferred location to sail. We are hoping for this to become a monthly fixture, 4 weeks apart.

We are getting closer to the DF65/DF95 Nationals, and the committee are deep in planning for the events. We are, as always, on the lookout for volunteer help as well still. We have received quite a few responses to date for help, but need a few more, mostly for observer type spots, which is not complex, and will be fully supported by the committee around the exact responsibilities of the task/s. Please contact Kyle or John Hall if you think you might be able to help out for a day or two. It will be very appreciated.