IOM Summer Sctatch Series Round 4

​A wonderful warm day th Montrose today. a stiff 10 knot northerly to start with  - with some sailors opting for the B rigs, and then to an A after the first few races. The wind did increase a little bit, before subduing, with most of us expecting a good sea breeze to come in, but a warm 6-10 knot westerly filled for the rest of the day, before dropping right off in the last race.

9 sailors made it for the day, and after a brief briefing, play got under way for 8 races in total.

Explained in the briefing was the committee's decision based on the experiences reported from the SA A Class Nationals, where there was no tolerance for unwanted behviour - any arguments, or carry on would me met with a 720 penalty after the start of the next race (per rule 2).

As expected, this was not required at all through the day, but sets the expectations for our sailing into the future. This is not only to maximise our enjoyment of competitive sailing, but also because we are in a highly exposed public area, and we want to be seen from the outside as a great club to become part of, with newer members feeling like they want to continue to sail with us and learn from the many skilful skippers we are so lucky to have at the club. A positive move that will only increase our membership numbers and numbers sailing on race days.

Unfortunately, we had a few casualties today, with Mat Gray's boat not happy with the rudder servo, and Martin Svensen having some issues with his sheet loop system.

Welcome back to the waters edge to Andrew Price, sailing for the first time in quite a few months. He must be real happy with a solid 3rd place on race 2. Great to see you back.

A great contest for first place today between Michael Hickman and Lisa Blackwood, sharing 5 wind fromt he 8 races.

Lisa came out victor for the day today, with a lowest counted score of a 3rd. Winning the day with 10 points.

Second place was Michael Hickman, also very consistent, on 14 points.

John Cole-Cook rounded out the top three on 15 points. His Venti showing fantastic speed.

On handicap, Lisa took out the double, with 5 rank differential points. Her points ranking will now be returning to where it belongs. Well done Lisa.

Tied for second place was Andrew Price and Kyle Stewart, both on 2 rank differential points. Fantastic effort Andrew, for your return to the water.

Wednesday will see the return of IOM Handicap at the dam, button press at 11am.

Next weekend is the Tasmanian State IOM Championships on Saturday and Sunday - button press for both days at 1030. If you haven't done so already, please get those entries in as soon as possible.

Kyle