John Emms Memorial for Marblehead Class

​Mixed conditions for the fleet today with a nice steady B Rig breeze to start with, dropping off to maybe 6 knots a bit before lunch. Rig change called for which brought on the lunch break and then A Rigs for the remainder of the day until we closed a little early at 3pm after the Rib sustained some unfortunate damage from a runaway trailer (Doh!!).
 
7 Skippers turned up and we completed 10 races in all.
 
First 4 races established a bit of a pattern at the top of the leaderboard, with Ray winning them all, Ted taking second on them all and Kyle third in them all…. An early set up for the rest of the day.
 
That said, 5 of the 7 skippers made it to the podium today which in itself was a really good effort. Some rig/setup issues hurt Lisa, Rod and John though the day, but with those being identified, I am sure they will be right to go when the Marbleheads are back on the water. Personally, after the bow plate fractured last time, almost sinking the boat, it was nice to complete the day with a bone dry hull.
 
Phil Jackman volunteered for Pro today, and was given a tricky task. Not so much in the morning session with the course being pretty standard, but after lunch especially, the breeze became quite variable from most points on the compass, but he still managed to get us some good, meaningful courses. The end of the day though, whatever breeze we had left turned very light and got somewhat frustrating at times, working in to a pretty good position only to be cruelled by getting parked while other lanes opened up, seemingly from nowhere. That said, we all had the same course to sail on so we made best with what we could.
 
Ray bookended the regatta today with two wins to finish off, paired with his four at the start, to run away a convincing winner on 12 points. Congrats on a really consistent day today Ray.
 
Second place was Ted, pretty sure it is just the third time he has sailed the F-6 and sailed it really well. Excellent acceleration in the little puffs. Well deserved second place on 18 points.
 
Kyle rounded out the top 3 – a bit inconsistent overall, but enough good races to register 22 points for the day.
 
Well sailed everyone today. Some testing conditions, and as mentioned by Trout, some fantastic starts, encouraged by the fantastic behaviour with the boats all lined up so close to each other – keeping in your lane and not playing silly games. Top stuff.
 
Big thanks to Phil Jackman today for taking time out for us to sail. It was really appreciated.
 
Coming up
 
Wednesday is IOM Super Wednesday at the Dam, button press ay 1030
Sunday is the resumption of Montrose Bay Sailing with IOM Summer Scratch – Please Note new start time due to daylight savings and approach to the committee to take advantage of afternoon sea Breezes.
NEW START TIME for Summer Sailing is 2pm through to 5pm
 
Kyle