Mid Week IOM Handicap

Another ripper of a day for sailing IOM yachts! Twenty eight degrees, blue skies and a fairly consistent 5 knots of North Westerly throughout the day made for perfect handicap racing at the dam. 

A few old faces returned today. It was great to see, Peter Turner, Martin Svensen, Phil Jackman and Rob Cooney all back on the water after some time away. This gave us a fleet of 18 boats today, - the biggest for the season so far.

Rob unfortunately had a nasty slip on the loose gravel of the launching ramp while he was racing. A Super-Hero award goes to Rod Jackman who came immediately to Rob’s aid, having left his own boat even though he was in the leading group and only a short distance from the finish line. Lisa Blackwood who attended to Rob’s boat, and Ray Joyce who missed the start of the next race while making sure that Rob was OK also deserve a salute. It was really great to see such selfless behaviour and club spirit. We all hope that you have fully recovered Rob. (Rod and Ray scored average points for the races affected by the incident.) 

With that said, it also serves as a reminder to everyone that the barrier installed at the end of the fence to the boat trailer was installed following a safety audit of the area and is there to deter sailors from accessing the jetty from that slippery area. We all need to ensure we go around this barrier (and not under it) in order to access the water from the much more stable grassed area around the other side of the boat trailer.

Ian Hey launched his new V12 today. A deep yellow colour, it looked very distinctive on the water and showed good speed particularly early in the day with podium finishes for Bodge in the first two races. We all know the potential of these boats so it will be one to watch out for!

I managed third place overall today without any really outstanding races – but some consistency at least. Second place went to Commodore Rod Marshall who seemed to always be at the head of the pack. Rod seemed to work the long down-wind leg well, keeping closer to the shore than most and often catching the leaders by coming with a gust from behind. 

Today’s winner, for the second week in succession, was Marcus Inches after starting the day with back-to-back race wins. Congratulations on another great sail Marcus but watch out for the handicapper’s sword!

Coming up:

Sunday: The Herb Tyson Memorial for A Class yachts at Montrose. (10:00 button) Enter on-line.
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Next Wednesday: More IOM handicap racing at Risdon Brook Dam. (11:00 button).