IOM scratch racing results from 12th July

It's a credit to Austin Lakes that we can sail an interclub event on the Saturday and still hold scheduled IOM sailing the following day. Donks and Lawrie were particularly keen to sail after having to observe yesterday.

 

The forecast was for a similar day to Saturday. It felt slightly warmer than yesterday's Antarctic chill, but sadly the wind was in short supply. Lawrie set the Buoy Bots running south to north and using most of the lake, but guessing the wind direction was tricky. We experienced anything from 0 - 6kts coming from every direction on the compass. However, the course orientation was generally correct. The course was quite far off shore so keen eyesight was needed. More than one skipper missed a buoy. Poor Ray struggled with the long-distance viewing!

 

7 sailors came down, including Ray Silbereisen with his beautiful new wooden Vickers V8. Ray handcrafts his own hulls from timber and the results are works of art. Check out the pics!  (Click to enlarge)

     

 

Thank you to Greg Reynolds who acted as PRO for the first couple of races and enjoyed watching. You'll have to join us for a trial sail sometime, Greg!

In Race 1 Ross Turnbull seemed to have a point to prove after yesterday's DF65 struggles, and won the race! Anyone thinking you need a recent & expensive hull to be competitive needs to think again. Ross was sailing the Disco which is a decades old design. It was noted that Ross's sail setting was particularly good downwind, allowing him to cruise wing-on-wing with no rudder input. Sadly for Ross he struggled with consistency but the potential is obviously there.

 

Graeme Elliott was sailing his sleek BritPop, clad in all gloss black with white foils. All it needs is a "fern" logo and for Graeme to do a haka at the start of the day! Graeme also struggled with consistency, sometimes at the front of the fleet and sometimes well back. The flukey winds, mobile buoys and offshore course sure were a challenge!

 

Donks was sailing his moulded Vickers V8 and suffered a failed forestay during the warm up. Mark Easton assisted in the prompt repair and Donks was back in the water, sailing faster than ever!

 

Shout out to Phil Plowman who sailed valiantly but had a few mechanical problems and switched to the PRO role later in the day. Thanks for staying, Phil!

 

Also a shout out to Mark Easton who sailed Lawrie's boat after the event and suggested valuable trimming improvements. I am continually impressed how the good sailors at ALRS are always happy to pass on their knowledge and never hoard their secrets.

 

We finished up just before 4pm, having only completed 9 races, such was the flukey wind. It is still impressive that these IOMs get up and go in surprisingly little breeze. Mark Easton was back at the lake and soon firing on all cylinders. He started a bit groggy but won every race from Race 3 onwards, winning the day in "Jerwood" style with a perfect net score. Lawrie and Donks duked out for second place, with Lawrie pipping Donks by a point!