I.O.M MDWS Round 4 @ L.R.S.C Pop up Event. Incorporating Lincoln Winter series’ Round 10.

Rain I’ve never seen rain like it , Well I have actually, but it did not dampen the spirits of the 20 odd skippers who showed up for a great day of I.O.M racing, Tea ern on and boiling for a welcome cuppa on arrival , the race team on the go getting everything sorted, and ready to race at 10 am sharp. We were running two fleets under normal HMS with 4 up/down prom/demo etc. Racing started on the East banks with a great top suit breeze say 70% even if it was not quite the direction we would have liked. it was fine . The two seeding races got under way and were won by Peter Stollery and Josh King, interestingly, both of these skippers have been selected to represent the UK in the upcoming World I.O.M championships in May as have others in this very hot fleet of skippers, in fact 5 skippers in total.

There were a variety of designs 9 different in the 23 on show racing today ,9 Brit Pops and one Pop ,( a derivative I am told ) 6 Venti’s , among other’s and skipper’s from as far afield as Birkenhead ,9 The home of radio Racing I was told ) Fleetwood , Cambridge and Suffolk and somewhere else ,way down south. A short break to sort the fleets out and away we went with B fleet away first, The system that works out how we can score all the boats as one fleet is a little complicated but does the job really well on the laptop into the results you see below, Race two and three were won by local lad Tim Hand, 134 with Martin R 22 keeping close and taking the second spot after a slow start in the first race. It looked as though the Brit PoP’s in very capable hands were going to be asking all the questions on the day. The Breeze stayed steady and the bank became very slippery ( Non stop rain ) for the first few races, but gradually the breeze backed enough and we were all transferred to the South bank for the remainder of the day, the rain also got lighter and eventually stopped, it was in fact much dryer under foot, Racing was moving at a good pace and the fleet board crew were doing an excellent job keeping it moving. A short Lunch break was had with Micky Boy sharing out his cake, yes he was 80 , he is not sure how he got to that age but he did, also to be mentioned we had a young skipper who is just starting out young Hayden W 154 , he is 12 years old and definitely the future ,,sailing well above his young years.

It was a battle royal between the top half dozen skipper’s all fighting tooth and nail for every point , but at the end of the day it was Martin R 22 with his Brit Pop that took the win with a good margin from Tim H 134 and Peter Stollery 391 taking third position, so we had 2 past World Champions in the top three , some fantastic racing in a great spirit. Well done to all and thanks for coming to Lincoln, it would not have been possible without Jen Hand and all her willing helpers , and you all know who you are, Jen , Penelope, Ron , Mick , and of Course Tim H , OOD, and the guys and Gals who tore around in the dingy sorting the course Darin, Tracy , and separating boats where necessary. Brilliant day well done all.

And well done Lincoln for sorting this great series out, and all the clubs that supported it.

Just a very quick reminder for everybody, that this very exciting I.O.M racing is coming up on Sunday 15th February at Scotland Farm . I have just checked the entry and I could be mistaken, but we have 3/4 ex World champions entered , plus a good contingent that will be entered for the worlds down at Datchet in May ,,, not only that but it is Micky Boys big birthday , yep he is 80 , not sure how he got there but he made it . There will only be a small cake, so first come first served . We have a great entry so far, but room for one or two more, so if you fancy racing amongst the best in the country get you entry in asap Here so the organisers can sort the planning.. If the link don’t work its on the events page of the MYA. Hope to see you all there.

Cracking day at the lake, 11 skippers out including 1 visitor Chris , a bit dark and murky at 0830 wen both Mick’s arrived to get it all set up, breeze was kind of South East around 9 am and so the South bank was chosen, although as the morning wore on the breeze did veer, making it a little one sided , but as someone said it’s the same for all, so we stuck with it rather than move loads’ buoys to the East Bank ( Both OOD’s are hitting old age ) , The day seemed to brighten up as well so that was nice. Sam P 59 was looking serious before the start , and meant business, he took the first race in style, but Mike H 22 was snapping at his heels and took second spot, we had a few away today, playing with the big boys ( and Girls ) up in Southport, Paul K 19 took the second race and it was all very tight , the first beat was a little short but seemed to work well even though there really was only one place to start and good money swopped hands to get prime position, Kev E 02 was going well and secured 2nd spot , but Sam was keeping his powder dry , ( for now ) Micky Boy 46 then went on a charge securing three bullets on the trot, the wind had increased a couple of knots , but it was still A rig all the way, with a short beat and run followed by a long beat and long run, before a final long beat to the finish. It was nice to see Mike , Ron and Malcolm getting to grips with the boats , remember they have not been at this game for to long, and as we all know it takes time , and a fair bit of patient’s Colin H 301 was going ok but by hiis own admission silly mistake’s were not helping, The racing was very good and the top three places shared all the wins , 3 a piece apart from race 9 where a big grin spread across a face I know well, but at the end of the day Sam P took the top step by 1 point with Paul and Mick only being separated on count back. A great morning of racing, showing that the class is healthy at Lincoln.

Many thank to all for helping put the gear away, and we look forward to seeing you all next time out .

Sometimes the wind is quite light, and sometimes, words cannot describe, how light it was, but even so we had 16 skippers out pitting their skills against each other, but you know what it doesn’t matter, cos when you stir your coffee it’s bloody amazing and it happens every time !!!!!! , the cream always seems to rise to the top , Its frustrating when it’s light ,and we all get frustrated, but the good guy’s just get on with it, and take their place on the podium. Darin B98 started out with a couple of bullets, both closely followed by the Venti of Roger C who was by the way race Officer and did a great job, with help all round of course. Midway down the fleet ( in the pecking order if you like we saw some good all round performances from Kevin, Paul and Sam, who had some great battles in the light conditions.

We saw prospective new member Alan with a loan boat ( Robot ) having his first crack at I.O.M , pretty sure he enjoyed his self. Mike H with the proteus is still getting to grips with the boat, but don’t worry it will come , and to be honest we could all have done with a couple extra knots in wind speed, great efforts as well from Cooperman and Colin H, and I am sure both went home with a smile. As you can see only 6 races completed and in fact race 5 took an age and it could well have been the last and a small debate amongst the skippers as to whether another race was on the cards, just as a small puff covered the lake and it was all systems go , good job in fact as this was probably the best race of the day, and from my view point it seemed to be nip and tuck between Roger and Pete , certainly a close finish with Roger just nicking it from Pete, and Darin taking third spot , ( his worst of the morning ) Great thanks to all the helpers, and especially Colin for getting the results out very quickly and Mick for doing the write up, You can see the state of the breeze in the first picture, but hey it is rarely like that at Scotland Farm, Thank Goodness.

Well doe to Darin for another win with his very quick Brit Pop , even though we are trying our best not to make it easy for him.