Eleven  Competitors came the line , with sunshine and a steady top suit breeze for round four of the Dragon winter series , It was cold dont get me wrong, but as long as you had your thermals in place , you had a smile on your face. first casualty before hitting the water was the lip, Mick gbr 46 always banging on about be sure your boat is ready for racing to everybody else, apparently no juice to the winch, say no more , he kindly did the scoring.  12 races were sailed from the East bank and first Bullitt of the day went to Bob gbr 58 and as time went on his consistency paid off as he was rarely out of the top three. Phil gbr 44 was sailing his yellow peril RG 65 and did well to top the order at the finish , although the RG’s are a separate class in this series, Chris gbr 74 with his new hull after the sinking three weeks ago was not quite doing enough to boss the morning and only started to come good towards the end, Ivan gbr 47 had some bad luck with his kicker snapping so had to sail with B rig, Mick gbr 14 was going well and proving his success with the I.O.M is no fluke, It was nice to see Norman , Gordon and Bert having some close races, Chaz retired after race 6 with radio problems and left for an early lunch , racing was exciting and fun to watch. and the eventual winner was of course Bob  gbr58 with Phil getting line honours ,

well done to everybody .

Bob  gbr 58 leading the way round at the wing mark

Norman gbr 179 with a minor adjustment .

Port or Starboard ???????

comon Bert, keep gbr 98 going at full speed .

Mick Admin

NEXT ROUND IS ROUND FIVE ON     SUN 15TH FEBRUARY      ROUND 5     Dragon Winter Series   No race will start after  1300 hrs

Probably because of the cold weather and the Midland District Winter Series event at Leicester there were only 5 entries for this event. They were met by a very cold morning and very little wind. However the sky was blue and the sun was shining and a very pleasant mornings sailing was had by all. In view of the spirit of the event  hints, tips and opinions were shared frequently. Sailing started on a short course close to the east bank but after 3 races the wind increased from next to nothing to gentle and the course was was extended down the bank. Good sailing was had for the rest of the morning despite the running start dictated by the positions of the marks. This did not cause any great problem due to the relatively small entry. Results below:-

some Pictures

The met office just about got it right for round 4 of the I.O.M winter series, 16 skippers arrived at Scotland Farm, We welcomed  one visitor, the wife of Darin B, Tracy B, so we had two ladies sailing.  The wind was going to be B suit, and although the majority started with B’s those who had A suits were soon running for cover as the breeze built after a couple of races during the morning, A slight problem  re the dingy meant we could not lay a true beat for the course for the first two or three races and so sailed from the East Bank, we then got the dingy sorted and the logical step was to sail on the south bank, which was slightly better. Dave Burke gbr 30 was straight out of the blocks with two bullets in the first two races, normally a slow starter, I think he surprised himself. Jenny Hand gbr 69 sailing her brand new Brit Pop ( after official launch with Champagne ) got a fourth in the first race beating her son Tim, “it was quite a wide smile ” Mick Hunt gbr 131 continues with his fine form sailing in the top half of the fleet, Graham Allen gbr 88 was having a quiet day and kind of up and down. Race three saw Mick C gbr 46 hit the front and he also won the next three races, with Neil Coleman gbr 89 in close attendance in his Cheinz sailing very well. The beat was shifty as you got nearer to the windward mark , and as the morning went on boats were pressed downwind with a bit of diving, By race 7 Darin B gbr 92 found a bit of form ( in a borrowed boat) and won race 7 and 8, Dave Burke managing a 2nd in race 7, Chris Corrin had also found a bit of form getting two 4th’s  in race 7/8. The racing was good fast and exciting , and many members are improving their standing , if they look at there results maybe they can re-run events in the head to see where they went wrong, a good starting point is look at your discards, and see if you could lower your scores in those races.  All in all a great days racing, and a fantastic turnout from all club members with some notable performances against top class skippers. The ladies battle will continue for sure.

The next Round is   ROUND 5      I.O.M Winter Series      February the 1st 2015