2024 IOM Ranking 5&6 Report and Results

MYA IOM Ranking at Chelmsford Radio Yacht Club

We have not had a significant event at Chelmsford for a few years, so it was good to be back. The water is relatively open on all sides and is brackish rather than salty sea water which eats the electrics inside the boat. There is plentiful accommodation in the area and campervans could park on site with facilities available in the adjacent Blackwater Sailing Club. Brian Southgate sent out excellent instructions on how to get to the club and the layout of facilities and despite the race team being out of practice, gave us an excellent weekend of racing.

The IOM fleet continues to be strong with 44 and 48 competitors on Saturday and Sunday with the fleet spilt into 3 heats.

Saturday dawned cold and clear with a beautiful sunrise over the river Blackwater. But little wind. As the morning developed, a gentle breeze filled in but shifted 30 degrees or more throughout the day making life difficult for the RO, but we did manage 6 races in light to medium A rig conditions. As a consolation it got a little warmer as the day went on.

Sunday dawned grey and very cold with total calm but shortly after the briefing the wind filled in and we started racing. Initially the windward marks were quite close to the bank in a zone of no wind making the rounding extremely difficult. After a couple of races these were moved away from the bank. Approaching the mark was still tricky as the wind was shifting up to 30 degrees at random. Racing was extremely tight at all ends of the fleet and with 20+ boats on the start line concentration and skill to get off the line was key.

Stand out performance of the weekend must go to Rob Walsh. Consistent and always scoring in the top 4 (bar his discard) and he won both days easily. Tony Edwards and Brad Gibson filled the podium on Saturday and Craig Richards and Brad Gibson completed the podium on Sunday.

In parallel with the Sunday ranking event was the Oliver lee Trophy for the local Chelmsford sailors which was won by John Gill. I could not help noticing that Colin Goodman had won this for 8 years on the trot. It’s a shame he no longer participates in the sport.

This is the last of the IOM Ranking Events for this year and the updated table will determine who can go to the Europeans in Croatia, April next year. We begin the 2025 ranking events at Scarborough in March followed by the Nationals in April at Lincoln.