IOM Scottish Events 2011 Paisley Open Meeting – 22nd October 2011

Report by Gordon Allison

13 skippers entered the Paisley IOM open on Saturday 22nd October. However on the day, 10 managed turned up and enjoyed a great day.

The wind was south westerly and was abundant enough to keep all boats on their #2 suit throughout the day. Race Officer Gordon Allison, assisted by John Gilchrist, set a standard triangle / sausage course which hardly needed altering all day. Starting advantages of 20 seconds were available and 4 skippers took them.

Racing started at 10.15am and the first race was won by Gordon Winton who had a starting advantage. The following 3 races each had different winners and was proving competitive for everyone. Robert Rooney, Pat Johnstone and Robert Brown, managed to find some consistency and battle it out throughout the morning session for the top 3 places with Pat having five consecutive first places. Hugh Shields was also going well with his latest McShee design. The most notable performance of the morning session was that of Gordon Winton sailing his Stealth, who lost his starting advantage in race 7 after recording a 1st place and two 3rd places.

After a hearty lunch of pie and beans, sailing resumed and everyone was bracing themselves for rain as the sky darkened. Unfortunately, both David Smith and Gordon Neil had to retire due to boat failures as did Norman McDonald of Ayr later on in the afternoon.

Racing proceeded at a fine pace and Robert Rooney wasted no time in finding excellent form to record 6 wins on the trot with Pat Johnstone and Robert Brown fighting for 2nd and 3rd positions. Infringements were quickly dealt with throughout the day and skippers took penalties in a sportsmanlike manner. None more so than Robert Brown who showed everyone how it should be done.

As the afternoon went on, the skippers kept the racing flowing and another 12 races were sailed giving a total of 24 races for the day. Excellent sailing topped off by the fact that the rain did not appear! At the finish it was Robert Rooney who took the top spot.

Paisley Model Yacht Club would like to thank everyone who participated and helped make a fine day of sailing.

Video clips can be viewed at – https://paisleymyc.wordpress.com/

Results: