2026 IOMMDCS&C R1 Bournville RS&MBC race report.

We had a fantastic turn out of twenty-seven skippers representing nine different clubs yesterday at Bournville RS&MBC, and it was really good to see the IOM class in our district growing in number again after a couple of years where things had been a little slow.

In past few weeks running up to the event the lake at Bournville had been frozen, filled to the top with almost continuous rain and wind in every direction possible, so when in the last couple of days, it looked like there was going to be a break in the conditions it started to look promising.

Graham Robinson was the PRO and this being his first larger entry Open event he was ably supported by five other members of the club, Vic, Stephen, Ian, Roger & Chris Cook all of whom were involved in everything from the initial planning to the course setting.

I arrived early to book the skippers in whilst the race team went to look at the lake and the possible course choices that were going to have to be used. During the week the wind had been blowing down the lake but this morning because of the high-pressure system sitting over the middle of England what wind there was, was coming from a mostly southerly direction. At least it was not raining. In the end it was decided that the only option was a zig zag course down the width of the lake, so in effect there were three short beats to windward.

With everyone ready to go before start time Graham announced that he would be holding the briefing early, and with the domestic arrangements and the fact that there would be a range of sandwiches available for everyone at lunchtime he got down to confirming that the racing would be conducted as two heats using schedule B4. The non sailing skippers were to be called upon to act as race observers.

The seeding races having been pre-split into two heats of mixed ability were already up on the Heat Board, and we got B heat away first. The top places from the first heat were John Burgoine, Mark Dicks with his new 3d printed Poseidon design, Tim Hand and Peter Walters. The second seeding heat was won by Darin Ballington, with Rob Wilson, Chris Cook sailing Chris Harris’s boat (21) and Steve Venables. Jumping forward to the end of the day six of these skippers actually ended up in the top six overall.

As is usual in the light conditions there were streaks of better wind one moment and lulls the next but somehow the better skippers managed to link the best of the conditions better than the rest of the fleet so that when they were caught in the pack or the wrong side of a shift, they were able to recover quickly. I witnessed this a few times with both Darin Ballington and Peter Moore in separate races deciding to sail away from the pack to gain clear air and make up places. There were also times when there were four boats wide at a leeward mark and it was better to slow down and let the pack round wide so that a gap appeared closer to the mark and you could take a shorter distance. It definitely was about both boat speed and race craft at times. Also having sixteen boats on the start line for the A heat races was a good experience for the all the club skippers who don’t very often get the opportunity to race in a larger heat, being able to stand close to the start line was also a bonus. However, that did not stop all the minor bumps on the line, and the start line race team did actually have to call contact and recall a couple of times during the day.

Graham R called a lunch break after race 6 heat B, saying that there would be a thirty-minute break for lunch where refreshments and sandwiches were available in the clubhouse.

I then saw Chris Cook returning to the clubhouse wearing a pair of waders, apparently, he had been out to check the bottom of the lake not far from one of the windward marks. It appeared that a couple of boats had thought that they had fouled something in a previous race, and upon investigation it was discovered to be a branch. This had possibly been thrown onto the ice in the weeks before and upon the thaw it had sunk to the bottom only to wait there to snag the unsuspecting IOM skipper. Once that had been removed the racing recommenced.

I took a short break and Vic B did the Heat Board rescheduling as well as finding observers for a while, thanks for that, it gives me time to input the previous race scores onto the computer.

Racing continued smoothly until around 15:00 when Graham R asked me how long it was taking to complete a two-heat race. I said that the average was around thirty-five minutes from the call to the water for heat B to the last place over the line of heat A. By then there was a light drizzle which had been forecast and with the wind showing signs of disappearing he called the skippers together and said they had the option of continuing for a further race or calling it a day. The decision was that we would finish with having completed nine races overall.

The clubhouse was then busy with everyone packing stuff away ready for the journey home. I completed the scoring and by the time that people had put stuff in their cars we were ready for the prize giving. I made the first announcement saying a big thank you to Graham R for taking on the PRO duties and to the rest of the club race team for their support in making the event happen. Without the clubs willing to offer to run these sorts of events and provide not just the venue but a race team we could not have a series, so thank you all, and to the skippers for coming and supporting this event. Stephen Hodgkinson did the presentation of a selection of bottled wine. First place going to Darin Ballington, and he was told to choose the white wine by Tracey. Second was Tim Hand and third was Rob Wilson, all representing the Lincoln RSC.

A full set of results is here: IOMMDCS&C R1

Lincoln RSC have been the hosts for the 2025/2026 IOMMDWCS series over the winter period and their next round is next Sunday 15^th February. So far there are twenty-three confirmed entries for that event, and you still have time to get your entry into what is looking like a strong field.

Report and scoring by Gordon. Pictures by Gordon & Bill Green.