IOM Thames Trophy – Coalhouse Fort RYC – 11 May

Coal house Fort Radio Yacht Club hosted the competition in near perfect conditions for one meter yachts. The sun shone brightly & a consistent north easterly breeze of around 12mph allowed first time PRO Andy Seymore to set a windward/leeward course that would remain unchanged all day.

16 helms arrived early to get tuned up, before the briefing was called at 9.45. Initial races saw the port end of the line favored by the majority although the relatively short beat to the bank required careful negotiations as boats called for water, however, most coped without much incident. Sailing as one fleet, the usual format of 4 races & then a comfort break was soon settled into. 

Lunch was called after 8 races with Ben Wallace leading from Mark Dennis, Buzz Coleman & John Gill, the four of them separated by just 6 points. The wind had increased slowly all morning, prompting much debate on rig choice over the break. While some skippers opted to change down, most chose to stick with the top rig & deal with the nose dives in the gusts.  Four more races before another essential comfort break, where consistent scoring saw Dennis & Buzz, just 1 point apart, start to pull away in the top spots.

The last four races were fascinating, Dennis taking race thirteen & fourteen to establish a lead over Buzz in the standings but suffered incidents in race fifteen & sixteen, allowing Buzz to take a win & a second place. Sixteen races, three discards, 13708 steps recorded on 1 skippers pedometer was plenty of racing for anyone & so the PRO called it a day.

All those taking part must be commended, on water discipline was good, most boats doing their turns without hesitation, while the atmosphere remained fun & friendly, ensuring an enjoyable day for both competitors & race team alike. Sadly for our new PRO, Andy, he did such a good job that his name is in the frame to run many more events in the future, but he was the first to admit he was ably supported by the rest of the race team, all of whom we are indebted to for giving up a day’s racing to host the event.

So a quick pack away & a run to the car park where the booze & trophies were awarded. Buzz’s two good finishes in race fifteen & sixteen saw him clinch the trophy from Mark by just two points. John Gill hung onto third by one point despite a charge up the leader board from Graham Lewis in the afternoon’s races.

Thank you to everyone who supported the event, it really was quite a spectacle watching sixteen IOM’s charging up & down the lake at full speed. 2025 is turning out to be a very good, well-supported, year for the MYA’s eastern district, with several great events already behind us & many more to look forward too. We hope to see you all soon on the circuit.