IOMMDWCS 2019-20 R2 Manor Park RSC race report.
After what appeared to be weeks of rain 17 skippers gathered at Manor Park RSC for round 2 of this winter’s IOM champion skipper series.
Darin (PRO) called everyone together for the briefing at 10:00am saying that they were going to sail as a single fleet, the home team providing the race team for the day.
The course was set for a north westerly and it was already up to a strong top suit blow. The low morning sun was causing some issues with the start line and so it was not perfect but at least you could spot the line. The first heat then got underway and the expected pair of Rob Vice and Chris Harris, just back from the IOM Worlds in Brazil, made it to the front.
Darin then called the boats off the water as he was going to move a couple of the marks, the wind having settled down to a westerly. But before he could get into the boat a huge squall came across the lake and had everyone grabbing their boats. The wind stayed strong for quite some time and the finish line chairs were the first to go over, then the large movable seating bench, with attached concrete weights went over backwards, luckily just missing a skipper who was sheltering behind it. No damage done, and good job the boats were on the bank.
Most of the skippers turned to their C rigs, for race 2, with the waves and rolling gusts making boat handling a premium. There was no boat damage, but you certainly had to leave plenty of room to tack. Rob Wilson took line honours in race 2.
Normal service was resumed during race 3 with Rob V, Chris H & Rob W battling it out for the win.
Rob Vice was sailing Darin’s Britpop (98) and handling it well, the boat speed was good allowing him to pull clear of any pack and chase Chris H. Our first retirement of the day was Malcolm Yeomans with what appeared to be an electrical issue, he had already changed battery, and this was not the issue.
Darin called a tea break after race 3 and this allowed some skippers to consider a change back up to a B rig. These proved to be quickest and so by race 5 all skippers were now on their B rigs. Rob V then produced a run of 4 wins. Racing continued in batches until lunch was called and everyone took the opportunity to warm up. It was a crisp cold day, but the wind was lazy and cut right through you on the raised control area.
A brief chat about the merits of subscribing to the Midland District website was had and hopefully a few more of the skippers will do this as you then get a notification to any new posting on the website to your email address. This way you will be less likely to miss any NOR’s etc.
Racing continued after lunch with another couple of skippers deciding that they had had enough for the day, so we were down to a 14-boat fleet. Rob V then continued his winning ways until race 13 when 4 of the skippers decided to change up to their A rig. This change lead to Chris H then taking four on the bounce. A halt was called at 15:20 with 16 races completed and Rob & Chris taking 14 wins between them, the others going to Rob Wilson & John Smith.
See a full set of results here IOMMDWCS 19-20 R2 Manor Park RSC for all positions. There is also a series results sheet here: https://www.mya-uk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IOMMDWCS-2019-2020-Skippers-9-12-2019.pdf
Thanks once again to Manor Park RSC for hosting a good event, with Darin, Colin, Royston & Nancy doing the honours.
Hopefully we will have some pictures later and the series results will be posted soon.
The next round of the IOM winter series is scheduled for Leicestershire RYC on 5th January 2020, so keep an eye out for details.
Below is a small selections of pictures by Nancy Johnson.
