Fourteen boats from Ireland, Scotland, England and the Isle of Man are contesting the 2010 National 18 Class Dinghy Championship, sponsored by Isle of Man Assurance.
Hosted by the Isle of Man Yacht Club every four years as the Championship venue rotates between the competing nations, recent Manx championships have been typified by strong winds and large seas.  This year’s event has offered a different challenge with light winds dominating the first two day’s action but the competition throughout the fleet is typically fierce.

Three races opened the Championship on Tuesday.  Race 1 saw an intense fight for first as Manx boat Crossfire (Antony Ellis, Mike Wilson and Nigel Collins) was able to maintain a fragile lead despite constant pressure from the Scotsmen aboard Howlin’ Gael ( CONTACT _Con-3E437A6C1FA Stuart Urquhart, Richard Urquhart and Ross Young).  Local boat Gorrum, helmed by Michael Kneale, took third.

All bets were off during Race 2 as fickle winds took their toll: at the first rounding mark Howlin’ Gael and Gorrum found themselves fighting for the wooden spoon at the back of the fleet, only to claw their way back through the pack to finish second and third respectively.  Irish entry Das Boot (Tom Dwyer, Peter Hassett and Gregor Davidson), took the win.
Steady breeze returned for Race 3, which once again saw Crossfire (IOMYC) and Howlin’ Gael (RFYC) duelling at the front of the fleet.  The Scottish boat prevailed to take first, with Ellis’ crew second and Tommy Dwyer’s Das Boot claiming third.

Wednesday dawned to a little more wind and ominously dark skies.  Irish boat Ball’n’Chain (Dave O’Connell, Kevin Horan and John O’Connell) led throughout to win Race 4 in a very tight finish: less than three minutes separated the entire fleet after an hour of racing.

A disastrously-timed capsize forced Crossfire, lying second overall after four races, to miss Race 5 as a brief rain squall brought strong winds before leaving a calm spell in its wake.  Tommy Dwyer’s men on Das Boot were quickest to adapt to the changing conditions and won the race, with ever-consistent Scots of Howlin’ Gael claiming second and Mick Kneale’s Gorrum taking third.  Crossfire’s luck was to change as they comfortably won Race 6, with Irish boats Ball’n’Chain and Das Boot taking second and third.

After six races, the consistency of Howlin’ Gael puts them top of the overall standings, with Das Boot only a point behind them and Michael Kneale’s Gorrum in third place.

Racing continues until Saturday; as the final races are held the competitors can discard their worst results, leaving the overall championship wide open and the coveted Cork Harbour Trophy still up for grabs.

For a selection of photos from races 1 to 6 take a look at the MSR Gallery

Saturday started with very strong south-westerly winds, several competitors returned to the beach in the near suicidal conditions of 25+ knots, however 5 dinghies finished the first race with Simon Pressley in a full rig Laser coming out on top.  He was followed by the smaller radial rig Lasers of Mike Pridham and Peter Whipp with Dave Batchelor and his daughter Emily (RS 200) some 15 seconds ahead of Andrew Dean and Katy Kneale, also in an RS 200.

With the wind increasing for Race 2 it was the smaller radial rigged Lasers that led the field home with Andrew Dean holding on for 3rd spot.

Sunday dawned with an improving weather forecast, the promise of the wind dropping off around lunchtime meant the start was delayed by one hour and a larger fleet of 11 boats went to the start-line.

With the fairly strong conditions continuing Peter Whipp led the National 18 of Mick Kneale home in Race 3.

For Race 4 the wind eased a little giving the advantage to the dinghies with larger rigs, Mick Kneale finishing first closely followed by Russell Collister.  Andrew Dean retired during this race after bending his spinnaker pole in some sort of jousting match with Mike Pridham!

The wind continued to decrease during Race 5 and a ‘P’ course was set which gave the advantage to the Asymmetric rigged RS 200’s of Angus Jolly and Russell, Angus getting the win.

Top junior was Luke Collins sailing a Blaze.

Many thanks to Wi-Manx for kindly sponsoring the event, Ed Whipp for officiating as Officer of the Day on both Saturday and Sunday, rescue boat crews and ladies of the club for providing a very welcome Regatta Tea at the presentation.

Results

Peter Whipp (Radial Laser)  14 points
Mike Pridham (Radial Laser)  19 points
Mick Kneale (National 18) 30 points
Russell Collister (RS 200)  32 points
Angus Jolly (RS 200) 35 points (count-back)
Dave Batchelor (RS200)  35 points
Andrew Dean (RS 200) 39 points
Ralph Kee (Radial Laser) 41 points (count-back)
Simon Pressley (Laser)  41 points
Luke Collins (Blaze)  48 points
Jerry Colman (505)  52 points

Next racing will be in Ramsey Bay on Sunday 18 July starting at 10.30am.

This is a two day event with three races held ‘back to back’ on each day with racing commencing at 11.00am on both days.

Sponsors Wi-Manx will hold the prize-giving directly after racing finishes on the Sunday, followed by a complimentary Regatta Tea for all competitors, race officials, family, friends and social members.

As part of the H R Gelling Travellers Cup it is hoped that the event will be fully supported, especially by the juniors who made such a good showing at the IOMYC Regatta.

On Saturday would competitors please park their cars to the north of the club house as it is Ramsey Lifeboat Day and there is also Sand-Racing on Ramsey beach.  We hope to be clear of the beach by 2.30pm to allow Sand-Racing to start at 3.00pm

Competitors of all ages and capabilities are welcome!

Contact details: Ralph Kee on 817010

Nine cruisers enjoyed a 2-hour pursuit race each day run by race officer Phil Scott.

Handicaps are applied at the staggered start and the idea is to catch up with the slower boats ahead and, at the finish time, whichever is leading is the winner. It worked particularly well in Saturday’s strong NW wind allowing the cruising yachts to almost hold their own against the racier versions. Sunday the patchy SW breeze gave the lighter yachts a better chance. Cruiser captain Mike Stanton’s Sigma 33, Sorcery, improved from next-to-last to first over the two races!

Top three overall were: 1st Cheetah Cub (Reflex 38) Robin Wootton, 2nd Rapscallion (Ruffian 23) Pete Ashurst, 3rd Quackers (Quarter ton) James Walker.

The strong and blustery NW wind on Saturday led to cancellation of the three scheduled dinghy races. So, to make up, five half-hour races were smartly run back-to-back on Sunday morning by race officers Pete Hinds and Russell Armstrong.

Eighteen dinghies took part in the improving weather and, after a gloomy start, the weather cheered up nicely for some pleasant sailing and for the monster BBQ afterwards. It is very pleasing to see the improvement in the youngsters who form the Manx Youth Sailing Squad, sailing their six new RS Tera dinghies.
Greg Kelly managed to finish second overall, winning one and Izzy Sharpe another of the five races.

Top eight overall: 1st Mick Kneale & crew (Nat.18) 8 pts, 2nd Greg Kelly (RS Tera Sport) 21 pts, 3rd Simon Pressly (Laser) 22 pts, 4th Dave Batchelor (RS200) 23 pts, 5th Andrew Dean (RS200) 30 pts, 6th Hannah Howitt (RS Tera Pro) 34 pts, 7th Izzy Sharpe (RS Tera Pro) 39 pts, 8th Ffinlo Wright (RS Tera Sport) 45 pts.

Many thanks go to the safety-boat drivers, race officers, catering volunteers and BBQ stokers for their good will and hard work. The club is celebrating its centenary and trying to get as many people sailing as possible, especially through the junior training section. With the Tera kids now doing so well, things are looking good for the next hundred years.

The next major sailing events at Port St Mary include the Youth Championship over the weekend of 3-4 July followed by the National 18′ Class championship, kindly sponsored yet again by IOMA and Nigel Wood. This takes place the last week of July - Monday 26th to Saturday 31st. The IOMYC hosts this event every four years and the entry for 2010 is already at the level it was in 2006.
This is always a fantastic week with boats and their crews coming from Ireland Scotland and England.

Conditions were mostly very sunny and with moderate to fresh breezes although we also had hail, heavy rain and of course midge attacks.

Crewed by Adam Beighton, Donald Edwards, Keith Poole, Ed Whipp, Jane Howard, Yogi Quayle and with Jerry Colman driving, the yacht put in a series of fine performances over the first three days of the regatta to leave plenty of margin for error on the final day’s 2 races. The tally of 4 firsts, a second, a third and a couple of fifths to count was too much even for current national champions Sigmatic to match.

As always it was fast, efficient and skilled crew work that won the races together with a level of boat speed that seemed to be just a little better at the right times than the rest of the fleet and it was great to receive our first individual race winning prize of the Series from double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson who attended the Regatta.

The Sigmas are generally very competitive especially at this event and although this was not the largest fleet at the series it certainly had quality with several boats winning races and some very close finishes.

Full results here

sigma-results-2010

Hosted by the Isle of Man YC, the race started at 7am from Port St Mary - a little early for some, following the pre-race Hamblin reception the night before. Fourteen yachts, half of them visitors from the England and Ulster, made the low-water start to race round the Island anti-clockwise. The fresh north-westerly breeze and sunny conditions made it a cracking day for a sail. With not much windward/leeward work to do, the yachts power-reached around most of the course, breaking every record in this event.

Since Frank Newton and Hamblin’s first Round Mann in 1999, the quickest yacht around the Island had been Andy Roy’s J.109 “Stanley’s Banjo”, clocking 11 hours 56 minutes in 2006. This year, Robin Wootton’s Reflex 38 “Cheetah Cub” flew round in 8 hours 47 minutes, knocking over 3 hours off the record. The combination of a good fresh breeze that lasted all day and from the north-west was most unusual and this record elapsed time is likely to stand for many years. A very pleasing bit of history in the IOMYC’s centenary year.

However, the overall results are based on handicaps and the top three on corrected time in each division were as follows:

Division 1 (IRC) - 1^st “Eauvation” (First 31.7) Jason Corlett Douglas Bay YC, 2^nd “Cheetah Cub” (Reflex 38) IOMYC, 3^rd “Charlie Don’t Surf” (Everitt 31) Phil Quinn Strangford Lough YC.

Division 2 (PY) - 1^st “Rebel” (MGRS-34) Nigel Rollason Royal Western YC, 2^nd “Shellan” (Dehler 36CWS) Richard Baker IOMYC, 3^rd “Carmen” (Bolero) Chris Duffy Blackpool & Fleetwood YC.

Jason won Division 1 last year but had to work very hard to beat Robin Wootton by only 3 minutes this time. The Division 2 winner, Nigel Rollason from Devon is a former TT and sidecar racer who commented that it was the first time he’d won round here “off-road”. The last yacht to finish was John Dowling’s little Westerly Cirrus, taking just 13 hours 50 minutes - a fantastic effort in such a boat.

The Friday feeder race over to PSM from Fleetwood was won by “Mystic Sun” (Oceanis 440) Steve Williams of the Fleetwood Harbour YC.

All competitors and the IOMYC gratefully thank Frank Newton for his continued support of this annual event.

Full results available here

The 2010 IOMA Fund and Investment Management Round the Island Yacht Race started at 1330 on Sunday from the South Stone Pier off Ramsey Harbour. A large crowd cheered the 28 yachts (including 2 trimarans), from all round the Irish Sea as well as the Island, as they raced off the line as the battery contingent fired off the requisite rounds from the end of the pier.

The forecast was for North Easterly winds of around force 4 to 5 slowly backing to North over the next 12 hours or so then maybe to North Westerly later. It therefore came as a bit of a surprise to some when the wind changed from a light North Easterly at the start to a crisp North Westerly within the hour, effectively splitting the fleet in Ramsey Bay and setting many of the competitors a challenge to get back into the reckoning.

At the Point of Ayre, where another good crowd were gathered to watch the spectacle, many of the favoured Division 1 IRC handicap racing yachts were struggling. Alan Hannon’s J124 BJAYSUS from the Royal Ulster Yacht Club rounded only just in front of several  slower Division 2 (PY handicap) Class B and C boats who had started only 15 minutes earlier. Notable was James Walker’s smart new Quarto ¼ tonner QUAKKERS, DBYC, who was well up with the leaders but who later suffered a spreader failure and had to retire hurt. There was plenty of action to watch as Bjaysus was just holding off Robin Wooton’s CHEETAH CUB from Douglas Bay Yacht Club and with Keith Lord’s AC35 A-CREWED INTEREST next in Division 1 close to Class 2A’s QUANTUM (Dehler 36, R&E Moore, DBYC) then the trio of Sigma 33 Offshore One Designs POLISHED MANX (Kuba Symanski’s new boat, DBYC, HONEY of BOSHAM, Laurie Clark, Whitehaven Boating and Sailing Association and SEA-PIE of CULTRA, Jerry Colman, MS&CC) in that order. SEA-PIE came rather close in to the beach to overtake last year’s overall winner from Class 2B PENNY DIAMOND (Copeland 28bk, John Broadhead, Glasson Sailing Club, who successfully defended class 2B/C this year). The fishermen at the Point helpfully reeled in their lines as the fleet passed but some were seen to be preparing to retreat up the beach with their rods as the rigs heeled towards them.

The North Easterly forecast would have meant a pleasant spinnaker run all the way down the West coast but the switch to NW, or even nearer West at times, meant no spinnakers and a cold breezy close reach  instead with a big black cloud out to the West blotting out Ireland and making us wonder what might be coming next. The MS&CC’s E-Boat Eliza Bee (Ralph Kee) and Super Seal 26 (Gerry Wilson) were well down the West Coast before Divisions 1 and 3 were all past (Div 3 being the very quick Dragonfly trimarans RICE PUDDING IX and FLORENCE, Messrs Whewell and Ducklin, both from GSC).

In the event, the wind did track back towards the North a bit allowing the AC35 whose MS&CC tacticians had advised a Westerly track to fly a spinnaker and start to recover their losses in Ramsey Bay. The rest of the fleet progressed down to Peel mostly under white sails and hoisted spinnakers South of Peel where there is a slight change of course towards the Calf. On this reach, PROLOGUE, the big Swan 40 of Keith Freeman (Royal Artillery Yacht Club) began to show her paces under a huge spinnaker but the wind did not hold for her.

At the Chickens channel between the Chicken Rock lighthouse and the Calf, it was Bjaysus just in front but with the AC35 and Cheetah Cub in attendance and with the rest of the fleet still looking a bit too close behind for the fast boats to make up their handicap time penalties.

Spinnakers were gybed going through the Chickens with a few slip-ups one of which allowed Sea-Pie to slip past Polished Manx but a big broach from Honey a little later was not enough to let Sea-Pie to the front of the Sigma fleet.

The view astern from boats crossing Port St Mary Bay was quite spectacular with the fleet silhouetted against the setting sun and the Chicken Rock, the Dragon Rock and the rest of the Calf framing the picture.

Spinnakers were down again by Langness and it was another close reach up the East coast as the night drew in and the cold wind started to bite. A warming chilli on Sea-Pie gave the crew renewed hope of getting past Honey but drawing level was all that was achieved.

Approaching Maughold Head with only the lighthouse beams to spot the wind lanes, a collection of bright white masthead lights gave a clue as to the state of affairs in Ramsey Bay as midnight approached. Not a breath. A North Easterly then filled in and the procession restarted but with all the boats a little closer together.  Bjaysus was first to finish but not far enough ahead, as with the other faster boats in the IRC division.

Sea-Pie gave Maughold a good offing to avoid the calms and tacked into the Bay just before midnight. It looked as if they might have crossed ahead of the other Sigmas by choosing a better wind lane. However as they approached the finish, a yacht approached from nearer Maughold which turned out to be Polished Manx, now less than a boat length behind and going great guns. Some quick manoeuvres and feints designed to send Sea-Pie off the wrong way nearly succeeded but the home club boat finished just 11 seconds ahead taking the Eventide One Design trophy for the Sigma 33’s, the Class and Overall Trophy for the IRC racing yachts in Division 1 (Brewery Cup and Ramsey Town Cup) and the Maddrell Trophy for second overall under the PY handicap.

Honey, sailing under the PY handicap system in class 2A finished 5 minutes behind the other 2 Sigmas to take the Coronation Cup for the whole of Division 2. First Overall under PY was Jason and Debbie Corlett’s Beneteau First 31.7 EAUVATION, DBYC, who despite coming third in Division 1 had the best result under the PY handicapping system. Eauvation sailed a very good race finishing just in front of the Sigmas and thoroughly deserves the prize.

There were several other fine performances worthy of mention including Penny Diamond who was just 5 minutes behind Honey, and the stalwarts on CHABLIS (Hunter Horizon 31, Ian Sharples, GSC) who had the longest elapsed time of over 13 hours and particularly David Holmes’ JETWIND (Colvic Victor 34 Ketch, GSC), a great friend to Ramsey and the Race who was awarded the Copland Trophy for Endeavour.

MS&CC just managed to bring the Squadron Trophy back home using the extraordinarily complex formula to sneak ahead of Glasson Sailing Club and Douglas Bay Yacht Club despite strong challenges. Hopefully we will see entries from Port St Mary and Peel next year.

Altogether 22 yachts finished with very few retirements (some due to gear failure) given the cold conditions  and corrected finish times at the front of the fleet were very close indicating a competitive race, none more so than that 11 seconds between the Sigmas for Division 1. We look forward to seeing more of Polished Manx and now know that we can expect a proper battle.

Many thanks to our main sponsor, IOMA Fund and Investment Management and also to the local traders who generously placed ads in our programme - we hope they saw some uplift in their turnover from all the merry visiting sailors in Ramsey. Thanks also to Teare’s who provided the meat for the excellent chilli served at the Club to all competitors who came in after finishing and still being served by our volunteers who we also heartily thank at 0400 on Monday. Special thanks also to the Rib teams who operated ferry services to anchored yachts in difficult conditions and who laid the start/finish mark. The Coastguard have noticed (after 55 years) that this has a light on it and so now we will have to apply for permission for it in future.

We look forward to next year and hope that the Department can manage to get the mooring buoys laid in time for the race which is on May 1st starting at about 10 am.

Full results at msandcc.org

The Tera Sport fleet had some incredibly close racing; Ffinlo Wright won race 1, Amie Shute won race 2 and Greg Kelly won race 3.  Ffinlo was in the lead overnight with five points, Greg and Amie equal second with seven points each.

Three boats raced with the Tera Pro rig, Hannah Howitt, Izzy Sharpe and James Kelly each scored one win during the first day of racing.  Hannah was leading overnight with five points, James second with six points and Izzy third with seven points.

The forecast was for a bit more wind on the Sunday, however by the start of race one the SW wind had dropped significantly, there were still some waves to play with outside the harbour.  A course was set between Carthure Perch and Alfred Pier to try and give some shelter for the competitors.  The result was some variable winds, waves on one side of the course and flat water on the other side, some tough decisions for the competitors and frequent position changes on the windward legs.

Ffinlo had to a good start in race one and finished in first place with Greg Kelly a close second, putting Ffinlo three points ahead at the start of Race 5.  Then the positions were all to change.  Ffinlo was over the start line and had to restart and Greg led the Sport fleet for the whole race.  He had some stiff competition from newcomer Matthew Petts both were neck and neck at the last leeward mark.  Greg finished in first place with Matthew a credible second and Ffinlo third.  Greg now led the fleet and needed to keep Ffinlo behind him to win the series.

Greg had a poor start to Race 6 and battled up the first windward leg to regain his position at the front of the fleet.  Meanwhile Harriet Quayle sailed an excellent race and finished in second place.  Ffinlo finished third giving Greg Kelly the overall win for the series.

In the Pro fleet James sailed well and won Races 4 and 6, Hannah won Race 5 and Izzy sailed consistently finishing second in every race on Sunday. Overall James finished first, Hannah second and Izzy third.

It was great to see so many young people entering this regatta, on the whole there were some excellent performances and it is hoped that all the sailors will continue to race throughout the season.

Thanks to Race Officer Mick Kneale, Event Co-ordinator Cathie Ashurst, all the safety crews and 7th Wave for providing additional boats for competitors.

Overall Results:

RS Tera Sport Fleet
1st Greg Kelly 8 points
2nd Ffinlo Wright 9 points
3rd Amie Shute 15 points
4th Harriet Quayle 18 points
5th Matthew Petts 22 points
6th Imogen Wild 27 points
7th Michael Moore 31 points
8th Thomas Moulden 36 points
9th Tony Pitt 57 points

RS Tera Pro Fleet
1st James Kelly 8 points
2nd Hannah Howitt 9 points
3rd Izzy Sharpe 10 points

Conditions were mixed, generally light winds, 180 degree wind shifts, showers at times and on the cool side, a bit like Injebreck but with tide!

For Race 1 the OD set a windward/leeward course.  A clean start for all saw Mick Kneale and crew in the National 18 clear the line first and stay there.  Meanwhile the wind dropped from a light 2/3 SE at the start to zero, eventually filling in 1 to 2 NW, this benefited the faster boats with the National 18 first followed by Jerry Colman and crew in the 505.  The closest finish was between Russell Collister and Andrew Dean in the RS200’s locked in a gybing duel to the finish line, Andrew being given the lead over Russell by a couple of  inches.

In Race 2 the wind seemed to have steadied in a NE direction, midway through the race Russell found himself in a hole, the win on corrected time going to Andrew.  Meanwhile the single-handed fleet, lasers seemed to be grouped together in their own race regardless of rig size, Simon Pressley coming out on top with a standard rig.

For Race 3 a reduced size ‘P’ course was set.  Not long after the start the wind from NE faded away during a rain shower and eventually filled in with a gentle breeze from the SE, at this point the course was further shortened with Russell coming out on the top this time to give him Third place overall .

Junior prize was awarded to Amy Shute sailing her tiny Tera.

Many thanks to Mark Corrin of IOM Xerox for kindly sponsoring the event, the ladies of the club who provided a welcome buffet at the presentation and MS & CC for hosting yet another successful event.

Overall results (using 2010 PY numbers)

1. Mick Kneale and crew[ National 18 ]    5 points
2. Andrew Dean and crew [RS200]    7 points
3. Russell Collister and crew[ RS200]    7 points
4. Simon Pressley [ Laser]    14 points
5. Mike Pridham[ Laser Radial]    19 points
6. Tim Cope    [Laser]    19 points
7. Jerry Colman [505]  20 points
8. Kuba  [Rooster 8.1] 21 points
9. Daniel Roberts [Fireball]   28 points
10. Amy Shute [Tera]  30 points
11. Danny Boyes [B14] 33. points

Full results available here

The action was captured by Dave Kneale and Adam Beighton, take a look at the pictures links below.

Dave Kneale

Adam Beighton