IOMYC Club Racing 15th & 18th May
Report thanks to Mick Kneale
The third session in the Ballagawne Cup series was sailed in serene conditions at Port St Mary on Thursday 15th May with a steady gentle warm breeze off the land and flat calm sea.
Eight boats appeared in the senior fleet and six in the junior training section.
Pete Hinds set a windward/leeward course - first race with a gate and the second without. In race one, Mick Kneale, Phil Hardisty and Donald Edwards took the National 18’ on a clear port-hand flyer off the line and led from start to finish. Smiler Williams and Tom Cringle chased hard in the RS400. Two other National 18’s made a welcome return to the fray. Yogi Quayle, Adam Beighton and Chris Hill sailed theirs into 3rd place followed by Pete Barlow, Baggy Ingram and Tony Randall in the other.
Race two tempted two port-hand flyers, Mick Kneale and Smiler Williams, but the rest of the fleet had cottoned on and there was a bit untangling to do after the gun – all very polite and no protest was heard.
In the junior section, the Holt/Kelly combination sailing an RS Feva topped race one and race two was dominated by Rachel Quayle sailing a Pico.
Thursday top six:
Race one: 1st M Kneale (Nat.18), 2nd Willams/Cringle (RS400), 3rd B Quayle (Nat.18), 4th P Barlow (Nat.18), 5th B Swindlehurst (Radial), 6th A Hinds (Radial).
Race two: 1st Kneale, 2nd Williams, 3rd Barlow, 4th Quayle, 5th Hinds, 6th Swindlehurst.
Five boats turned out on Sunday 18th May. Pete Hinds again set a simple windward/leeward course. Conditions were again very pleasant with a force 3 Easterly this time. The three Radials, sailed by Ali Hinds, Chris Hill and Ben Swindlehurst, enjoyed very close racing with only Pete Barlow’s National 18 and Dave Batchelor’s National 12 gate-crashing the party.
Sunday:
Race one: 1st Barlow, 2nd Hinds, 3rd Hill, 4th Swindlehurst, 5th Batchelor.
Race two: 1st Hinds, 2nd Barlow, 3rd Swindlehurst, 4th Hill.