JL SULLIVAN TROPHY HISTORY - For those members new to the club and who may not be aware of the trophy’s history; John SULLIVAN was one of the original members of our club and he was also to be the first editor of a newsletter he was going to call “Tell Tales.”  Unfortunately John became seriously ill before he could fulfill this role and he sadly passed away on Wednesday 10^th September 1997.  John originally won this trophy for sailing many years ago himself and it was his intention to donate the cup to the club for a regatta.  After John passed away, his wife  Pat kindly carried out John’s wishes and donated the trophy to our club in his name.

Foolhardy or intrepid or just outright enthusiastic? Six IOM skippers braved the wet-‘n’-wild to take part in the JL SULLIVAN handicap trophy. At one point it looked like only the seagulls would be taking to the water, but with the quorum of boats achieved to enable scoring and skippers willing to at least attempt sailing, the fleet hit the hightide with great expectations in spitting-drizzle and all boats in their B-Rigs.  Unfortunately John’s gremlins had stowed away again for a second consecutive week and his boat seems to be in electrical flux causing unreliable control issues so John wisely withdrew before racing as wind and tide would have made rescue even more hazardous.

Heavy rain during the night had the tide flushed with stormwater runoff and scattered debris, this and the wind and light rains kept all skippers thinking their next moves and despite the conditions, few boats incurred infringement and handicaps moved each heat to culminate in to some close racing as the points table reflects.  Congratulations to all skippers for their fortitude and obvious enthusiasm in taking part today, Peter, Ian and Andrew showed sailing abilities, sharing two heat wins each, to win the day.

The course as set with two sausages and a gate (see videos) which worked well in the conditions, race six the course was lengthened to three sausage tracks (no triangle), by races seven and eight the wind had dropped which has some skippers considering an A-Rig change, but by this time it had been decided to finalize the event at eight races completed, which allowed for two discards and the requisite heats to allow for a successful regatta to be achieved.

Thanks to John scoring, we have four videos, thanks also to Andrew, Bruce DEANE for keeping me and the camera dry, rescue dinghy custodian Basil, Peter and our valuable wading team.  The sailing calendar is full for the remainder of the year and we are looking forward to the Christmas presentations and feast.  The next event is on Sunday 6^th November for scratch racing.

Cheers,

Bruce

Results above. Well done Russell

Seven IOM skippers attended Round Two of the Inspiration Point Cup – An Open Ocean Challenge.  I could only stay for three races, one of which was filmed (see below), it was a very nice morning, although the sun was hidden by early cloud (see photos) and a cold, but gentle breeze chilled our exposed fingers on remotes and camera.  Don, Basil and father-and-son John and Tom Pursiheimo were all on hand to offer their help.  It was especially nice to see Tom Pursiheimo, Tom was a regular sailor with the club several years ago and he kindly offered his services as both OOD and Starting-tape (see video) – thank you Tom for an informative briefing and clear calls.

Race one had a slight, but steady breeze under cloud cover, Andrew, Russel and Ray making good of the conditions.  Race two had the cloud move on and it was nice under the morning sun, but with the cloud disappearing, so too did what wind that there was, both race two and the next heat suffered the same and a break was called.  It was at this time I had to leave, but it is obvious from the score sheet that nine races were completed, Ray, Andrew and Russell finishing the day as it begun for them on the dais.  Derek and Trevor also showed well with first placings in respective heats.

This is an inaugural concept and the continuation of the event will be based on member feedback – Round three is scheduled for the 14^th August.  Again, thank you to the team for your support, the buoy-bots continue to prove their worth and I hope the attached photos and video paint a better picture than what I can say here

Sunday 7^th August is Scratch Racing at the Marina.

Sunday 24^th July 2022 began as any other sailing day for the club, skippers arriving in idyllic mid-winter conditions, a gentle breeze, clear skies and a warming sun on the face but with glints of light off the medallions and trophies for the IOM Clive BROOKS Scratch and Handicap events and an ABC Film crew setting up! 

Clive was an original member of our club, sailmaker and a great support to all members over the years and proudly held the position of club treasurer in the early days (he would eagerly tell you he was in charge of the club’s largest membership base – ever!).  Sadly Clive passed away on the 12 December 2017 but this is not a Memorial event, Clive and his lovely wife Faith (Faye) donated two trophies, one for Handicap and one for Scratch racing, many years ago to promote the sport and to encourage all club members to compete no matter their skill levels and we continue these events according to their wishes today.

Andrew has all the buoy-bots launched and working perfectly, boats hit the water and circle as Peter sets the course, two triangles for the IOM and one triangle for the DF65 fleet… John McL hits the start button to get the racing underway in the Handicap racing.  The conditions really were ideal and the fleet moved well, John McL, John P and Peter K placing respectively in the first heat. Handicaps adjusted and John P is again in the winners circle, Ian and Andrea also follow through… Handicaps again adjusted and with determination to make improvements, Ian shows us how to win in race three. John McL and Peter repeat their race one success and Jeremy slips in between them for second place in race four.  Handicaps continue to change with two heats having all boat times reset, Trevor D, Ian and John McL each achieved two wins in the Handicaps and silent, inconspicuous sailing with consistent skill placed Trevor, Ian and Peter on the final podium, sadly and despite two earlier successes, John McL’s subsequent placings unfortunately accumulated more points than desired to push him from final ribbon contention in the handicap racing.

Eight fast paced handicap races were successfully completed and all boats came ashore for a well deserved break.  Jeremy fired up the BBQ as Russell, Eddie, Andrew and Grant were individually interviewed by the ABC. We all enjoyed sausages, fried onions and sauce on buttered bread while the ABC wrapped-up their filming – special thanks to Grant and Lorna for making the ABC publicity possible to promote both our club and the sport overall. 

It must also be mentioned that one rescue was needed during the day…  it will be seen from the photos while Andrew was about to be interviewed by the ABC, one of our buoy-bots went ‘turtle’, capsized, up-side-down!  Now don’t blame the ‘bot, the ABC cameraman had actually attached a go-pro to the top of the buoy number flag for alternative footage, this seemed a great idea and appeared to be working perfectly with no influence on the buoy whatsoever… However a rogue wave seemed to clip the marker and if was seem to slowly, gracefully and with minimal effort rolled over with feet (propellers) kicking in the air!  The buoy was retrieved (thank you Jeremy), go-pro removed and the ‘bot reset – it is not known if the camera was damaged by the submersion or if any footage can be used.  The ABC also used an overhead drome during filming sessions.

With the bright lights of filming now turned off, interviews done, and snags in our bellies, the fleet now entered the water for the Clive Brooks Scratch racing.  John McL took over scoring which allowed me to video, cloud was forming to hide the sun and the breeze was growing.  Eddie had retired for the day and Mike had arrived to take his place in the fleet – Mike, Andrew and Peter make fast and early impressions on the score sheet for race one (see video), stills were shot for the second heat, Peter secured the win.  Race three was again filmed, the start was busy as can be seen and the fleet recalled to restart, Peter made for another impressive win on film, Mike and Russ chasing home respectively.  As this would be my last race for the day, Eddie and I headed home but the results continue to paint the picture without my input, all eight races were completed, Mike dominated the racing with a further three wins, Andrew must have been pushing Mike hard with further wins and second placings in his own right while Peter was off the pace by only one (1) impressive point over all.  Ian seems to have retired from race six with an additional max point – we hope there were no boat failures being the cause.

The DF65 fleet was small but enthusiastic, keeping clear of the IOM fleet in battle from trophies, the five Dragon skippers sailed with vigour with all three top placings being achieved by all skippers, Grant is especially finding his feet and is making impressive improvements as a newcomer, podium placings are now being achieved and an overall ribbon placing could well have been achieved if it was not for one jib fouling, nevertheless, being amongst the colours is expected in future sail days.  Unluckily some skippers did get caught out by the outgoing tide as they got trapped on the rocks, no specific skipper in the DF fleet was noted for this mishap (neither too was the IOM fleet immune from this mishap), but their misfortune may well be reflected in final overall results. Steve, Dudley and Basil making it to the stage for DF65 ribbon presentations and we also welcome Marcel to the marina fleet.

It really cannot be overstated just how grateful we are to our dedicated support crew, if it was not for their dedication, we would not be privileged to be sailing under such well-organized events, Thank you John McL, Andrew, Peter and Russell. Jeremy for the BBQ, Grant for the ABC and the recuse boat also just appeared on site without fanfare also, thank you all. If skippers can add further to the sailing after we left, please feel free to comment and I hope my ramblings have made some sense.

The club will advise members of the outcome from the ABC filming once finalised.

On a sad note, we hear our gentleman sailor Jack FORD passed away on Monday 18^th July 2022 at the grand age of 96.

Cheers,

Bruce