International One Metre Radio Sailing
Great Britain
Ranking 5 & 6 - 1st/2nd October 2022
This year’s IOM Ranking 5 & 6 were scheduled for Datchet Water RSC but due to low water levels the event was moved to Manor Park RSC over the weekend of 1st & 2nd October.
As usual Manor Park RSC had made everyone welcome with offers of camping on the site and tea and coffee available all day, plus obviously a full lake and the raised control area. Datchet Water RSC had provided the race team with Hugh McAdoo being the PRO and Phil Holliday as ARO, the rest of the duties were covered by Garry Box on the Heat Board, and observer marshal duties, and taking the fish & chip bookings for Saturday evening. The finish line duties were covered by the host club assisted by Min Edwards on Sunday, and course setting by Darin and others.
Booking in started on Friday night where boats were checked and paperwork recorded, Colin W also did the Saturday morning booking in. We were scheduled to have 36 skippers on the Saturday but there were 4 missing by the time we got to race 2 as they had not arrived, we thus sailed 32 boats in two fleets with 4 boat promotion on HMS.
The wind was playing nicely on Saturday and so Hugh was able to set a course and get proceedings underway with the initial briefing on time. It was a good top suit blow with the occasional gusts that slammed the boats mostly on the runs down to the leeward gate, positions changing hands quickly. We got to race 4 and Hugh called lunch break for 40 minutes.
Hugh had them sailing to 18:00 when we had completed 10 races, the wind had held out and we only stopped because the chips were due at 18:30. A quick calculation and the results were ready for Phil to do the presentation, with 1st place going to Peter Stollery, 2nd Rob Walsh and 3rd John Tushingham. Bob Conner won the prize for the most heats sailed in the day. A full set of results has already been posted on the MYA website.
A lot of the skippers gathered in the Manor Park SC club house for the fish and chips, whilst Rob W, Martin R and others were cooking on the barbeque. I gather the socialising went on until late.
2022 MYA IOM Ranking 6.
We had 31 skippers booked in for the Sunday event, and 29 actually raced. Some had other commitments and had to return home whilst we had a couple join in for Sunday’s racing. We were due to start early with a 09:30 briefing but it was obvious that we would not get a race away anytime soon as there was literally no wind on the water. Just look at the lake behind Peter Stollery during the birthday cake presentation. Windy.com did predict a breeze at 11:00 which arrived, with it coming from NNW there was a course change that had the boats going inshore towards the club house for the windward mark. Hugh said that there would be no lunch break and he would keep thing running so please get food and drink when you could. With the co-operation of the skippers, we managed to get 6 races completed, but just run out of time to get a 7th.
Peter Stollery had shown that he could sail just as well in the light conditions by taking his second win of the weekend, again followed by Rob Walsh, and third was Brad Gibson sailing Peter’s Isotonic.
hil once again did the prize presentation, thanking Manor Park RSC for hosting the event and then he wished everyone a safe journey home. A full set of results has already been posted on the MYA website.
Report and results by Gordon Sears
