2018/19 IOM Furzton Trophy
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12 Events throughout the year held on the Friday before the last Sunday of the month ( check calendar for clarification )
Friday January 25th - Round 3 Furzton Trophy for IOM's
At least three of our regulars were away, either sunning themselves, socialising with the family or earning an honest living, meaning we only managed six skippers out today, although Alan was missing for the first few races.
Hopefully as the weather warms up and some more skippers have taken the plunge and bought, borrowed or built an IOM, the fleets should be in the double figures.
What wasn't there to love about today? A stiff North westerly top suite breeze, plenty of sunshine and temperatures into the double figures, infact almost perfect conditions.
The wind was kind to us today, allowing a start from between the inner pair of white buoys, upwind into Doom Bay, to round Red1, running to Red 8 in the opposite bay, a short reach across to the white buoy in the mouth of the channel, then the long uphill drag back into Doom Bay, followed by a very long run back to the channel and another long uphill beat over the line.
Initially the first buoy didn't give us many issues but as the wind swung more to the North, the island became an ever increasing obstacle to the wind, splitting and diverting it into two distinct streams, with plenty of no go areas.
On paper and indeed on the water this did look a long course but the stiff breeze and the fast yachts covered it with ease in the normal ten minutes or so. The larger boats also made judging the buoys so much easier than the little 65's.
It seemed an awfully long run, especially if you were up front, negotiating the dead spots, whilst it seemed that the rest of the fleet had used up all the wind and were bearing down on you at a rate of knots. The beat back on both legs of the course were where most places were made up or lost, Richard being one who made some very crafty moves to creep up and sneak over the line, making good use of the lift off the bank.
A sigh of relief when not only did Mike Stevens snag the leeward mark, whilst leading the race infront of Geoff but even more so when the boat freed its self, without needing a rescue, It may have cost Mike the win but he did get going and picked up most of the lost places on the beat to the line.
Today it was a battle of the purple boats which Geoff and Richard nip and tuck, both ending up on 14 points, count back on first places saw Geoff as today's winner by virtue of 3 firsts to Richard's 2.
Paul's lovely wooden Goth made the third step of the podium, showing that you can have beauty and performance ( sorry, that's the boat I'm referring to Paul ) and you don't need to spend ££££ on the latest wonder yacht.
Around 11:00 we had a little break allowing for Dorian, who had come to watch, to have a go with Geoff's boat in a non counting race and again after the racing Alan and Dorian had an other few races.
Geoff
At least three of our regulars were away, either sunning themselves, socialising with the family or earning an honest living, meaning we only managed six skippers out today, although Alan was missing for the first few races.
Hopefully as the weather warms up and some more skippers have taken the plunge and bought, borrowed or built an IOM, the fleets should be in the double figures.
What wasn't there to love about today? A stiff North westerly top suite breeze, plenty of sunshine and temperatures into the double figures, infact almost perfect conditions.
The wind was kind to us today, allowing a start from between the inner pair of white buoys, upwind into Doom Bay, to round Red1, running to Red 8 in the opposite bay, a short reach across to the white buoy in the mouth of the channel, then the long uphill drag back into Doom Bay, followed by a very long run back to the channel and another long uphill beat over the line.
Initially the first buoy didn't give us many issues but as the wind swung more to the North, the island became an ever increasing obstacle to the wind, splitting and diverting it into two distinct streams, with plenty of no go areas.
On paper and indeed on the water this did look a long course but the stiff breeze and the fast yachts covered it with ease in the normal ten minutes or so. The larger boats also made judging the buoys so much easier than the little 65's.
It seemed an awfully long run, especially if you were up front, negotiating the dead spots, whilst it seemed that the rest of the fleet had used up all the wind and were bearing down on you at a rate of knots. The beat back on both legs of the course were where most places were made up or lost, Richard being one who made some very crafty moves to creep up and sneak over the line, making good use of the lift off the bank.
A sigh of relief when not only did Mike Stevens snag the leeward mark, whilst leading the race infront of Geoff but even more so when the boat freed its self, without needing a rescue, It may have cost Mike the win but he did get going and picked up most of the lost places on the beat to the line.
Today it was a battle of the purple boats which Geoff and Richard nip and tuck, both ending up on 14 points, count back on first places saw Geoff as today's winner by virtue of 3 firsts to Richard's 2.
Paul's lovely wooden Goth made the third step of the podium, showing that you can have beauty and performance ( sorry, that's the boat I'm referring to Paul ) and you don't need to spend ££££ on the latest wonder yacht.
Around 11:00 we had a little break allowing for Dorian, who had come to watch, to have a go with Geoff's boat in a non counting race and again after the racing Alan and Dorian had an other few races.
Geoff
Friday 28th Dec - I0M Furzton Trophy Round 2
Hi Folks,
Seven skippers got away from the festive celebrations to have a sail with their I0Ms this morning and were blessed with relatively comfortable temperatures and some wind; not a lot of it but mainly from the West which prompted us to sail the same course as used for the last I0M meeting. This involvedstarting between the white and red marked 'line', in the lee of the Western Island which meant that wind for the starters was in short supply, heading for Red 1 to our left. From there we passed between White 3 and the jetty on our way to Red 7 and then out to Red 3: this gave us a fairly short triangular course which we sailed three times in each race, finishing between White 1 and White 3. The windward leg was basically one starboard tack, or it would have been but for the shadow of the island. As a consequence it was almost inevitably necessary to put in at least one tack or even take a banana shaped course, sailing around the edge of the shadow and, occasionally, overtaking those who had opted to attempt the 'straight route' between the two marks for that leg.
The 3 legged course gave opportunities for positions to change and all appeared to be pretty closely matched today with all having their turn at the front, back, and middle of the fleet. Despite their finishing positions, Richard, Mike S. and Rob, all led the fleet at one time or another, just failed to hold on to that position for the last few metres of the particular race. Alan managed to get home first the most with 3 one point scores but David managed a more consistent string of higher places overall, with Mike K. doing a similar job to squeeze into third place overall. Geoff's one win gave him the advantage over Rob in their tied collections of nineteen points after two discards.
Cheers,
Mike Kemp
Hi Folks,
Seven skippers got away from the festive celebrations to have a sail with their I0Ms this morning and were blessed with relatively comfortable temperatures and some wind; not a lot of it but mainly from the West which prompted us to sail the same course as used for the last I0M meeting. This involvedstarting between the white and red marked 'line', in the lee of the Western Island which meant that wind for the starters was in short supply, heading for Red 1 to our left. From there we passed between White 3 and the jetty on our way to Red 7 and then out to Red 3: this gave us a fairly short triangular course which we sailed three times in each race, finishing between White 1 and White 3. The windward leg was basically one starboard tack, or it would have been but for the shadow of the island. As a consequence it was almost inevitably necessary to put in at least one tack or even take a banana shaped course, sailing around the edge of the shadow and, occasionally, overtaking those who had opted to attempt the 'straight route' between the two marks for that leg.
The 3 legged course gave opportunities for positions to change and all appeared to be pretty closely matched today with all having their turn at the front, back, and middle of the fleet. Despite their finishing positions, Richard, Mike S. and Rob, all led the fleet at one time or another, just failed to hold on to that position for the last few metres of the particular race. Alan managed to get home first the most with 3 one point scores but David managed a more consistent string of higher places overall, with Mike K. doing a similar job to squeeze into third place overall. Geoff's one win gave him the advantage over Rob in their tied collections of nineteen points after two discards.
Cheers,
Mike Kemp
Round 1 Furzyon Trophy for IOM's Results and Report
Today might have been Black Friday, but to my eyes it was simply a very murky grey Friday being one of those days where you open the curtains and contemplate diving straight back under the duvet.
Fortunately nine IOM skippers dragged their bodies down to the lakeside, for what turned out to be a chilly, damp, drizzly morning.
I know I'm not selling it to you all but considering the weather we actually had one of the best IOM turnouts for quite some time, so please can we see the sunshine and a decent breeze next month?
The wind direction was better than of late, coming more from the east than the southerly winds we have been subjected to recently, however there wasn't much of it, granted there were some very, very calm periods but on the whole there was sufficient for us to complete eight races on a decent sized course.
The wind allowed us a good first beat most of the length of the lake, from a start between white and orange buoys front of the main jetty, which was a little too starboard biased, beating down to white buoy just off the eastern island then back to white outer start buoy via a spreader, repeated for a second lap, omitting the spreader, with tricky short upwind finish. Sorry I can't remember the buoy numbers since I had enough trouble seeing the buoys themselves, let alone the numbers on them!
Sometimes going out into the middle of the lake allowed you to pick up a decent breeze but you had to be aware of those who chose to hug the bank and approach the mark on starboard tack whilst on other occasions the inside path brought you into the doldrums.
Runs were nerve-racking too with the trailing pack catching a breeze and sailing up to or past the leading pack,
Orientation, and depth perception were very difficult today in the flat grey light, with sails all but disappearing into the gloom.
Out of the nine boats on the water, there were no fewer than half a dozen different designs of varying age and as can be seen from the results, there was nothing to choose between any of them, with some amazingly close racing.
Getting a good start, keeping out of trouble, in clean air and not stalling of finding the dead spots was as ever key to success today. one man seemed to master the conditions, turning it into a bit of a one horse race, with a perfect score after discards, going to Keith Coxon ( without a Britpop ).
Only Alan Smedley could spoil his perfect day by winning the last race. Some distance behind ( with a Britpop ) was a very quick Rob Tottey, with Alan Smedley close on his heels, to claim the final podium position.
Uncharacteristically Mike Kemp was not showing us the way round today, only managing a fourth place after a couple of unfortunate tangles, although only a couple of points separated all the following positions.
All in all, despite the dismal weather, the inaugural Friday IOM session proved to be a great success and hopefully the numbers will grow as the season progresses, if you have an IOM and can make it on a Friday morning bring it out to play, If you haven't yet got one, what are you waiting for?
I think today the warm comfort of our clubhouse at The Old Beams was more welcome than ever.
Keith
Today might have been Black Friday, but to my eyes it was simply a very murky grey Friday being one of those days where you open the curtains and contemplate diving straight back under the duvet.
Fortunately nine IOM skippers dragged their bodies down to the lakeside, for what turned out to be a chilly, damp, drizzly morning.
I know I'm not selling it to you all but considering the weather we actually had one of the best IOM turnouts for quite some time, so please can we see the sunshine and a decent breeze next month?
The wind direction was better than of late, coming more from the east than the southerly winds we have been subjected to recently, however there wasn't much of it, granted there were some very, very calm periods but on the whole there was sufficient for us to complete eight races on a decent sized course.
The wind allowed us a good first beat most of the length of the lake, from a start between white and orange buoys front of the main jetty, which was a little too starboard biased, beating down to white buoy just off the eastern island then back to white outer start buoy via a spreader, repeated for a second lap, omitting the spreader, with tricky short upwind finish. Sorry I can't remember the buoy numbers since I had enough trouble seeing the buoys themselves, let alone the numbers on them!
Sometimes going out into the middle of the lake allowed you to pick up a decent breeze but you had to be aware of those who chose to hug the bank and approach the mark on starboard tack whilst on other occasions the inside path brought you into the doldrums.
Runs were nerve-racking too with the trailing pack catching a breeze and sailing up to or past the leading pack,
Orientation, and depth perception were very difficult today in the flat grey light, with sails all but disappearing into the gloom.
Out of the nine boats on the water, there were no fewer than half a dozen different designs of varying age and as can be seen from the results, there was nothing to choose between any of them, with some amazingly close racing.
Getting a good start, keeping out of trouble, in clean air and not stalling of finding the dead spots was as ever key to success today. one man seemed to master the conditions, turning it into a bit of a one horse race, with a perfect score after discards, going to Keith Coxon ( without a Britpop ).
Only Alan Smedley could spoil his perfect day by winning the last race. Some distance behind ( with a Britpop ) was a very quick Rob Tottey, with Alan Smedley close on his heels, to claim the final podium position.
Uncharacteristically Mike Kemp was not showing us the way round today, only managing a fourth place after a couple of unfortunate tangles, although only a couple of points separated all the following positions.
All in all, despite the dismal weather, the inaugural Friday IOM session proved to be a great success and hopefully the numbers will grow as the season progresses, if you have an IOM and can make it on a Friday morning bring it out to play, If you haven't yet got one, what are you waiting for?
I think today the warm comfort of our clubhouse at The Old Beams was more welcome than ever.
Keith
