Conway Trophy 2017/18
Results for the year
Sunday 28th October - I0M Conway Trophy Round 14
Hi Folks,
Today saw the last round of the Conway Trophy for I0M yachts and the end of the club's 'racing season'.
The weather forecasts suggested that we would go out with a big blow: B suit wind from the North East and sun all morning. Well we had all those elements but not all morning: it was chilly to start with until the sun finally appeared late in the morning; the wind was vaguely from the N/E and saw three of us launch with A rigs while Mike Stevens and Richard arrived with B rigs fitted, having trusted the weather forecasts.
The A suits ruled the water until the wind eventually rose to a point where a break was taken to allow them to change down after which things were a bit more even. It was Mike Ewart's turn to have 'one of those mornings' when his jib rigging let go in race 2: he missed race 3 while jury rigging it back in place after which it didn't really perform as it should; the change to B rig must have come as a relief. Rob Tottey and Mike K. shared all the 1st places and most of the 2nds with Mike Stevens getting a couple after everyone was in B rigs. We sailed a simple 'Triangle and Sausage' course starting between White 2 & 3, heading out to White 6 and then Red 3 before taking Red 1 to port and heading back to the windward mark, returning to Red 1 and finishing across the line between White 2 & 3. The beat was slightly lopsided at times but gave many opportunities to make up, and lose, places and the windward mark was not a place to be trifled with.
The wind was confused up there and the safest way was to be positive, even if one over-stood it by some distance: the wing mark also caused a few problems with some wasting a lot of time over-standing it by a 'mile' while, on other occasions, skippers tried to get close to it and found themselves sailing inside it and having to 'unwind' their bit of string to go around the correct side. An unofficial 'agreement' saw us continue sailing until one o'clock: we managed one after 12 race and then 'the lady gave up' - the starter battery had run down - so we packed up after a very pleasant morning's sailing.
Cheers
Mike
Mike Kemp
Racing Officer
Hi Folks,
Today saw the last round of the Conway Trophy for I0M yachts and the end of the club's 'racing season'.
The weather forecasts suggested that we would go out with a big blow: B suit wind from the North East and sun all morning. Well we had all those elements but not all morning: it was chilly to start with until the sun finally appeared late in the morning; the wind was vaguely from the N/E and saw three of us launch with A rigs while Mike Stevens and Richard arrived with B rigs fitted, having trusted the weather forecasts.
The A suits ruled the water until the wind eventually rose to a point where a break was taken to allow them to change down after which things were a bit more even. It was Mike Ewart's turn to have 'one of those mornings' when his jib rigging let go in race 2: he missed race 3 while jury rigging it back in place after which it didn't really perform as it should; the change to B rig must have come as a relief. Rob Tottey and Mike K. shared all the 1st places and most of the 2nds with Mike Stevens getting a couple after everyone was in B rigs. We sailed a simple 'Triangle and Sausage' course starting between White 2 & 3, heading out to White 6 and then Red 3 before taking Red 1 to port and heading back to the windward mark, returning to Red 1 and finishing across the line between White 2 & 3. The beat was slightly lopsided at times but gave many opportunities to make up, and lose, places and the windward mark was not a place to be trifled with.
The wind was confused up there and the safest way was to be positive, even if one over-stood it by some distance: the wing mark also caused a few problems with some wasting a lot of time over-standing it by a 'mile' while, on other occasions, skippers tried to get close to it and found themselves sailing inside it and having to 'unwind' their bit of string to go around the correct side. An unofficial 'agreement' saw us continue sailing until one o'clock: we managed one after 12 race and then 'the lady gave up' - the starter battery had run down - so we packed up after a very pleasant morning's sailing.
Cheers
Mike
Mike Kemp
Racing Officer
Round 12 Sunday October 14th
This event did not take place, it rained again.
This event did not take place, it rained again.
Round 11 Sunday October 7
Good evening All
IOM’s out today for the final few races for the Conway Trophy before the end of the calendar for this year. Six skippers out with at least two or three elsewhere. Although the wind forecast was light we actually had a reasonable breeze from the NW. So a start just in front of the western launch jetty out to a buoy, two away from the western island, no number due to bird poo! Taken to port west towards a spreader just off the island down to white 4 just off the jetty back to the windward mark a run down to the bay (red 8) and finish. Dave Green was in his usual top form making very few errors and great starts with good speed. KC tagged along behind with a few wins (3) with Alan Smedley with his newish IOM in third place. So…Dave wins on just 9 points, KC second with 15 points and Alan in third on 24 points. All in all with a light breeze it was a good morning racing with 10 races completed
Now, an apology to both Mike Stevens and John Simmons. In my results report from last Sunday’s DF95 racing I reported that John pipped Mike Stevens by one point. Actually it was Mike who pipped John by one point So… sorry the report was incorrect. Mike very kindly made me aware of my error with his comment “I have a bone to pick with you!” Sorry Mike
All for now
Cheers
Keith
Good evening All
IOM’s out today for the final few races for the Conway Trophy before the end of the calendar for this year. Six skippers out with at least two or three elsewhere. Although the wind forecast was light we actually had a reasonable breeze from the NW. So a start just in front of the western launch jetty out to a buoy, two away from the western island, no number due to bird poo! Taken to port west towards a spreader just off the island down to white 4 just off the jetty back to the windward mark a run down to the bay (red 8) and finish. Dave Green was in his usual top form making very few errors and great starts with good speed. KC tagged along behind with a few wins (3) with Alan Smedley with his newish IOM in third place. So…Dave wins on just 9 points, KC second with 15 points and Alan in third on 24 points. All in all with a light breeze it was a good morning racing with 10 races completed
Now, an apology to both Mike Stevens and John Simmons. In my results report from last Sunday’s DF95 racing I reported that John pipped Mike Stevens by one point. Actually it was Mike who pipped John by one point So… sorry the report was incorrect. Mike very kindly made me aware of my error with his comment “I have a bone to pick with you!” Sorry Mike
All for now
Cheers
Keith
Sunday September 23rd Round 10
It is believed that this event did not take place due to adverse weather conditions (it rained)
It is believed that this event did not take place due to adverse weather conditions (it rained)
Sunday September 2nd Round 9
Gents
For the benefit of those who did not attend :-
A warm Sunday morning saw just four of us gather at Furzton Lake, others away at competitions or just having better things to do.
The wind being from our backs it was seen best to sail from Pauls Spit, John Howell set the course, after one unsatisfactory attempt, it was decided to take a running start, with the line being between a point on the bank and red 5 in the bay, out to a mark directly across the lake from the spit, port to a spreader then back towards the bay and round Red 5 back across to the windward mark then back to finish across a line the other side of Red 5.
We had light winds with stops, starts and holes, much as normal for Two Islands.
John was a gentleman, allowing each of the other three to win one race, allowing himself only ten wins from thirteen starts.
I see also than John’s good fortune continued after he left us to watch Watford Vs Tottenham.
Richard
Gents
For the benefit of those who did not attend :-
A warm Sunday morning saw just four of us gather at Furzton Lake, others away at competitions or just having better things to do.
The wind being from our backs it was seen best to sail from Pauls Spit, John Howell set the course, after one unsatisfactory attempt, it was decided to take a running start, with the line being between a point on the bank and red 5 in the bay, out to a mark directly across the lake from the spit, port to a spreader then back towards the bay and round Red 5 back across to the windward mark then back to finish across a line the other side of Red 5.
We had light winds with stops, starts and holes, much as normal for Two Islands.
John was a gentleman, allowing each of the other three to win one race, allowing himself only ten wins from thirteen starts.
I see also than John’s good fortune continued after he left us to watch Watford Vs Tottenham.
Richard
Sunday August 26th Round 8
Good afternoon All
Just six IOM’s out today with Mike Kemp and Dave Alston away representing the club at the IOM Nationals at Fleetwood and three or four regulars doing other things or…hiding from the rain
It did rain, but this didn’t put us real men off! A southerly wind so a bit of a strange start from the far western start marks up to the red 5 by the spit, out to a far leeward mark towards the hotel (I couldn’t see the number) back to red 5 repeat with the finish just off of the western launch platform.
Dave Green was in his usual dominant form with 7 wins out of 10 races. It should be said that for the first three races he was actually starting from the wrong start line, however by chance he was behind the real start line until race three when he was found out. He still won the race even after returning. KC was the next in line with three wins and three seconds. Richard and Geoff battled it out with Richard taking the last podium place on count back from Geoff. Mike Ewart was a brave soldier suffering from a bout of shingles so probably off form and we welcomed a new member Stephen Wheeler who kept up with the pack despite this being only his second outing with an IOM not having sailed for 30 plus years. Well done Stephen
With our new members we have just hit a membership of 40 so those not sailing regularly there is much fun to be had
All for now
Cheers
Keith
Good afternoon All
Just six IOM’s out today with Mike Kemp and Dave Alston away representing the club at the IOM Nationals at Fleetwood and three or four regulars doing other things or…hiding from the rain
It did rain, but this didn’t put us real men off! A southerly wind so a bit of a strange start from the far western start marks up to the red 5 by the spit, out to a far leeward mark towards the hotel (I couldn’t see the number) back to red 5 repeat with the finish just off of the western launch platform.
Dave Green was in his usual dominant form with 7 wins out of 10 races. It should be said that for the first three races he was actually starting from the wrong start line, however by chance he was behind the real start line until race three when he was found out. He still won the race even after returning. KC was the next in line with three wins and three seconds. Richard and Geoff battled it out with Richard taking the last podium place on count back from Geoff. Mike Ewart was a brave soldier suffering from a bout of shingles so probably off form and we welcomed a new member Stephen Wheeler who kept up with the pack despite this being only his second outing with an IOM not having sailed for 30 plus years. Well done Stephen
With our new members we have just hit a membership of 40 so those not sailing regularly there is much fun to be had
All for now
Cheers
Keith
Round 7 Sunday August 5th
Hi Folks,
It was Sunday morning, there was still enough water in the lake, there was noticeable wind - for a change - and it was largely from one direction, though not what was forecast. For the first race we decided, due to apparent lack of wind to our left, to have a running start between orange 2 and white 4 out to white 8, beating back to white 1, diverting to orange 5 on the way back to white 1, another trip to white 1 and back to white 8 then back to finish between o2 and w4. Although this gave some challenging windward legs the arrival of the 'pack' at white 8 first time was not an experience we wanted to repeat. From race 2 we reverted to a more traditional dash from the orange 2 / white 4 line to orange 1, to our left, out to orange 5 and down to white 8; thereafter the 'sausage' between white 8, white 1, and back to white 8 and on to the finish between o2 / w 4. This resulted in some close sailing, often just a touch too close followed by an occasional penalty turn being taken.
The morning saw a mixture of fortunes, some good and some 'not-so-good', a degree of 'boat fiddling' between races, and one or two more "where am I going wrong?" questions vocalised. The top three emerged after a morning of ups and downs, with Keith C. having fewer downs than David A. who, in turn, had fewer downs than Mike K. Rob Tottey put his Britpop across the line first in the only race not claimed by the top three and newcomer - to the club - Andy Harrold claimed one of the second places up for grabs. There were only two 'bouy catches' this morning, Geoff Raygada caught white 8 during the first race and Mike Ewart managed to park his yacht on one of the outer orange marks during the last race. Unlike Geoff, Mike hooked an 'obstruction' not a 'mark of the course': it doesn't really matter as the result was the same, a DNF score.
Cheers,
Mike
Hi Folks,
It was Sunday morning, there was still enough water in the lake, there was noticeable wind - for a change - and it was largely from one direction, though not what was forecast. For the first race we decided, due to apparent lack of wind to our left, to have a running start between orange 2 and white 4 out to white 8, beating back to white 1, diverting to orange 5 on the way back to white 1, another trip to white 1 and back to white 8 then back to finish between o2 and w4. Although this gave some challenging windward legs the arrival of the 'pack' at white 8 first time was not an experience we wanted to repeat. From race 2 we reverted to a more traditional dash from the orange 2 / white 4 line to orange 1, to our left, out to orange 5 and down to white 8; thereafter the 'sausage' between white 8, white 1, and back to white 8 and on to the finish between o2 / w 4. This resulted in some close sailing, often just a touch too close followed by an occasional penalty turn being taken.
The morning saw a mixture of fortunes, some good and some 'not-so-good', a degree of 'boat fiddling' between races, and one or two more "where am I going wrong?" questions vocalised. The top three emerged after a morning of ups and downs, with Keith C. having fewer downs than David A. who, in turn, had fewer downs than Mike K. Rob Tottey put his Britpop across the line first in the only race not claimed by the top three and newcomer - to the club - Andy Harrold claimed one of the second places up for grabs. There were only two 'bouy catches' this morning, Geoff Raygada caught white 8 during the first race and Mike Ewart managed to park his yacht on one of the outer orange marks during the last race. Unlike Geoff, Mike hooked an 'obstruction' not a 'mark of the course': it doesn't really matter as the result was the same, a DNF score.
Cheers,
Mike
Round 6 Sunday July 29th
Hi Folks,
Sunday morning at Furzton was wet(ish), sadly not enough to raise the water level enough to stop a number of unexpected 'groundings' just far enough out into the lake to make retrieval awkward. The wind was from the South, I think, but appeared to come from all over from the general direction of the car park. It was strong enough for all but one of us to carry the 'B' rig so we could maintain a degree of control when the significant gusts hit. At times, particularly at the windward mark - Red 8 in the right hand bay - where rounding was very like what we have experienced at other marks recently. On a number of occasions it was only the momentum of the One Metre yacht that carried one into and around the mark. The only yacht carrying 'A' rig was that of our newest member, so new that many will not know his name, Stephen Wheeler was on his inaugural race session with his nicely planked 'Lion' design called Leo. Showing us all up at times Stephen's yacht carried the full area with poise, never appearing to be out of shape: maybe there is something in those more wholesome yachts of the early part of the century. Our other new member sailing with us today, Tim Prince, had his early BritPop well in the mix all morning except for race 9 where he fell foul of a bouy anchor line on the last beat to the finish.
The course was a little unconventional with a start between marks 4 and 2 just off the left hand platform after which we set off on a starboard tack/close reach towards Red 8 in the bay. The start line was chosen because it was just about the only line between two bouys that could be sighted and provide a chance for the bunch to get away cleanly - sort of. Looking at it in isolation one would say that there was only one place to start, bang on the nearest mark - 2 - but that was absolutely no guarantee of getting to the first mark first once the wind played its part: indeed I can think of only one race where it was achieved - by me - on every other, it was someone else who came out of the first mark first, having started a bit further down the line. From Red 8 we went to White 8 out in the lake and, sometimes, the real wind followed by a decidely dodgy beat back to Red 8 after which we went out to White 8 again and returned to finish between Red 8 and a marker on the bank down beyond the life belt. With vagaries of the wind on every leg places changed all over and many finshes were closely called happenings. A challenging morning but, as they say, it was the same for everyone. Those that stayed at home in the dry missed a quite reasonable morning of sailing which was observed and 'phone-pictured by another potential member who wanted to see I0M sailing before making his final decision on what boat to acquire; I think he was impressed.
Cheers,
Mike
Hi Folks,
Sunday morning at Furzton was wet(ish), sadly not enough to raise the water level enough to stop a number of unexpected 'groundings' just far enough out into the lake to make retrieval awkward. The wind was from the South, I think, but appeared to come from all over from the general direction of the car park. It was strong enough for all but one of us to carry the 'B' rig so we could maintain a degree of control when the significant gusts hit. At times, particularly at the windward mark - Red 8 in the right hand bay - where rounding was very like what we have experienced at other marks recently. On a number of occasions it was only the momentum of the One Metre yacht that carried one into and around the mark. The only yacht carrying 'A' rig was that of our newest member, so new that many will not know his name, Stephen Wheeler was on his inaugural race session with his nicely planked 'Lion' design called Leo. Showing us all up at times Stephen's yacht carried the full area with poise, never appearing to be out of shape: maybe there is something in those more wholesome yachts of the early part of the century. Our other new member sailing with us today, Tim Prince, had his early BritPop well in the mix all morning except for race 9 where he fell foul of a bouy anchor line on the last beat to the finish.
The course was a little unconventional with a start between marks 4 and 2 just off the left hand platform after which we set off on a starboard tack/close reach towards Red 8 in the bay. The start line was chosen because it was just about the only line between two bouys that could be sighted and provide a chance for the bunch to get away cleanly - sort of. Looking at it in isolation one would say that there was only one place to start, bang on the nearest mark - 2 - but that was absolutely no guarantee of getting to the first mark first once the wind played its part: indeed I can think of only one race where it was achieved - by me - on every other, it was someone else who came out of the first mark first, having started a bit further down the line. From Red 8 we went to White 8 out in the lake and, sometimes, the real wind followed by a decidely dodgy beat back to Red 8 after which we went out to White 8 again and returned to finish between Red 8 and a marker on the bank down beyond the life belt. With vagaries of the wind on every leg places changed all over and many finshes were closely called happenings. A challenging morning but, as they say, it was the same for everyone. Those that stayed at home in the dry missed a quite reasonable morning of sailing which was observed and 'phone-pictured by another potential member who wanted to see I0M sailing before making his final decision on what boat to acquire; I think he was impressed.
Cheers,
Mike
Round 5 Sunday July 8th
Round 4 Sunday June 24th
Hi Folks,
Seven I0M skippers turned out today for a chat in the sun: Oh, and we also managed to complete 8 races in another example of how the wind on our sailing area differs from the forecasts.
At times it was vaguely from the forecast North Easterly direction, in between it whispered from pretty much every other direction. This made completing the course which started between white 2 and 3 and used the white 6 (the left hand one) as nominal windward mark somewhat tricky. It then proceeded to the grey topped orange mark, recent sailors on the lake will now which one I mean, and down to Orange 1. This all port rounding course was repeated for a second lap before finishing between orange 2 and white 4. We stuck to this course all morning even though, at times, it would have been more conventional to just sail in the opposite direct from the start.
Numerous skippers set off from the start in a leading position but it was almost always one, John Howell, who led the fleet across the finish line. There were several collective losses of decorum at the windward mark as skippers struggled to cope with the minimal but very shifty wind conditions at that end of the course and, at one time or another, we all got involved in the mayhem. Never the less it was a very pleasant way of passing the morning in the sun.
The finish of most races did resemble a procession and there weren't too many opportunities to make up places on the beat, nor on the off wind legs, but positions did change in most of the races so it is not surprising that, behind John, scores were pretty close. Keith and Richard both completed the morning on 20 points, after discards, but Keith gets the place by virtue of his two second places to Richard's one. There were some amusing incidents during sailing like the time when Mike E. called that he would be giving mark room to Mike but not to Mike: it must have sounded strange to others, but we knew what he mean't.
Cheers,
Mike
Hi Folks,
Seven I0M skippers turned out today for a chat in the sun: Oh, and we also managed to complete 8 races in another example of how the wind on our sailing area differs from the forecasts.
At times it was vaguely from the forecast North Easterly direction, in between it whispered from pretty much every other direction. This made completing the course which started between white 2 and 3 and used the white 6 (the left hand one) as nominal windward mark somewhat tricky. It then proceeded to the grey topped orange mark, recent sailors on the lake will now which one I mean, and down to Orange 1. This all port rounding course was repeated for a second lap before finishing between orange 2 and white 4. We stuck to this course all morning even though, at times, it would have been more conventional to just sail in the opposite direct from the start.
Numerous skippers set off from the start in a leading position but it was almost always one, John Howell, who led the fleet across the finish line. There were several collective losses of decorum at the windward mark as skippers struggled to cope with the minimal but very shifty wind conditions at that end of the course and, at one time or another, we all got involved in the mayhem. Never the less it was a very pleasant way of passing the morning in the sun.
The finish of most races did resemble a procession and there weren't too many opportunities to make up places on the beat, nor on the off wind legs, but positions did change in most of the races so it is not surprising that, behind John, scores were pretty close. Keith and Richard both completed the morning on 20 points, after discards, but Keith gets the place by virtue of his two second places to Richard's one. There were some amusing incidents during sailing like the time when Mike E. called that he would be giving mark room to Mike but not to Mike: it must have sounded strange to others, but we knew what he mean't.
Cheers,
Mike
Round 3 Sunday June 3rd
Hi Folks,
Please find attached the results of Sunday's I0M outing courtesy of Mike Stevens who reports that 'going was slow'! The first race took 45 minutes, which must be some kind of record; of perseverence at least.
Hi Folks,
Please find attached the results of Sunday's I0M outing courtesy of Mike Stevens who reports that 'going was slow'! The first race took 45 minutes, which must be some kind of record; of perseverence at least.
Round 2 Sunday May 27th
As you can see only four turned out to sail.
Nice to see Mike Clifton sailing at our water again, and John C. came along later to watch."
Cheers,
Mike
As you can see only four turned out to sail.
Nice to see Mike Clifton sailing at our water again, and John C. came along later to watch."
Cheers,
Mike
Round 1 Sunday May 20th
Good evening All
Seven IOM’s out today with a few absences due to holidays. Again it was very difficult to set a course as a) the wind was very light and b) it kept changing direction. Eventually we just set a course as best we could to see how it worked. OK was the answer but a shift of the windward mark after a race or two improved things but it was still sometimes a lottery as the how you were affected by shifts. Dave Green was in his usual good form with five wins putting him in first place. KC with three wins and nothing lower than third after discards was in second place with Dave Alston not far behind with a couple of wins and a host of top three positions
All in all it was fun and the sailing was in good spirit with time for banter and the odd tale or two, such was the light wind giving us time
This was the first of the second competition of the annual IOM events with the TIRYC trophy having just been completed. We are now racing for the Conway Trophy through to sailing year end - end October
All for now
Keith
Good evening All
Seven IOM’s out today with a few absences due to holidays. Again it was very difficult to set a course as a) the wind was very light and b) it kept changing direction. Eventually we just set a course as best we could to see how it worked. OK was the answer but a shift of the windward mark after a race or two improved things but it was still sometimes a lottery as the how you were affected by shifts. Dave Green was in his usual good form with five wins putting him in first place. KC with three wins and nothing lower than third after discards was in second place with Dave Alston not far behind with a couple of wins and a host of top three positions
All in all it was fun and the sailing was in good spirit with time for banter and the odd tale or two, such was the light wind giving us time
This was the first of the second competition of the annual IOM events with the TIRYC trophy having just been completed. We are now racing for the Conway Trophy through to sailing year end - end October
All for now
Keith
