IOM Christmas Race at Birkenhead Radio Sailing & Power Club

by John Brierley 16 Dec 2019 10:57 GMT 14 December 2019

Wind, sun and enthusiasm by all the entrants for this years Birkenhead Christmas race for the IOM, was evident today at Gautby Road.

As this was also the first round of the Northern District Winter Series for the IOM, there were nine clubs represented, including the host club. This produced the 20 entrants and 16 races were achieved by the Race Officer and Commodore John Brierley, before the light finally closed in. Racing was in 2nd suit all day with some viscous but short lived gusts providing testing moments for most of the competitors.

Early front runner by the lunchtime break after 8 races was John Tushingham from Keighley (Vision) but as the day progressed Graham Elliott (Britpop) from the host club came back into contention and eventually proved a worthy winner in the testing conditions. There was a big battle for the final podium position with Peter Baldwin (Lintel MMX) securing it with a fine win in the last race from Derek Priestley (Dead Reckoning).

It was good to see ten designs of IOM's ranging form the Asset of Dave Stewart right through to the current range of popular designs. All boats had their moments today which kept everyone on their toes.

As this was the clubs Christmas race there was no entry fee charged by the club, but all competitors gave a wrapped gift and all those at the prize-giving went away with a prize (not their own gift!).

Thanks must go to John Brierley for acting as Race Officer together with Bernie, Jack and Joyce who provided the supporting roles to make this another successful Birkenhead event.

Overall Results:

Pos	Name	Sail No	Hull Design	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	Pts
1st	Graham Elliott	9	Britpop	‑4	1	1	2	2	‑5	1	‑9	1	1	4	1	1	2	2	3	22
2nd	John Tushingham	51	Vision	2	3	2	1	‑6	1	2	1	‑11	2	1	4	2	1	‑5	4	26
3rd	Peter Baldwin	63	Lintel MMX	‑7	7	4	5	7	3	5	‑13	2	3	2	‑8	6	6	3	1	54
4th	Derek Priestley	67	Dead Reckoning	(DNS)	6	9	4	1	(DNS)	(DNS)	8	3	4	8	2	4	4	1	2	56
5th	Martin Roberts	22	A2	1	5	5	7	5	2	4	4	‑9	‑9	(DNF)	7	5	8	4	7	64
6th	Dave Burke	30	Britpop	6	2	10	6	3	4	3	6	8	8	11	3	‑15	3	(DNF)	(DNC)	73
7th	Darin Ballington	85	Widget	3	(DNF)	6	8	‑14	6	6	2	4	5	5	6	7	‑9	6	9	73
8th	Gordon Bayliff	169	V9	11	8	3	3	4	‑12	8	3	5	10	3	‑14	(DNC)	7	7	5	77
9th	Dave Darwell	135	Moster	14	(DNF)	7	9	10	‑17	14	5	12	15	7	10	3	5	(DNF)	6	117
10th	Alan Watkinson	23	Britpop	‑16	9	8	(DNF)	(DNS)	8	11	11	7	13	6	5	9	12	10	13	122
11th	Neil Westbrook	3	Widget	5	10	12	13	11	11	‑15	‑17	14	12	10	‑15	13	13	8	8	140
12th	Lawrence Drennan	57	Britpop	8	‑16	14	‑16	8	13	7	10	(DNC)	7	15	11	16	11	11	10	141
13th	Colin Walton	3	Britpop	‑18	4	15	10	9	(DNS)	13	15	‑16	11	14	16	10	10	12	14	153
14th	Philip Read	35	Wedge	10	‑14	11	14	13	14	‑17	14	‑15	6	13	13	14	14	13	11	160
15th	John Berry	123	Lintel MMX	12	13	13	11	(DNC)	15	‑16	12	10	16	12	12	12	15	9	(DNC)	162
16th	Andrew Peter	91	Widget	15	12	16	15	15	10	10	‑18	13	‑18	16	‑17	11	16	15	12	176
17th	Bill Culshaw	21	Britpop	(DNC)	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	7	12	7	6	14	9	9	8	DNC	DNC	DNC	177
18th	David Stewart	71	Asset	17	15	(DNS)	(DNS)	(DNF)	18	9	16	17	17	DNF	18	DNC	17	14	15	215
19th	Roy Stevens	54	Britpop	9	11	17	12	12	16	(DNS)	(DNS)	(DNS)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	224
20th	Dave Williams	33	Wedge	13	(DNF)	(DNS)	(DNS)	DNS	9	DNF	DNF	DNS	DNS	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	253