Manx Sailing and Cruising Club’s annual Frostbite Regatta took place on Boxing Day last week.

With gales all around, most with names denoting their storm status, it looked like sailors might be disappointed but the heavens smiled upon them and sunglasses were the order of the day (together with drysuits and warm gloves) with the sun low in the south over the number three mark.

The race was run as a pursuit, with the slowest boats starting first at 11am and the rest of the fleet following at pre-set times so that according to their handicaps, they should all be level at 12pm, making whoever was in front at that instant the winner.

So the Teras of Jimmy Cope and George Pearce set off first followed by Laser Radials, Eric and Joe Whitelegg’s Enterprise, Aero 5s, Aero 7s and the Finn and finally the Hadron H2.

Guess who finished in front in the gentler conditions? Yes, Teddy Dunn again but by only the smallest of margins from Andrew Dean in the Laser Radial. The Enterprise was close behind in third.

The rest were to be found admiring the scenery in various bunches around the lake where the flukey wind had deposited them and then stopped for a bit, but it does show that the cream still comes to the top.

At the prizegiving at the boat park afterwards, where Yogi Quayle presented the Stan Quayle Trophy for the event to Dunn, Dean was heard to enquire when the winner was heading back to college again!

Special thanks are due to the Hyett family who served up life-saving hot chocolate and sweets after the race from their camping kitchen in a selection of MS&CC prize mugs as won by their racing members over the years. More to come I’m sure.

Also thanks to May Shiu Chan and Emily Kee for manning the Frostbite patrol boat and Andy Dunn who also took the water with them to get some cracking photos which can be found on the MS&CC Facebook page.

DECEMBER SERIES

Prior to the Frostbite Regatta, a forecast of rain, 25-knot westerlies, gusting to 40 knots and increasing did not encourage a huge fleet to make the early start at Injebreck on Christmas Eve.

But eight boats launched to face the weather and work out how the shifts and gusts could be employed to their advantage while staying in control of the boat.

With the wind coming over the hill from the west, the gusts tended to lift boats going upwind on starboard tack (i.e. let them point more towards the west and so more directly at the windward mark).

If you’re strong and nimble then you might be able to turn the boat through the gust while keeping upright and fully powered up in the increased wind by sitting out hard, gaining boat-lengths on the more conservative sailors who ease the sails in the gusts to avoid taking a dip.

Teddy Dunn in the RS Aero 7, back in the island from college in the UK, put on a masterclass of this skill as well as demonstrating full commitment in the downwind legs thereby building up a big lead which he held to the end.

The rest suffered the odd capsize and there were a few gear failures but youth star Tom Watterson in the RS Aero 5 (same boat as Dunn’s, but with a smaller five-square metre sail) put in a strong performance coming in nine seconds ahead of Peter Cope and father Tim in the Laser 2000 on corrected time.

Younger brother Jimmy Cope, who hadn’t seemed that keen before the start, claimed an excellent fourth place in the Tera but decided enough was enough and left the next race to the rest in the increasingly strong gusts.

Andrew Dean, now in the Laser Radial rather than the Devoti D Zero, made full use of the smaller mainsail (and hence more favourable handicap) to take fifth place despite taking a dip or two, as did Dave Batchelor in the H2 who took an unaccustomed sixth just ahead of Jason Hyett in the Laser Standard and Roo Hyett in the RS Aero 5.

In the second race of the morning, with only seven boats out, honours again went to Dunn and, with the exception of Peter Cope and Watterson swapping places, the rest came in as before, although with the times a bit closer all round as the competitors learnt how to handle the tricks that Injebreck can throw at you.

Your correspondent dodged the proceedings by filling an empty place in the patrol boat alongside Helen Kee thereby gaining average points from the previous weekend’s results so standings in the series now had Watterson in the lead with 11 points, Batchelor next with 16 points and Colman third on 18 points.

The final races of 2023 took place on New Year’s Eve with the first start as usual at 10am. The forecast again was not that encouraging at around 12 to 20 knots from the southwest with rain but this did not put off those looking for podium places or some practice in winter sailing.

The lake looked benign in between showers so eventually a fleet of 10 set off downwind in moderately gusty and dampish conditions towards the start line.

Shortly before the five-minute gun (actually a hoot from a horn but sailors prefer the more emblematic description) a black line was seen moving rapidly up the reservoir just as the rain increased in intensity and moments later its orientation as it turned horizontal driven by a 30-knot squall (some say 40 knots or even more at its peak).

The overpowering effect not to mention the sudden drop in temperature sent young Jimmy Cope back to the dinghy park but by the one-minute gun it had blown through and the rest of the fleet was remarkably still upright and ready for the start gun.

Thanks go to May Shiu and Jade Leach in the patrol boat for seeing everyone through this short but sharp 45-knot drama.

The relief felt in surviving the 50-knot event seemed to have led to some forgetting about the rules and hence a bit of a tangle of boats on port and starboard tacks at the windward mark.

This left a gap just big enough for your correspondent’s Finn to slip though unimpeded and latch onto the lead boat’s wake (Dunn again) and hold it to the end of the race gaining a second place and keeping that podium place within the realms of possibility.

The next race, the last in the December series, was sailed in more gentle conditions with a bit of sunshine (low and from dead ahead to windward of course).

Although it was Dunn again taking the bullet, a well-deserved second place for Watterson in the RS Aero 5 gave him the series from Dunn (who carried two no-shows from earlier in the month) and with Jerry Colman just hanging on to third by half a point from Pressly (Laser Radial with two bullets in races one and two) and Batchelor despite counting a sixth place.

So even with the winter weather, the December series provided some great close racing and the club is looking forward to January’s offerings and hopefully a few more boats on the water for those 10am Sunday morning starts.

A mention on how helpful all the competitors and their families have been by helping to retrieve all the boats (especially the quite heavy Finn) and then by pulling the patrol boat ashore.

Thanks go to officer of the day Keith Poole for the usual excellent race management throughout. Full results and great pics and some video on MS&CC Facebook.