Another Sunday morning in Baldwin Valley that missed the winter gales that the rest of the island were experiencing.
The sun may not have been shining for the first of Manx Sailing and Cruising Club’s February Watling Streetworks dinghy series, but it did stop raining for a great fleet of 15 boats.
The wind blowing mostly up the valley allowed the race officer to set a square course, windward/leeward and two reaching legs at each end of the lake.
In the relative shelter of the valley, there’s no substitute for a large sail. Jerry Colman (Olympic Finn) followed by Andrew Dean (Grey D-Zero) comfortably led the fleet, at times by quite some margin.
But on the penultimate leg a chasing group containing Radial ICLA 6 Simon Pressly and Dave Batchelor plus junior Thomas Watterson (Aero 5) made good use of a decent downwind gust.
Colman and Dean finished three seconds apart but the chasers were close enough to leapfrog them after handicaps came into play. Taking the win was Simon Pressly ahead of Thomas in second, Batchelor third and Colman fourth.
Your correspondent, after making a characteristically poor start, found himself at the first mark with the three Teras but managed to improve and take fifth.
Race two was over the same course and the wind had built slightly, certainly fewer deadly lulls giving crews a little more confidence in hiking out.
Again, it was Colman and Dean in front followed by James Walker (Streaker), with Ralph Kee a little further back.
In the clear air at the front, this group pulled ahead of the following group of Radials and Aero 5s, giving each other dirty air and squabbling over tight mark roundings.
Your correspondent is not too sure of the events from the second to last mark but managed to finish second on the water behind Colman.
After correction, Kee was first by one second from Walker and Pressly third.
MS&CC thank Doug Watling for his continued support, race officer Keith Poole plus May Shiu Chan and Ed Pearce for patrol boat. Full results can be found on the club website.
RALPH KEE