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IOM Strebor Trophy and Northern District Championship at Birkenhead Radio Sailing & Power Club

by Peter Baldwin 18 Dec 2023 07:49 PST 16 December 2023
IOM Strebor Trophy at Birkenhead © John Beech

With the entry list including no less than 5 past World Champions in either the IOM or other Radio Sailing classes, competition was always going to be strong at this years Strebor Open combined with Round 2 of the Northern District IOM Winter Championships. Coupled with a superb pre-entry of 26 boats, it was going to be a tough days sailing.

The weather forecast for wind was not encouraging for the week prior to the event, a South Westerly forecast, with a possibility of WSW at some point during sailing. At least the sun shone for most of the day, making it mild for this time of the year.

There was a short briefing by Martin Roberts to explain how we would race as one fleet, with typically 4 boats dropping out per race during the day. Any dropouts would be scored with average points from their best counting races.

Racing then got under way promptly at 10:30 with a start at the clubhouse end, but unfortunately, the wind had swung more to the East just prior to the start and although the fleet got away cleanly, the course was swapped to a start from the far end for the remainder of races during the morning session.

Graham Elliott had the strongest start in the first seven races completed before lunch, taking 3 wins with Rob Walsh picking up two and Martin Roberts and Alan Bennett one each. At the halfway stage, this left Graham Elliott on top, followed by Martin Roberts and Rob Walsh in that order.

After a short lunch break and a quick change around of the course (thanks Martin and Neil), once again starting at the clubhouse, a further seven races were completed. Five were sailed using the same dropout system and then the final two with just the 22 boats that were still able to compete. This session belonged to Rob Walsh, with three wins compared to two for Brad Gibson (sailing his "pimped" TS2) and one each to Martin Roberts and John Brierley.

The final scores gave first place to Rob Walsh who retained the Strebor Trophy, second to Graham Elliott and third was Martin Roberts.

It was a tricky days sailing at Birkenhead with the wind in a less than favourable direction, with what seemed at times like a "Bermuda Triangle" in the centre of the lake. If you were unlucky to get stuck there you could find other boats sailing past to windward or leeward of you (or both at the same time!).

Well done to everyone who sailed today (all 26 of you) - don't feel too disheartened if you didn't finish as high up as you thought you might, it was tricky for everyone including experienced club members, but there were some who always seemed to know the right way to go to find the wind.

Finally, thanks must go to the Race Team of Dave Williams, John Carlin, Neil Westbrook, George Bennett and Judith Baldwin for completing 14 races within less than 4 hours of racing. Also, we were also very grateful to Jocelyn and Chris in the galley serving hot drinks and free homemade cake and biscuits.

Strebor Trophy Results:

PosHull designSail NoHelmClubR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14Pts
1stBritpop!25Rob WalshFleetwood MY&PBC1AVS‑52‑431AVS14331124
2ndBritPOP!9Graham ElliottBirkenhead RS&PC211AVS61323‑7AVS‑72227.6
3rdChimera122Martin RobertsBirkenhead RS&PC‑6AVS21322AVS26615‑836
4thTS217Brad GibsonWindrush RYC34AVS32451AVS195‑10‑1944.4
5thBritpop!49Darin BallingtonLincoln RSC7275‑9AVS444AVS5‑94657.6
6thDead Reckoning67Derek PriestleyFleetwood MY&PBCAVS547‑117AVS57824‑9362.4
7thVenti84John BrierleyBirkenhead RS&PC‑1493AVS7567AVS‑12186467.2
8thVision51John TushinghamKeighley & D MES43812AVS8895211AVS(DNF)(DNF)84
9thBritpop!63Peter BaldwinBirkenhead RS&PC9AVS6‑18‑1612168AVS3723585.2
10thBritpop!180Alan BennettEtherow/ Bhead5AVS10819AVS1069(DNC)‑127786.4
11thV9169Gordon BayliffFleetwood MY&PBC117AVS4106AVS695813‑15‑1494.8
12thVenti65Pete WaltersLincoln RSC1261395AVS7118‑15AVS‑14810106.8
13thVision81Gary ParkinScarborough MYC1014‑1713AVS14101510(RET)AVS151413153.6
14thSedici38Mark RoseFleetwood MY&PBC13(RET)AVS10121193AVS11(DNC)6DNFDNS154.8
15thWidget71Graham MarshAshton Quays RYC‑21131417‑19AVS1213131310AVS199159.6
16thAlternative32Paul MiddletonFleetwood MY&PBC1512AVS1681014‑19121415AVS‑1818160.8
17thBritpop!154Roy StevensScarboroughAVS‑161114131515‑2016AVS14101215162
18thSedici15Eric AustwickFleetwood MY&PBC8151215AVS13‑1717‑18AVS17171111163.2
19thViper12John BerryEtherow/BHead168161114AVS1114‑171613AVS‑1717163.2
20thMaiden14David StewartAshton Quays RYC1811‑20AVS181719AVS15(RET)12161616189.6
21stBritpop!21Bill CulshawBirkenhead RS&PC(DNC)(DNC)DNCDNCDNCDNC131211104111312194
22ndViper53Ken JonesEtherowAVS17‑2120202018AVS1417161820(DNF)216
23rdBritpop!23Alan WatkinsonBirkenhead RS&PC19101921AVS16(RET)18(DNS)DNFAVSDNCDNCDNC253.2
24thVision127Mike DrewFleetwood MY&PBC201815AVS171820(DNS)(DNS)AVSDNCDNCDNCDNC259.2
25thLintel MMX16Guy CowperBirkenhead RS&PC(RET)AVS18191519AVS16(RET)RETDNCDNCDNCDNC266.4
26thK230Roger CratesBridlington MBS17AVS96(DNC)(DNC)DNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNC270.5

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