I.O.M Winter Series Round 5 at Lincoln Radio Sailing Club

Lincoln I.O.M Winter Series Round 5 © Mick Chamberlain

A very nice turnout for the fifth in this well supported series.

The weatherman said rain would arrive around noon, but we were greeted with pretty good racing conditions, with the breeze probably lighter than forecast from the South East, but it did increase to give us some great racing, and so a course was set on the South bank, initially one and a half longish laps, but as the breeze increased we did an extra lap on a great beat and run course.

Lincoln I.O.M Winter Series Round 5 - photo © Mick Chamberlain

Pete W and Colin H got there early as OOD's and got things set up on what was to be a busy morning. Fifteen skippers came to the line and racing got under way at 10am sharp. Pete W 65 obviously got a good night's sleep and started well, taking the first three bullets with consummate ease, and one was wondering how long he could keep this up. The racing at Lincoln is competitive to say the least, and battles were going on all through the fleet.

We had six different designs on show, the Venti was most prominent with six boats, next up the Brit Pop with five boats we had a Sedici which was the fore runner of the Venti. We also had a 3D printed Alioth which goes very well and I hear that 2/3 are being made at the club. We also had what is probably the latest design, which incidentally won the Worlds down in Australia a couple years ago, but probably the oldest design racing was a Pikanto (not sure how old), which was sailed extremely well by Darin B into fourth place.

Lincoln I.O.M Winter Series Round 5 - photo © Mick Chamberlain

Darin is one of the club members who has qualified for next year's I.O.M Worlds that will be held in the UK in the early part of 2026, the boat he will be racing in that event is the very well tried and tested Brit Pop.

But hey getting back to the racing, Keeping his powder dry was young Tim Hand, and ex dinghy racer of some note, as many in the club are, and in the first three races he was third each time, his worst results all morning. Tim is another Lincoln skipper who has qualified for the Worlds and was certainly on top form, and was taking no prisoners in the extremely competitive fleet.

Lincoln I.O.M Winter Series Round 5 - photo © Mick Chamberlain

I could go on to mention a lot of good performances from skippers over the morning, and the racing was was held in a great manner, and I am sure everybody went home happy, even if a little wet as the rain came down with a hour to go. This has become an exciting series to be a part of, so well done Tim for taking the top step and being very consistent, something that is needed at the top level in most sports.

Overall Results: