Strebor IOM Open 2026 at Birkenhead Radio Sailing & Power Club
by Peter Baldwin 8 Nov 06:54 PST
7 November 2026
There was a good turnout of 17 boats for this year's Strebor considering the rather dire forecasts for between 1 and 4mph E/ESE.
As the early bird sailors started to arrive at 8:15, there was no sign of any breeze and it remained this way until around 9:15, when there was a hint of the forecast breeze starting to fill in.
Having rigged his boat "just in case", Peter proceeded to lay a Windward/Leeward course, guessing at the likely direction and the marks fortunately remained in the same location all day.
Our RO for the day was Commodore Dave Williams who started us off with a one lap race to test the water and if that proved sailable we would continue as long as the breeze allowed us. After a few races, the wind filled in sufficiently for a few ripples on the water and the course was extended to two laps. We completed seven races before a break for a late coffee. These races were dominated by Brad Gibson with five wins, until Graham Elliott spoilt his run of wins in races 6 and 7. Simon Fairman and Peter Baldwin both picked up podium places along with some good results by Graham Birkett (Widget), David Potter, Roger Crates, Graham Whalley and Gary Parkin.
After the break, we sailed another four races before lunch and once again Brad dominated the scores with another 4 wins. The remainder of the podium places were once again filled by similar names, with Simon, Peter, Roger and David figuring and Martin Roberts getting in the groove to pick up two second places in the last two races before lunch.
When we restarted after lunch, there was some concern that we might not get too many more races completed as the forecasts had indicated there may be a shift of the wind to the SE and even South later. However, we fortunately saw only a small shift towards the South and although the wind was lighter requiring a drop back to single lap races (which caught a few front runners out at times), we did manage to complete an additional five races for a total of 16, with the final race being a two lap course and all completed by 15:30 with both the wind and light fading.
Brad remained in charge and scored another 3 wins, with only Simon and Peter taking one each to spoil it. This left Brad with a commanding win counting 12 firsts and one second. Graham managed a consistent set of second and third places in the last six races, which cemented his position in second ahead of the chasing pack. Simon Fairman finished third on countback against Peter Baldwin on the basis of three seconds vs two. David Potter was fifth and Roger Crates was sixth and first Classic boat with his "Little Wing" Woodie from 1995.
Thanks go to our Race Team of Dave, Neil and Steve, our galley team of Joss and Chris and Paul Plested for the photos of the racing today with a complete set in the Event Flickr Album here.
We hope to see you all back again for our IOM Xmas Race on Saturday 12th December, entry via the event page here.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Skipper | Sail No | Club/City | Hull | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | R16 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Brad Gibson | 42 | Birkenhead | PostPunk | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 2 | Graham Elliott | 9 | Birkenhead | Britpop | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 35 |
| 3 | Simon Fairman | 71 | Manor Park | Alioth | 2 | 3 | 17 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 45 |
| 4 | Peter Baldwin | 63 | Birkenhead | Britpop | 3 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 45 |
| 5 | David Potter | 20 | Birkenhead | V12 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 60 |
| 6 | Roger Crates | 30 | Askern | Little Wing | 6 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 9 | 82 |
| 7 | Martin Roberts | 55 | Birkenhead | Widget | 11 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 18 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 83 |
| 8 | Clive Warren | 86 | Birkenhead | Britpop | 13 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 104 |
| 9 | Graham Birkett | 133 | Birkenhead | Widget | 9 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 108 |
| 10 | Andrew Backhouse | 70 | Birmingham M Y C | Britpop | 10 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 115 |
| 11 | Graham Whalley | 16 | Manor Park | Britpop | 7 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 120 |
| 12 | Dave Stewart | 12 | Ashton Quays MYC | Kantum K2 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 142 |
| 13 | Gary Parkin | 151 | Scarborough | Vision | 15 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 148 |
| 14 | Alan Watkinson | 23 | Birkenhead | Corbie 5 | 14 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 160 |
| 15 | Tony Broad | 7 | GOMYC | Jazz | 16 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 165 |
| 16 | John Mackie | 110 | Birkenhead | Departure | 12 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 18 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 174 |
| 17 | Jonathan Davies | 37 | Gresford S C | Alioth | 17 | 14 | 10 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 176 |
