After a couple of good starts and first beats I was still finding myself finishing at the back end of the B Fleet during the light stuff. However, as the wind picked up so did my results. When the wind was at its strongest I had my first B Fleet bullet and promotion to A Fleet. This was short lived, two small incidents where one boat sailed down onto me just before the start and another when someone decided to sail in front of me whilst I was starboard, and not forgetting that I also sailed into a mark. So back to B Fleet I went.
Soon after I achieved another promotion to A Fleet, this time I had an OK first beat and run in the middle of the pack but took the port leeward gate, this proved to be a good choice, by the end of the beat I was in second place. On the run I went slightly deeper than the boat in front and managed to get ahead and I took the lead, covered the fleet as best I could on the last beat and managed my first A Fleet win.
Just to prove I'm very inconsistant I was demoted in the following race and then promoted again for the last race.
I had a fab time, met some really nice people and enjoyed the spirit in which the competitors raced and would like to thank the Woodsprings race organisers & volunteers. My final result was 12 of 21
An A fleet start
Very, very close racing between the windward and spreader marks
Simon Clarke's IOM