ALAMO CLASSIC IOM REGATTA

The Pirates of Woodlawn hosted the IOM Alamo Classic Regatta this past weekend and I made the 8 hour drive together with Hew to sail in this one day event. I am glad that I did, as it was a fantastic time! The atmosphere was very relaxed but yet the sailing was very competitive. Historically the club has made this regatta a fun regatta, with the fleet split into 2 fleets, a gold fleet for the more experienced skippers and a silver fleet for the less experienced. Both fleets shared the same start and course and the RD and his assistant had the fun in separating out the finishes to reflect each fleet.

I sailed ‘OK’ in this regatta, making every one of the 17 starts and finishing every race, which says a lot for the quality of the build of my VEKTOR. The boat remained dry, with no leaks until the wind picked up and then I think the tape on the bow sections may have leaked a small amount. I am glad that Hew and I were able to fix the leak in my mast tube before the regatta. I am also thankful that he was able to mend my mainsail as it looked much better than it did last week.

The final results showed me in 7th place in the Silver Fleet after 17 races, this was a fleet of 10 boats, so I did not do too well, but considering the number of times I sailed the IOM I am satisfied with this result. I have lots of room for improvement. Hew sailed well and ended up the winner of the Gold Fleet. I guess the VEKTOR hull design is not a bad one; but I honestly think that the hull design is not as critical as the skill of the driver in tuning the boat and sails, getting a good start and sailing well – at least at my level of competence.

Below you will see some posted pictures. Many of these photos I borrowed from Bill Smith, a member of Team Houston. Bill rode out with his club, not to sail but to take photos and learn more about the IOM fleet. Here is a link to Bill Smith’s website, where he posted a ton of great photos - :

http://flyinbill.com/AlamoClassicIOM2010/index.html

The Woodlawn Sail Club has posted some photos and a write-up on their website –:

http://www.woodlawnsailingclub.org/

I am looking forward to racing this boat and to improving my position in the fleet.