Category: IOM Events

Racing Day 3

Five more races completed today in the same shifty/gusty over-land no1 rig breeze as the two days before. The first beat is a bit longer today, and the course is made longer by having a long final upwind beat and finishing between the top-mark and the offset-mark. Results here.

0926 8E starts, general recall

0930 8E starts and finishes 0938

I've raked the mast more upright and found some kind of balance with the no1 rig. The boat seems much better offwind, and I move up from 8D to 8C.

1018 8C finishes after two general recalls

1020, 1022 and 1026, 8B starts three times, recalled twice, B-heat finishes 1035

1045 8A starts and finishes 1053

there is a protest hearing

1116 9E

1136 9D

1206 9C. The course is somewhat skewed and especially on the last long beat to the finish you need to make sure you are not on the wrong side of the course. This is not easy as the wind shifts around and what worked on the other two beats may not work on the final upwind to the finish.

1211 and 1214 9B starts, general recall, starts again and finishes by 1223

(no notes from 9A)

1300 10E finishes

1312 10D starts

there is a delay (?)

1405 10C finishes. I'm seventh, so instead of going up to B I'm called for measurement (no problems with my boat were found). I mess up a good start and a good first leg on the second beat by being on the wrong side of the course. Again the side that was lifted or preferred just a minute ago can't be relied on being good just moments later.

1433 10A finishes.


An A-heat start

1550 11C finishes. I took a small risk and changed down to no2 rig (me and one other boat did). Not a great heat since the wind was not too much for the no1 rig for most of the time. I did pass 2-3 boats that were nosediving on the second run, but my no2 rig doesn't have good balance upwind when there is too little wind.

1622 11B starts

1635 11A starts and finishes by 1644

A course where the starboard right side of the course was blocked by land and the starboard lay-line was very short made top-mark roundings challenging and we saw a lot of incidents here today.

1703 12E starts

1716 and 1718 12D starts but is recalled, starts again

1745 12C finishes. I've stayed in the C-heat for the whole day now...

12B and 12A sail before racing is over for the day. The event dinner at the YCPR clubhouse follows.


Another situation (A-heat) at the top mark where it is very tempting and easy to go upwind on starboard, but then you need to find a way back to the mark on port while avoiding the row of starboard boats.

Racing Day 2

Race 4 was completed today, and we sailed three more races in sunny, light, and shifty/gusting no1 rig weather.

0928 race 4C is done. I make a good start and round ca 4th, but the first reach doesn't go too well. I try to protect the inside, but that means the windward boats are stealing my wind...

0953 4B has a one general recall and one abandoned race.

1050 5E starts but has a general recall. Starts again at 1052 and finishes by 1100

1114 5D starts, general recall

1117 5D starts, general recall

1123 5D starts, general recall

1135 5D starts and finishes by 1143

1218 5C is done. I make a bad start and collide with a boat on the first beat. Very skewed start line.

1241 5A starts and finishes by 1247

A protest hearing follows, while everyone seems to be having lunch.

A skewed start line and first mark made for some interesting tactics for the first beat. Here it's possible to lay the top mark(blue/white) on starboard from the starboard end of the line(red/white in the background). Making a safe start further down the line meant you were coming in on port against a wall of starboard tackers...

1333 Heat assignments for race 6 posted, and 6E starts at 1343 and finishes 1350

1426 6C is done. I start in free wind, which means not at the 'hot-spot' near the starboard flag. But that carries me too far left on the first beat and there's no way back on port while facing a row of starboard tackers. Also I make contact with two marks which means two penalty turns - not a very fast way to sail...

1431 and 1434 6B attempts to start but is recalled twice

1436 6B starts and finishes by 1443

1452 6A starts and finishes at 1458

A crowded first-mark rounding by the A-heat. One- or two-tack first beats and a set of twenty closely matched skippers lead to this. To improve racing I think we need bigger courses that create more separation before the first mark. Compare this picture to the sequence of pictures of the same phenomenon from Mooloolaba (.mov QuickTime format)

1512 there is a protest hearing

1624 7E starts but is recalled. Starts again at 1629 and finishes by 1638

1700 7D is done. I make a bad start and sail a bad offwind leg. Maybe I need to rake the mast more forward for tomorrow, since I seem to be consistently loosing on the reaches and runs.

1704 and 1707 7C starts but is recalled twice

1713 7C starts under black flag and finishes by 1722

there is a protest hearing

1810 7B is done

1817 7A starts and finishes by 1826

Brad Gibson (AUS), sailing a Widget, leads after 7 completed races.

results after 7 races are here.

Racing Day 1

Three full races (E-D-C-B-A) and two heats (4E and 4D) sailed today at the Worlds. I've forgotten just how much waiting these big championships consist of... for fun I wrote down some times on paper:

0900: Yep, my prediction from yesterday is correct. There's no wind and the AP-flag is up.

1042: The E-heat of the seeding race is done in a gust of wind. However the wind dies out and changes direction, so more waiting.

1131: D-heat of the seeding race. I make an OKish start, but approach the first mark on port with a row of starboard tackers in front of me. Also a collision at the leeward mark, so I'll race in 2E...

1156: B-heat of seeding race

1233: The A-heat of the seeding race finishes.

1322: The AP-flag is again up while results are calculated.

1340: Race 2, heat E is finished. Again my start is OK but finding a way around the crowded first mark proves challenging. More collisions and more penalties. I'm stuck in E for race 3 too...

1351: 2D starts.

1423: 2B starts. The leading boat finishes at 1428 for a heat-time of ca 5 minutes.

1438: 2A starts. Leading boat finishes 1445, heat time ca 7 minutes.

1507: A protest hearing (probably related to the A-heat?)

1535: more boats called into the protest room.

1555: 3E is started but abandoned

1604: 3E starts. I'm sixth, so can take advantage of the new HMS system where the six first go up into the next heat.

(3D also goes OK for me, I'm fifth so I move up to C)

1703: 3C finishes. I didn't sail great, but I stay in the heat and start in 4C tomorrow.

1723: 3A starts and the first boat finishes by 1729

1739: again there is a protest hearing after the A-heat

1818: 4E is started but results in a general recall (there were many of those today, probably due to the skewed starting-line which made the starboard end highly favoured in most heats)

1820: 4E starts and finishes by 1828

1847: 4D, the last heat for the day starts.

This then is roughly the daily schedule that we shall follow for the next four full racing days, with Wednesday as a lay-day in between, and then there's Saturday, the last day, when racing is only from 0900 to 1300.

Full results here. 

Measurement day

It's the first day of the 2007 IOM Worlds organized by YCPR in Marseille France. The first day is spent on measuring all the boats, and some practice sailing + an opening ceremony in the evening. The pool is apparently for washing the boats from the salty Mediterranean water.

Online results and pictures from the 7-day event will hopefully appear here.

Team Finland was on site at 9 when measurement started, and all three of us got through the process a little after 10. Soon after a longer queue formed.

Michael Scharmer's old boat in the measurement tank.

Not much wind around 9-10 o'clock in the morning. Tomorrow racing starts at 9, so we'll see if there's a delay or not.

More pictures here: iomwc1.free.fr

Nordics Results - Recount

The first set of results had the wrong number of discards, the second set of results correctly had two discards but apparently still had some strange placings, so now there's a third (final?) version. Coincidentally (?) the re-count "fixes" the disrupted placings that the three-discards mistake created... (my placing in two races has been pushed down one place).

To Discard or Not To Discard?

It's interesting to note what would have happened if the Sailing Instructions and HMS2002 would have been followed at a recent regatta:

I guess the message is that both Mr. Kaupang and yours truly will have to learn a more kamikaze-style of racing where you 'go for gold' and don't worry about the DSQ's and collisions too much since they can always be discarded in the end anyway...

2007 IOM Nordics, Stockholm


(photo by J Wikman)

SRSS hosted this year's IOM Nordic Championships in Saltsjöbaden, Stockholm. A new record was set when 37 skippers (19 SWE, 10 NOR, 4 DEN, 4 FIN) showed up! A good thing, since the nordic events are now growing to be even more relevant practice for large championships like Euros and Worlds.

Saturday started out grey with no2 rig, and we got some rain in the middle of the day with everyone changing up to no1 rig for the afternoon. Sunday was dry with a bit of sunshine and no2 rig the whole day. 17 races were completed with five different A-heat winners. I threw away at least one good chance of my own when the jibsheet got stuck on a badly designed mast-ram when I was rounding the last leeward mark with a good lead towards the end of Saturday...

A lot of new boats: Torvald Klem (NOR) sailed a Jeff Byerley Extreme into a comfortable win. Second place Sören Andresen (DEN) has a new wooden boat with modified front sections. I sailed the new Noux Mk2, but was pushed back from my usual third into fourth place by one J Hellberg (SWE), who with the help of two boats and three discards took third. I'm taking comfort in that I had the second lowest throw-outs after Torvald, which in the long run is a Good Thing. Fifth was Gunnar Karslen with a not-so-new TS-2, showing that the ca. 1992 designed TS-2 with original fin and rudder is still a good boat.

I've now found a mast position on the Noux which results in good balance upwind, but I seemed to loose on the runs. I've done this by moving the mast forward at deck-level, so this also increases aft mast rake. Perhaps I should look for the same balance, but with a more upright mast to balance upwind and downwind speed?

Pictures here, here, and here. Results from SRSS's site.


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Google map test drive: IOM Worlds sites

I've discovered that you can embed a google-map in your blog- great! Just to try out this fun new feature here are the sites of the IOM-worlds for 2003, 2005, and 2007.

2007 Marseilles, France (event to be held 12-21 October 2007)


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2005 Moolooloba, Australia


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2003 Vancouver, Canada


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Can anyone contribute with the ones I am missing (I didn't compete so I don't know where the sailing took place):

  • 2001, Omisalj, Croatia
  • 1999, Malta
  • 1997, Wellington, NZL
  • 1994, Poitiers, France

2007 Nordic IOM-Race 2, Turku, Finland

13 skippers (8 FIN, 4 SWE, 1 NOR) competed in race 2 of the Scandinavian Cup 2007 (*) organized by TPS in Turku, Finland during the weekend of 1st and 2nd of September 2007.

Saturday started dramatically with a thunderstorm interrupting race 1, and most boats changing down to no2 rig for the rest of the day. A nice wind direction enabled a long course with skippers being able to walk 1/3 to 1/2 of the course up and down along the pier. 12 races were completed. Saturday was completed with an event dinner with our race-officer Harri Korpela as chief chef.

Sunday began with more wind and some risk for rain. Most skippers started out with no2 rig, but some more or less successful trials were made with no1 rig throughout the day. 12 races were completed.

The winner, Torvald Klem from Norway, sailed the most consistently and only let about six heat-wins slip by. He sailed a new Extreme design from Jeff Byerley/Australia. Only the second time in no2-rig conditions for this boat. Second place Olle Martonen sails a home-built wood/glassfiber TripleCrown, while third place Timo Syren used a SailsETC Italiko, also taking home the Finnish Class Champion title.

A few new boats were also seen on the race-course. Anders Wallin and Eero Laurila sailed Noux Mk2 designs with still a bit of room for improvement on the trimming and manouverability side. A swedish prototype of the Peter Norlin designed IOM (onemeterfun.se) also competed in its first international event.

Results here.

(*) for some good reason these races are now called "Scandinavian", a word that is about double in length, and geographically incorrect, compared to "Nordic".