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Coming into the final day, there were still 5 or 6 people who could have risen to the top of the leaderboard, but Sean took the regatta into his keeping with four bullets in the final four races. Winds on the last day went back into the south-west, which is a difficult direction for the Race Committee to deal with. The breeze shifted quite a lot, and early in the day, the dreaded weed in the water played havoc with many people's race results.

Fortunately, the weed gradually blew away, leaving the race track fairly clean, but the wind continued to swirl around. This didn't faze Sean who picked the breeze direction expertly, making big gains upwind. Paul Jones pressed Sean for a while, but eventually the gap widened. Coming into the last race, Paul needed to put 9 boats between himself and Sean to take the title. However, Sean took off at the start and was never headed.

Meanwhile, Glenn Dawson was sitting seven points adrift of Paul and needed a big gap to take out second place. He was sitting in the top three, and Paul was deep in the fleet at the end of the first lap. Paul showed his expertise by sailing through the fleet to finish just one place behind, and held onto second comfortably.

The event was a tricky one for skippers and race management alike, having to manage wind issues as well as weed problems from time to time. Kyle Stewart and Rod Marshall did a sterling job under trying conditions. The guys who took their turn in the boat were similarly kept extremely busy shifting marks around to try and keep the racing going. All sippers thanked the volunteers for their diligence and calm manner in which they handled the event. 

We also thanked Anne Walker for her scoring and fleet management over the four days as well as Katarina Thorburn for assisting Anne.

Above: IOM Podium L-R: Glenn Dawson 3rd; Sean Wallis 1st; Paul Jones 2nd.

Overall, the camaraderie of the IOM fleet came to the fore, and there was a good atmosphere in the boat park. Congratulations to all participants. The Tasmanians prepared extensively for this event. It was most unfortunate for them that the wind gods decided to make their lives difficult for a few days!

Congratulations also go to Tasmanians Chris Wood (L) for winning the Master's Championship and John Cole-Cook (R) for winning the Grand Master's Championship. Principle Race Officer, Kyle Stewart (rear) was roundly thanked for his efforts and energy over the four days. 

Thanks to Ray Joyce for the photos.