Thirteen keen IOM sailors gathered on the outer dock of Nanaimo Yacht Club to enjoy a day of racing. The rain gods stayed away, the sun shone intermittently and the wind gods preferred to keep us guessing. Oh, and I forgot to mention the 1/2 knot current that made everything more interesting. All this created a race track filled with opportunities. Those that kept their heads up were rewarded handsomely!.

Tim Daniel, of Great Ocean Race fame, kindly agreed to PRO the day and got everyone away on time in a 3-4 knot NW’er which held for most of the morning. Peter Grimm and Jason Rhodes jumped to the front of the fleet and enjoyed close racing for the number 1 spot throughout the day. Competition throughout the rest of fleet was excellent with lots of wild swings from race to race. The afternoon racing included several races in a 3-5knot NE wind followed by winds followed by SE. Hard work by the race committee kept the racing going and competitors retired the bar after race 16.

Peter Grimm edged out Jason Rhodes for the win…well done to both of you for leading the way. The willy Bob Lewis finished strongly with 2 bullets to secure 3rd place followed by Art Prufer on a tie break with Brian Woodward. Steve Kibble won the Most Improved award in his new-to-him V9 and Jim Fergusson won the Best Performance for catching the largest bunch of kelp in the channel…so big his boat needed to be rescued! Steve and Jim won custom parts bins 3D printed by Tom Murphy…thanks Tom.

Special thanks to Tim Daniel for running the day for us, to Keith in the mark set boat for all the mark shifting, to the Nanaimo Yacht Club for allowing us to use their wonderful facility, to Art Prufer for the beautiful custom engraved beer classes and Steve Kibble for the use of his RIB.

Next up, Coastal Cup #3 – a 2 Day Event in Kelowna May 2 and 3.