Sunday 2nd July results > IOM Les Watts Trophy 2023
Scores & report Russ Chilcott

We had 8 skippers for this round which was for the Les Watts Shield as well as counting as round 4 of our Summer Series. There was a strong westerly wind but coming through the biggest trees in the right corner it produced some awful eddies and swirls.

Scott set the usual triangle/sausage course, with a leeward gate and the finish line up at the windward marker.

Right from the start everyone struggled to stay on the same tack for more than a few metres. A boat would easily switch from port to starboard and back again over a short distance without any input on the rudder. Just trying to decide who was windward boat could be impossible at times as the wind swirled around so much and so quickly!

Despite these conditions the bright yellow No16 boat seemed to find its way around and/or through it all with little bother. The boat was in the hands of Richard.
In Race 3 he was way ahead of the fleet but then found himself stuck in irons and was passed by 5 boats to end up finishing in 6th – this turned out to be just a blip!
Richard was in a class of one as he went on to win 6 races, many by some margin and finished 2nd in another race.

Others did have their moments; Scott started very well with a 3rd place followed two wins on the trot. The only other win was Alan in Race 7 when he got away and stayed ahead. Bob, Nigel, Alan and Nick all took their share of 2nd and 3rd places but also more than a few 5th, 6th and 7th places which dragged down their scores.

After 9 races with it approaching noon, we agreed to call it a day.

There was no need to use Nigel’s laptop to work who had won this round and therefore the Les Watts Shield – it was clearly Richard by some margin. He was presented the shield by Scott.

The results were; 1st Richard with 6 points (yes, 6 points!) he discards a 2nd place finish!
There was quite a gap to the rest lead by Scott in 2nd place on 16pts. 3rd place was tied with Alan and Nick both on 19, but Alan is awarded the place on countback due to that one race win. 5th place Bob (21), 6th me (22), 7th Nigel (23) and 8th Rick on 39pts.

Well done to Richard, a worthy winner in some very, very tricky conditions. I have no idea how he does it?

Richard (right) receiving the shield from meeting OOD Scott