Manx Sailing and Cruising Club’s annual IOM Copiers Easter Dinghy Regatta took place last weekend.

Traditionally scheduled for Easter Saturday, it was delayed a fortnight because of Storm Dave but took place in glorious sunshine and a light to moderate northwesterly breeze in Ramsey Bay.

The regatta consisted of three races held in succession with no discards, so every position counted and any slip-ups could be costly.

A fleet of 19 teams took part, with a strong squad from Isle of Man Yacht Club presenting a powerful challenge.

Dave Batchelor started race one very strongly in the Supernova from the pin end of the line and was soon a good way ahead of the rest of the fleet.

Also showing the way for the fleet of four RS Teras was Jimmy Cope in the Tera Pro who, while unable to match the raw speed of the Supernova, the RS Aeros and the Finn, had the advantage of a handicap set so that a well-sailed Tera could compete on equal terms to the others.

After two laps for the Teras and three for the rest of the fleet, Cope was first on handicap 18 seconds ahead of Batchelor, with Simon Cain (RS Aero 7) third.

The RS Aeros can pick up a bit of extra pace by roll gybing which they may have been practicing at a recent training session by expert sailor Teddy Dunn.

But both Tom and Lettie Hyett (RS Aero 5, UK under-17 champion) managed to capsize during the process, although both still beat your correspondent.

Race two, sailed in similar conditions, saw Batchelor take an early lead on the water again and, although reading the shifts was difficult, he generally managed to tack at the right times in the right places on the beats and thereby extended the lead to finish first on corrected time, with Ralph Kee (Laser standard) a strong second.

Watterson and Cope were third and fourth, all four finishing within a minute on corrected time.

It was still anyone’s game in race three, with Batchelor leading on three points (lowest score wins), Cope on five, Kee on seven, Watterson on nine and Joe and Eric Whitelegg (Enterprise) on 10.

Batchelor had a ‘discussion’ with a Laser on the start line and as result found himself mid-fleet up the first beat when he needed to be out in front.

Could he be displaced from the overall lead? A poor position could knock him out of the reckoning, but it was not to be.

The Supernova kept out of trouble, tacked at the right times and dug its way out of the fleet to take an unchallengeable second in the last race behind Watterson.

So at the prizegiving it was Batchelor first with only five points, followed by Watterson (10), Cope (12), the Whiteleggs (14) and Kee (15).

In the junior class, Cope took the win from Jake Walker (RS Tera) and Lettie Hyett (RS Aero 5) on equal points (27), but Jake taking the best result.

Thanks go to the safety boat crews (May Shiu, Chris Love, Martin Jackson and Ed Pearce), the race officer team of Keith Poole and Yogi Quayle, plus Niamh, May and Collette for the delicious and extensive regatta tea.

- MS&CC has now started RYA dinghy training on Monday and Wednesday evenings, while Sunday morning races start this weekend. From May 8, sessions take on Thursday evenings, while the Ramsey Shipping Services-sponsored Round the Island Race takes place on May 24.

JERRY COLMAN