Edinburgh IMC Courses



We still have a number of places available on the Edinburgh IMC courses, and we will need to review whether we reduce this to just a single course in the next couple of weeks. If you would like to attend the Edinburgh course, but have not yet registered your interest, please let us know as soon as possible. You can book a place by emailing training@iomttma.com





Chairmans Column



The second of the TTMA social nights went off very well in Douglas last Wednesday at the Hydro Hotel; attended by around 40 people. It is a shame more people could not get there; more than 600 letters were sent out about this.



The new PowerPoint presentation behaved this time round and went without a hitch. It’s just as well, as we didn’t have anyone from the ACU-E there to fill in as we did in Ramsey.



It is good to see a few people taking up the offer and calling into the office for a cup of coffee or tea; it’s nice to just be social and have a chat and it doesn’t always have to be about marshalling. Whenever I meet Charlie Bond in there we usually end up discussing a plumbing job!!



Once again there is a bit of disquiet over a lack of information being passed on; though having said that nobody has asked any deep questions at the social events. The fact is we really do not have much to pass on; information I receive during the many meetings we attend is of no direct importance to us. The areas that are important are generally mentioned here in the news letter; as always though if you have a problem or question or doubt, phone us or email or better still call in and we will do our best to clear it up. At the last social evening Lynn Walsh mentioned a rumour that there was a flyover being constructed from somewhere down the Nook and over Governors; this of course is absolutely true!!



As I write this news letter I have just heard that Shaun Counsell is quite ill with pneumonia; I am sure we all wish Shaun a speedy recovery. Shaun and the team of Fred, Mike and Kipper work tirelessly throughout the year and their efforts in getting things right around the course are to be applauded. Kipper by the way is now officially the Chief Incident Officer. They are typical of the backroom volunteers doing a great job who are generally not noticed; at least not until you’re a couple of bales missing or you have no toilet!! I know quite a few with a couple of bales missing and I’m not talking racing.



The IM Courses are going along very nicely; if you need to renew yours or you are new to marshalling and want to attend, get in touch. Our training schedule looks set at the moment to reach 400 trained marshals over the winter; we have been busy. The most recent one was at Bedford and that went very well with around 35 people trained and most of them for the first time. The next one is at Birkenhead at the weekend; Terry Holmes and Dave Clarke are attending.



Anyway, as usual anyone passing the office remember you are always welcome to call in; you don’t need a reason.



Regards

Bill Carden

Chairman




TT 2008 Signing On Forms


The signing on forms for this years TT will be prepared in the next few weeks, and we will be mailing these out in early April. If your address has changed since last year, please let us know so that we can update our database.





Night at the Races – 12th April


Due to unforeseen circumstances, the date of the Night at the Races has had to be changed. It will now take place on Saturday 12th April 2008 at the Masonic Hall in Douglas, admission is £4, which will include a chip buttie supper, and all proceeds and admission money will be split between the TTMA and three other charities to be announced.



These are great fun, and will be hosted by Roy Moore. Tickets are on sale now from our office at the rear of the TT Grandstand.





IMC Training Courses


We are continuing to maintain the momentum with the IMC courses, and so far this winter 189 marshals have either renewed or completed an IMC course for the first time. This is a fantastic effort by you all, and we are on target for around 400 attending an IMC course over the winter period. The comments we have had from those who have attended have been extremely positive and we believe everyone has enjoyed the experience.



We are planning ahead, and arrangements are well in hand for next winter, and have already started booking venues.



The list of confirmed courses for the spring and summer is as follows:



March 8th & 9th St Johns HQ Birkenhead (Full)

April 5th & 6th St Johns HQ Douglas

April 12th & 13th St Johns HQ Gloucester

April 26th & 27th St Andrews HQ Edinburgh

May 3rd & 4th St Johns HQ Douglas

May 30th (TT Practice Week) Masonic Hall Douglas (Full)

August 22nd (MGP Practice Week) St John HQ



In addition, we are also have confirmed dates for next winter as follows:



October 5th St Johns HQ Douglas

November 9th St Johns HQ Douglas

November 22nd & 23rd Liverpool



Due to demand for places on the course in TT practice week, we are looking at the possibility of running an additional course. We hope to confirm this in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can still register your interest in attending a course during the TT.



If you have taken an IMC course and have any comments or suggestions we would like to hear from you. We are justifiably proud of our IMC courses, but we are always pleased to hear any ideas, which could improve the course.



To make a comment, or to book a course, please contact us on training@iomttma.com or phone the office on 01624 618191.



Best wishes,



Andy Dorman

Training Director





Committee News




So, what has happened in the last few weeks and where are we up to? There are a few new items on the list below, and some may surprise you more than others:



1) Terry, Cathy and Bill have been in discussion with the DoTL and other bodies in relation to possible benefits for marshals. The meeting was fruitful, and we hope to have more details in the next few months. There has been no movement on this since the original meeting.



2) Work is continuing on an update for the instructional DVD, which was made a couple of years ago. Bill Carden has been working on the script. The aim is to make this a ‘modular’ DVD, so in future only single segments need to be updated in the event of a change. It is hoped to include a section on the use of TETRA Radio.



3) The review of the ‘Novice’ marshal scheme is continuing. This has now been discussed with the A-CU, and will be discussed at the Directors meeting in early March.



4) The review of benefits for Life Members is continuing. Updates will appear on our website and in this newsletter



5) The Marshalling Matters handbook is currently being reviewed by the A-CU and we are awaiting an update from them before we can go to print.



6) A meeting has taken place with the Licensed Victuallers Association on the subject of benefits for marshals. The meeting was very positive, and both parties are looking at the suggestions made.



7) Robert Crane (Sector 5 CSM) has taken over the maintenance of our website.



8) We have had banners made to use on our stands at shows. They are of a similar design to those used by the DoTL



9) A review of the upper age limit for marshalling at the TT & MGP is taking place after discussions with the A-CU. A decision will be made in the next few weeks.



10) Advertisments have been placed for an additional part time member of staff for the Office to cover the period from April to September.



11) Paul Phillips of the DoTL has been in touch with the IOM Steam Packet Company on our behalf. Figures have been passed to the DoTL showing amongst other things the breakdown of UK marshals attending both the TT and MGP races. We are hoping to have some news on these talks in the coming weeks.



12) After discussions with the Southern 100 Club, we will be organising a TETRA training night in the south of the Island to allow those Southern 100 marshals who have completed the Southern 100 training course to become IMC accredited.





Cathy Pullen’s Column



Since the last newsletter we have completed four more IMC training days, two in Douglas and two in Bedford for our UK marshals. Out of all the marshals booked onto the Bedford course there was only one who didn’t show up, so that was a good turnout. On that note, we are hoping to get a sponsored mobile phone in the near future for the TTMA use, and we will put the number on all the reminder letters that go out to marshals for the courses, that way if you are on route to a course and get held up, you can call us and let us know.



There are still spaces on the IMC’s in Gloucester on April 12th and 13th, it costs us a lot of money to run these training days and there must be plenty of you UK marshals that need to re do your IMC or those of you who have never done one, so get on the phone or fire up your email and get booked onto one, you will enjoy it! It also means we get more trained marshals out there at the side of the road come TT.



There has been quite a number of new and novice marshals attending our IMC’s recently, that is heartening to see. We need to keep a steady recruitment of these new marshals as there are inevitably those who retire each year and we need to replace those people with new blood. Some of these people have said they have been spectators for some years and wanted to give something back. This is particularly good as it means our message is getting through, we need plenty of marshals to cover the TT course.



We still have recruitment posters available in the office if anyone has a place to put one where they think it may attract more members to our team, we can’t stress enough how important it is that we have enough marshals out on the course, and in the right places, so if you can help recruit, we need you!



We sometimes get asked how many of the new marshals that have never yet been out marshalling and attend an IMC actually get to marshal. We think it would be helpful if you would email the office after the TT or Manx GP and let us know that you did an IMC first, that you went out and marshalled and if the course prepared you for the job or gave you any extra confidence. We could then use that information when planning future events. It is certainly good to meet so many keen prospective marshals at our courses.



That’s about it for now, I still have a pile of flags I was going to sort out directly after the MGP and I’ve not quite got around to doing it ….still, it’s not the end of May yet!



Cathy Pullen

Director





Long Service Awards


Have you, or has anyone you know marshalled for 25 or 50 years? If so please let the office know.



We like to mark the milestones and want to thank you for all those years of dedicated service to the races. Without everyone’s support the races could not happen.



The award presentations will be made at the Marshals Supper. We will just need to know which supper (TT or MGP).



If anyone is not able to attend a Supper we can forward the award by post. We would however, prefer to show our appreciation in public.





Sector 5
Hello & welcome to my first contribution to the newsletter. The editor has finally caught up with me!

My name is Robert & I, for my sins, am the Sector Marshal for Sector 5 on the west of the course. Most of the marshals that help me at the two big events of the TT & MGP will already know me as I try to keep in contact with letters and emails throughout the year as well as some social meetings (read 'pub') which, sadly, we haven't managed to arrange yet this year, but we will do before the TT.

Our sector is one of the more remote ones (apart from the mountain sections) with no built-up areas and not an excessive amount of spectators but includes some famous - and exciting - locations such as the 11th milestone (better known to most people as ' the caravan on the right hand side just after Cronk-y-Voddy or just before Handleys") This is usually used as our Sector HQ and is run by Andy Dorman, who says they provide the best tea on the whole sector, if not the whole course but I'm sure that could be challenged by many people, not least the marshals at the bottom of Barregarrow!

It also includes the fast Handley's corner, a place called 'Shoughlaigue' which was reported by John McGuinness as his favourite corner on the course as well as the famous Top & Bottom of Barregarrow. An advantage of being a marshal is that you can see the action from some of these places as they are normally off limits to the general public!

This year, for various reasons, a number of people have decided not to marshal. I'd like to thank all of those people for their invaluable help over the years but it does mean I'm likely to be short of a couple of marshals, especially for a couple of the main flagging locations, so if
anyone fancies a change of scenery, I'd be pleased to hear from you!

I know it's been mentioned before by other Sector Marshals but there really is a lot of preparation that goes into the running of the races and this continues practically all year long. We have already done a number of 'sector inspections' and reviewed the list of equipment needed at each location throughout the sector. We now have the packaging & sending out of the signing-on forms and the wait for them to be returned so we can start to draw up rota's and ensure our minimum manning levels are met.

As we keep saying, PLEASE return your forms as soon as possible and let us know when you will be available so we can get an idea of any shortages we are likely to have. Don't forget, if you have any family, friends or colleagues that may be interested in marshalling get them to contact the office and register their name so they receive the signing-on form. Even if they have previously said no, mention it again (& again, and again if necessary) as we need as many as we can get.

Whatever happens, I would like to wish all Marshals a very successful and safe TT.

Robert Crane
CSM




Sector 10


All quiet on the Western Front.



As winter continues, there is not much to say really. The one-way system decision is awaited with trepidation, as last year was hard work for all of us, though all the Mountain Marshals put in a lot of effort to make it work. Well done to you all for last year.



We hope to have the Bungalow crossing bridge boxed in this year, freeing us of the task of keeping spectators from standing on top and endangering competitors with droppings. I am assured it will happen, the covering over the bridge that is! but, as usual, I will not hold my breath. The prohibited areas will be altered slightly this year, with restricted areas in force, basically those areas we stood in before. It tidies up the pointed out fact we have been standing in the middle of drawn up prohibited areas before. In reality, no changes are expected.



I should have some spare prohibited signs for this year, so if any are pinched, let me know. Dave has made some nice new blackboards for flagging riders down, they don't have bells on or make the tea, but are welcome nonetheless. This year Bungalow Hut hopes to announce our very own Bagpipe team, Team Bruce. You may have heard the lovely drones from the Bungalow after evening practice this past years, but if you happen to be within earshot, please remember to pack some cheese (or ear plugs!) From my brief look up the hill, not much has changed but a few bits of road will need repair again, but June is a long time away, so until then, keep warm and dry and if anyone can perform pressgang duties, we still need all the hands we can get this year.



Talking of keeping warm, I was away after MGP and some flags are still in the huts, sealed up for winter. I will try to replace them before first practice, but if you find any missing or rotten, it's my fault, sorry.



Thanks again for the hard work and tireless support over the last year, and look forward to doing it all again this one.



Mark Harris

CSM



Sector 12


Hello everybody



Christmas well and truly over, and everybody is now working towards TT08. In the case of your committee you would not believe the amount of work that is taking place behind the scenes.



There is not much to tell from Sector 12, we just seem to be able to carry on regardless.



As I told you after the MGP, Terry from Brandish has hung up his deputies tabard and I can now tell you that Robert (BOB) Sherwin has agreed to take on the role. I hope you all look forward to working with him and give him the same excellent support that Terry had.



One or two of you that live in the Douglas & Onchan areas will probably have noticed a little bit of work going on around Governors Bridge & the Nook. I am assured that the changes will have little or no affect to the Mountain Circuit when finished although visually Governors will never look the same again.



Nothing much more to report. If any of you (not just from Sector 12) want to sharpen you skills as a marshal prior to the TT why not get up to Jurby, where you can be a Marshal without all the hassle of the 2 legged idiots behind (hopefully) the wall or hedge. If you require any details just let me know



Best Wishes to all



John Walsh

CSM





Andreas Racing Association



The start if the 2008 Andreas Racing Association season is less that 2 weeks away! Many of you will have helped us out at Jurby in the past and of course we're always keen to see new faces.



So if you want to polish up your marshalling skills and check out who's going to be the hottest up and coming newcomers this year, get yourself along to Jurby Airfield on the 16th March! You'll get the best seats in the house to watch all the action on the airfield and get even closer at the two Jurby South Road meetings!

Signing on for Marshals is in our Marshal's Lounge in the control tower.

For airfield meetings sign on from 09:45 onwards, ready to be in position a 10:30 start. For a road meeting signing on takes place from 11.00 onwards. So that we can be in position ready to start for a 12:45 roads close, marshals should leave the paddock by 12.30.

For those who intend to marshal and join as a social member before the first meeting they are eligible for a full refund on your annual subs, just bring your marshal's membership card together with your social membership card to the Race Secretary Sarah Blake in the race office or Phil Kneen.

If you have any questions, contact our Chief Marshal Roger Moore on 240888 or email him on roger@manx.net

Our race dates for 2008 are:

Sunday 16th March 2008 - Airfield Championship
Sunday 6th April 2008 - Airfield Championship
Sunday 27th April 2008 - Airfield Championship
Saturday 17th May 2008 - Jurby South Road
Sunday 15th June 2008 - Airfield Championship
Saturday 12th July 2008 - Jurby South Road - National
Sunday 27th July 2008 - Airfield Championship
Sunday 14th September 2008 - Airfield Championship
Sunday 5th October 2008 - 4hr Endurance Race

Keith McKay

Chairman

Andreas Racing Association.





Winter Social Events




The dates for the remaining evenings are as follows:



Peel on Wednesday 19th March at Peel AFC Football Club

Castletown on Tuesday 25th March at The George in Castletown

Sulby on Wednesday 16th April at the Sulby Glen Hotel



The evenings start at 7:30pm and all marshals and prospective marshals are welcome. A complimentary drink will be provided.




Contacts

You can contact our office by email at info@iomttma.com or at the following address:



PO Box 149

Isle of Man TT Marshals Association Limited

Douglas

Isle of Man

IM99 3JA



Tel: +44 (0) 1624 618191



Training enquiries should be emailed to: training@iomttma.com



Our website address is http://www.iomttma.com





Finally



The weeks are beginning to fly past now, and it wont be long until the signing on forms are sent out. By the time you read this, the first race meetings of the 2008 season will have taken place in the UK, and the first on the IOM is only a matter of days away. I guess a number of you will be out, honing your skills, in preparation for the TT & MGP.



It has been a busy winter, but, after reading this newsletter, I hope you will agree that the Directors have been working hard on behalf of you all.



Next weekend, myself, Terry Holmes and Martin Blackburn will be in Birkenhead for the IMC course, and I look forward to meeting a number of you there.





Regards



Dave Clarke

Treasurer