The “Other” Isle of Man | Tourist Trophy

In the first half of June 2011, the eyes of the motorcycle world were focused on a small, oval-shaped island lying between Great Britain and Ireland, measuring 32 miles long and 15 miles across. Laced with austere moorlands, wooded glens, sandy beaches, lonely castles and time-warp towns, the home of the oldest and most famous race circuit in the world clocked up a century of racing history. One-hundred years ago, in 1911, the first Isle of Man TT was held around the Snaefell Mountain Course.


The Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin in the local Manx language) is not part of the United Kingdom, but a Crown dependency whose original Viking settlement was ceded to Scotland by the King of Norway in 1266. Today, the Queen of England is also the Lord of Mann, represented on the Island by a Lieutenant Governor, complete with all the trimmings of a quasi-colonial setup. Queen Elizabeth’s face graces Manx banknotes, but they aren’t legal tender anywhere beyond the Island. The Island is not part of the EU. It is, however, a flourishing offshore financial center which has seen many “come-over” residents—including MotoGP racer Cal Crutchlow, former World Superbike Champion James Toseland and his World Supersport counterpart, Aussie Andrew Pitt—taking advantage of the low, 18 percent income-tax ceiling. But the Island’s population of 80,000 doubles for the two weeks of the Tourist Trophy races.

All the more reason, then, to get away from the crowded, 37.73-mile Mountain Course and explore the other parts of this pocketbook-sized country, which packs a huge amount of variety and history into its 221 square miles. As a former TT racer, I’ve always enjoyed my dozen-plus trips across the Irish Sea to Mona’s Isle. When not actually out riding the course, I made it a point to explore other parts of the Island.

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Well done Alan ---- I might go !"!!!!!!