Alan Frame wrote:
Dennis Pogson wrote:

Currently The IOMSPC operates the modern Ben My Cree and a faster
SuperSeaCat2 which take 3.5hrs and 2hrs respectively for the 70-mile
crossing to/from Liverpool.

The attraction? Currently the Manx Grand Prix motor-cycle races and
The IOM TT races are far and away the finest motor-cycle races in
the world, attracting huge entries from enthusiasts desperate to try
their luck on the torturous mountain circuit.

I've spanner'd at the MGP and ridden on open roads, but never sailed
there, however:

"If Frederico Fellini ever gets a little farther out and wants to
film a truly bizarre spectacle taken from real life, he should bring
his camera crew and sound men into the cargo bay of the Isle of Man
ferry on a night when approximately 500 motorcycles are being cranked
over or kick started all at once, packed together in a steel room
about the size of a small gymnasium and lighted by a dim row of 40
watt light bulbs. The microphones would pick up an ear splitting
confusion of shrieking RDs, high-revving unmuffled Fours, and the
general chest-pounding thunder of Ducati 900s, Norton 850s and 750s,
Harleys, Triumphs, BSAs, BMWs and piston slapping British 500
singles, all of it bouncing off the walls in an incredible rising and
falling wail. The camera crews would get footage of several hundred
leather-clad people flipping down face shields and punching starter
buttons, with others in the mob of bikes heaving up and down on
kickstarters like erratic pistons in some kind of insane smoke
machine, headlights flaring on to make a blanket of brilliance and
flashing chrome at the bottom layer of the smoke cloud. They could
catch the bikes launching themselves row by row up the ramp into the
dark night, people spinning their tires on the oil slick steel ramp
or catching traction in half-controlled wheelies. What no film could
capture is the mixed smell of Castrol R, several dozen brands of
two-stroke oil and all the other choking thick exhaust fumes, or the
instant, furnace-like heat given off by hundreds of motorcycles
lighting their engines in a confined space. Also, they'd have to film
it through the distorted star-burst pattern of a really scratched
yellow face shield, just to get the last effect of profound
unreality... Our turn came and we slithered up the ramp with a wave
of other bikes. We landed on the docks and the white gloves of a row
of nearly invisible policemen directed us onto Manx main street. We
were on the Isle of Man."

Peter Egan [Cycle World Oct'82 v21,n10,p38]
http://www.deathstar.org/~flash/isleofm.html

I'd rather sail than race there, but like the OSTAR or Jester
Challenge, I'm not worthy enough to comment on those that choose to
take part...

(Side note: I once sailed on the Ionian with a bike-racer-friend - I
put him on the helm and tweaked the sails for speed - he watched the
log and counted up from 4.9 to 6, to 7.4 knots. When the rail dipped;
he exclaimed "Whoo! We're in the groove now!" - I pointed out that in
a fortnight's time he'd be peaking at 170 mph at the MGP[0], and he
replied "Yeah, but this is *fast*!" ;-)

rgds, Alan
[0] this year he got a race average of 106.91mph.

Wonderful description Alan, only someone who has experienced the spectacle
could adequately describe it like that!

My parents had a Brough Superior combination in the thirties and were
regulars at the TT Races.

Dennis.