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.
--
99 Ducati 748BP, 95 Ducati 600SS, 81 Guzzi Monza, 74 MV Agusta 350
"Ride to Work, Work to Ride" SI# 7.067 DoD#1930 PGP Key 0xBDED56C5