John splendid

I have a single bike trailer that I'm happy to lend but I'm in New Mills in Derbyshire so I appreciate that might be prohibitively far for you.

I didn't know what a Sinnis was but a quick check on Google suggests there are pdf copies of various Sinnis manuals available free, if you haven't already tried that. They look tidy enough from the pictures and the reviews seem ok, based on a quick glance. After all, if, as you say, you were given it, you really can't go wrong.

At the risk of sounding like an apologist for the Steam Packet Company, which is generally overpriced and often slow and unreliable, they are generally pretty good at securing the bikes safely and efficiently. As someone mentioned, they have had over 100 years' practice so far. I wonder if the anchorage points on the new boat are less effective perhaps. I agree that the lack of promotion or publicity given to the Manx GP centenary has been appalling. The Manx government always claims it is a lesser event that people are not interested in seeing but if it is not publicised then it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. Several years ago (about eight, I think) the government tried to reduce the event to something akin to a sequence of classic bike parades over a long weekend with hardly any real racing. They claimed it cost them a huge subsidy plus the disruption of road closures etc, which were not justified by the small number of visitors. They claimed visitors stayed away not due to nil publicity but because there were no big names "only" amateurs competing. One of the officials in the Manx Motor Cycle Club (who happened to be an accountant) calculated that the government subsidy might actually be around £250,000 - peanuts in terms of government finances and surely recoverable with a bit of basic marketing and promotion. Happily, that proposal from eight years ago was defeated but recent changes to the event do make me wonder if the government is now playing the'long game' and making changes more by stealth. They seem unable to understand that part of the attraction is the very fact that many participants in the Manx are amateurs, yet the top people still lap only 10 or so mph slower than the top TT racers. One year, only a short time after this debacle, I remember during the TT, Manx radio TT (broadcast live at the grandstand) carried many adverts promoting the Irish road races but not a single one promoting the MGP, which comes only around eight weeks later. When this omission was queried, the explanation offered was that their marketing people forgot (or should that be "forgot"?). To me that suggests incompetence at best and deviousness at worst. I'm a great fan of the MGP, as you may deduce!

Sorry, I can't offer to collect/deliver as my current car doesn't have a tow bar.

No worries. The offer I there but obviously something your end would be far better - save doubling your journey!

I live in the Stockport area and I have a motorcycle trailer that I would be willing to lend, if that helps.

Hello. I've recently moved to the Stockport area (Derbyshire side of the town) to start a new job so I thought the forum might be a way to establish some new contacts who might be interested in an occasional ride out - if the rain EVER stops. Are there many members in this area?

A bit of a belated response but I only recently joined the forum. I lived and worked in the iom for 13 years so I thought I'd offer a couple of additional suggestions to supplement the good ones made so far. I really like watching from the farmer's field sitting on the hedge at Gorse Lea. It's a really fast bend a few miles before Ballacraine and the hedge is on the apex of the curve so the bikes are really close. Another possibility is Barregaroo. There's a farmer's field where people watch and they also do good cakes and tea. The Gooseneck is also a good spot, accessible via a back lane when roads are closed. It's worth buying a decent road map of the island because there are handy back lanes that give access to various places even on closed roads. If you ride off road, there are various tracks that also take you to different parts of the course. For example, there is a rough track leading from Glen Roy, above Laxey, to Windy Corner. It's not a difficult track - even I've done it and I'm a rubbish off road rider. If you want to avoid riding at some point, Governor's Bridge and Quarterbridge are both decent spots in Douglas, though sadly the Quarterbridge pub is still currently closed. Alternatively, you could take the electric tram up Snaefel from Laxey to the Bungalow. The tram obviously stops without crossing the Course but there is a footbridge to cross over. I hope those might be useful suggestions. This year's Manx Grand Prix is the centenary event so there will probably be a few extras laid on. The organisers - the Manx Motor Cycle Club - do an excellent job despite the woeful lack of promotion of the event by the Manx government.