The sailors were met on Wednesday night with the wind coming from the South and a wind which could not make its mind up which way to blow. It was flipping this way and that way, and changing strength too. This made for interesting sailing!
Piper Fleet- If there was a trophy for the most place changing during one race, then someone in the Piper Class would surely have won. This made for a very interesting race for the spectators …..and a very frustrating one for the competitors, as the wind, often quite squally and changing direction all evening, tormented the sailors and kept them on their toes throughout.
Ultimately, less than twenty seconds separated the first four boats at the finish of the race which was deservedly won by Stuart Brown and Ali Gordon who were sailing short-handed in the absence of their regular helmsman, Fergus Campbell. Another two-handed crew worthy of a mention were Alan Waugh and Ruth Lee who enjoyed several periods at the front and who were only very narrowly beaten.
At the recent Piper World Championships, which were sailed at Gourock, Roddy and Bronwen Angus from the Holy Loch acquitted themselves well on only their second outing in their new boat with a very creditable third place overall behind winner, and defending champion from the host club, Dougie Campbell’s Tamarind.
Whitesail- There was wind with 2 minutes to the Whitesail start, and the 3 usual suspects were planning their approach to the line. What happened next set the tone of the race, with the wind dying making a mockery of any starting tactics. The Sonata Moonlight had this covered by loitering in the middle of the line in the run up to the start signal, and was only a few seconds late at the start setting off on a reach to the first mark off the marina entrance.
The J30 Judicious and SIgma33 Panache were stranded well wide of the starboard end of the line, and were well behind at the first mark. The leg towards Kilmun proved to be a reach too, and a steadier breeze enabling Judicious to catch Moonlight and round the mark just ahead, with Panache falling behind. Rather than follow in Judicious's wake and dirty air, Moonlight opted to tack right to get clear air. What was expected to be a beat up to Lazaretto was anything but with the wind coming and going in both strength and direction, with sudden gusts and swings causing confusion and frustration in equal measure. Judicious tacked to the right, and spent time being headed in the wrong direction, but when they did tack, were going to the mark. Moonlight tried going up the middle of the course, tacking to try and take advantage of shifts, but the holes between gusts left them well behind at Lazaretto. Panache fell well back too. During the next lap Judicious found herself amongst the Pipers and had a coming together with Billie in the bunching up at the Kilmun mark. Nevertheless she kept her big lead to Lazaretto while Moonlight struggled the still fickle gusts to make up ground. As Jim Hoey's Judicious sailed the final leg to the finish, the wind of fortune changed yet again, and faded on her approach to the line.
Meanwhile, sailing in a different wind, Nigel Scriven's Moonlight at last gained ground sufficiently to a surprise win by half a minute on corrected time, and showing how close the racing was despite the variable wind.
Dinghies- into the second half of the final Wednesday night series and the school holidays are over. The crew of the B14, Killer Bee, returned but sailing Lasers individually. They and the RS400, The Great Gonzo, were on the water ready for the start at 7.10pm. The wind was from the south, from the hills above Sandbank meant it was a good deal less than what was out on the Clyde, but very gusty with some big swings in direction.
The start was downwind towards the entrance of the marina, then across to Kilmun and then upwind to Lazaretto point before returning back across the start/finish line outside the club house. The wind shifts cause Gonzo a good deal of frustration with the spinnaker being blown backwards at points and the boat being tackled without changing direction many times going up wind. After 2 laps we were glad to hear the shortened course signal.
The 2 Lasers being slower boats soon were a good distance behind Gonzo but looked to be having a good battle for positions amongst themselves.
Flying Fifteens – Three FF15’s joined the race, with the return of More Mischieff after a three-month absence. All three started close to one another but the fleet then separated as they tried to work out where the wind would come from next. More Mischieff took an early lead at the first mark, watching closely what was happening to The Great Gonzo who was just in front. It was a frustrating evening that kept you on your toes, having to adjust the sails constantly and at times just waiting for the wind to fiil in or ready to leap and keep the boat flat in the gusts. Nae Ffear followed More Mischieff and Efficacious took the third spot.
Results-
White Sail 1st Sonata Moonlight , 2nd J30 Judicious, 3rd SIgma33 Panache
Pipers 1st Tom Piper, 2nd Billie Piper, 3rd Stay Puff, 4th Tas 3, 5th Leander,
Dinghies 1st The Great Gonzo RS400, 2nd 218570 ILCA, 3rd 136439 ILCA
Flying Fifteens 1st More Mischieff, 2nd Nae Ffear, 3rd, Efficacious
Commentaires