Another busy week of racing saw boats out on Sunday for the Strone & Tresta and Crews’ Races. The Wednesday racing series continues. Crews' Race
Only two Pipers contested this year’s Crews Race for the Parker Trophy where positions are reversed and the crew takes charge and the usual skipper discovers the intricacies of crewing! Graeme Murray became the boss of Billie for the morning and made the job look like he had been doing it all his life, despite the close company Ellie Judd was giving him at the helm of Stay Puff and in the fluky light conditions the race was always in doubt, with Graeme eventually taking the winning gun. Congratulations too, for his crew, owner Iain Hurrel who had to do all the hard work in the front of the boat in the absence of a third man. In the White sails class, Moonlight, helmed by Derek Webber sailed the course uncontested.
Strone & Tresta Race
Traditionally, the Strone & Tresta race involves a course to Strone Buoy, hence the name of the trophy, but due to the light and variable breeze, race officer, Bill Aitchison sensibly opted for a shorter course within the Loch. Reverting to their normal line-up after the morning crews’ race, Iain Hurrel was no doubt relieved to take the more leisurely stance at the helm of Billie while Graeme Murray kept the sails set perfectly to help the short-handed team record their second win of the day and complete a successful weekend’s racing ahead of Robert Towart’s Stay Puff. For the Flying Fifteen fleet, Nae FFear and Efficacious raced with Iain Sinclair winning Solo on the day. In the mass start the two White sails boats were separated. Moonlight started to the port end, and Judicious to the starboard end, but soon after crossing the line, the wind played tricks and the best laid plans counted for nothing as the fleet worked out where the wind was going to come from next. Somehow the Whitesail boats arrived at the first mark at the front of the fleet and headed for Kilmun on what was now an easterly reach. In the still variable conditions Moonlight arrived at the next mark first and led the way to Lazaretto, arriving with Judicious having overtaken. It stayed that way to the finish, but with Moonlight always in touch, and winning on handicap. Series 2 Race 3
After the exciting weekend special events, the “domestic” scene on Wednesday attracted a full turnout of six Pipers. Conditions were calm, but Alan Waugh and Ruth Lee aboard Tass found a breath of air in their solitary position at the “wrong” end of the starting line and led handsomely at the first mark. Indeed, with the course shortened dramatically to one round and the wind beginning to fill in,Tass looked certain for victory. However, Neil Wilson didn’t win National and International honours for nothing in his long sailing career and began to make slow inroads on the enormous deficit. Along with his wife, Catriona and foredeck hand Tom Paton aboard Sanderling, Neil benefitted from the increased breeze and a slight wind shift later in the race to snatch pole position approaching the final turning mark and gain valuable winners’ points from Tass and Tom Piper. It was an interesting evening for the Flying Fifteen fleet. With the Woffle’s crew manning the security boat and Nae FFear not making the start line due to a hardware malfunction, Efficacious (Tommy and Susan McGeachie) were left to race against the other fleets in very light winds at the start. Efficacious sailed well to take the win in their class and managed to come in third overall with only the fast dinghies crossing the finish line before them.
The dinghies had one boat in the first race, two in the second and three in the third. Killer B, Home Brew and the Great Gonzo launched into the slightest of breezes. They sailed or drifted to mark A, with Gonzo hoisting it's spinnaker just before rounding the mark for the slow trip towards mark B. Halfway down the leg what wind there was shifted and the fleet found themselves beating towards the mark before the wind swung again just before the lead boats reached it. Home Brew and Gonzo had a conversation which meant the Albacore was far too close for Team Gonzo’s liking. The leaders made their way up towards mark G with Gonzo unable to shake off Home Brewing to any great extent. Rounding the mark it was spinnaker time for a shifty slow run back down to the finishing line as the race was shortened to 1 lap. Gonzo took line honours, but Home Brew took the win on handicap with Killer B coming home in third.
With the wind fading after the start, then coming from behind, the whole fleet bunched at the first mark, with the whitesail boats in amongst the earlier starting classes. Judicious led the way out of the bunch across to Kilmun with Moonlight not far behind. Heading across to Lazaretto Judicious went left and Moonlight to the right, with the wind now coming from the southeast, but light and shifty at times. Moonlight did well in these conditions and stayed not far behind Judicious to the last mark. While the gap widened on the last leg to the finish, and the dying breeze threatening to leave Moonlight struggling, there was just enough puff for Moonlight to trail Judicious by only 4 minutes, giving them the win by 1 min 21s on corrected time.
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