A light breeze tested the five strong Piper Class from the start, where Alan Waugh and Ruth Lee in Tass benefited from a perfect start to lead at the first mark ahead of Sanderling. With the wind diminishing still further, the shortened course signal injected some urgency in the tail enders to catch up before the finish and in his desperation to make up places Iain Hurrel became over- enthusiastic at the helm of Billie at the final mark and fouled Sanderling, necessitating a penalty turn to exonerate himself. At the same time, Neil and Catriona Wilson and Tom Paton in Sanderling were taking advantage of a slip up by Tass and grasped an unexpected lead. With only a short leg remaining to the finishing line, Sanderling’s victory was thus assured ahead of Tass and Tom Piper.
For the White Sails class, noting the difficulties the previous classes had in crossing the line on starboard tack in the light winds, Moonlight loitered at the port end of the line and managed to start on port tack, just ahead of the starboard tack Judicious, who were headed just before the start signal. It was a balance of risks whether to head out into the middle of the loch to get better wind or to stay on port and go a more direct line for shorter distance to the Lazaretto mark. Moonlight chose the latter and would have arrived at the same time as Judicious but for having to give way to the starboard tack Piper Leander, and so rounded behind Judicious by about 15 seconds. The northeasterly breeze gave a broad reach down to the marina entrance mark, and Judicious initially crept ahead, until running out of wind on approaching the mark, allowing Moonlight to make gains from behind. On rounding the lee mark the breeze steadied and held for both boats on the beat to the finish line with less than 2 minutes separating them. For the shortened race, of under 40 minutes, this was not enough for Judicious, and Moonlight gained the win on handicap. Had there been another lap it might have been a different story, as the wind subsequently died away, as forecast.
For the dinghies, it was definitely more of a cruise too than an adrenaline filled race for last night's sailing adventure. Jamie, Gonzo’s normal helm, was still away, so Jenny reprised her role as crew for Team Gonzo. Peter in the Albacore, Home Brewing, was again without a crew but came out for a solo sail. Upon launching the dinghies drifted away from the slipway and any race was in doubt, but the race officer had spotted some wind filling in from the Clyde. He set a short course along the southern shore. Gonzo made an okay start and picked their way up wind trying to keep moving and making the most of any lifts, with the Albacore following. Rounding the top mark, Gonzo hoisted the spinnaker and focused on sailing as deep as they could whilst still filling the spinnaker. Home Brewing, pointed straight down wind. A slow run downwind later the dinghies round the bottom mark to hear the shortened course signal. The race officer had noticed the wind disappearing again and was keen to try and get everyone across the line before it turned into a drift. Gonzo got far enough ahead of the other dinghies to claim the win on handicap as well as line honours.
Thanks to Neil for the photos
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