Keen to impress in the prevailing fresher conditions, the Pipers instead made a meal of their start, only Robert Towart’s Staypuff getting her timing right to take an early lead while two others were “jumping the gun” and having to return for a second go. A pattern soon developed with Neil Wilson’s Sanderling redeeming herself to take over on the second leg before Tom Piper, with guest helmsman Iain Hurrel in charge, took over the reins at the second mark at Strone, thereafter extending her lead in the second round and, ably assisted by Ali Gordon and Stuart Brown, had a comfortable win. With only one race remaining in this first series, Tom Piper now holds an insuperable lead. Sanderling and Staypuff are still in close contention for the runners up position.
In the white sails class the Sonata Moonlight had the best start, crossing the line on port ahead of the other two boats, but at the first mark the faster J30 Judicious rounded just ahead of Moonlight, followed by the Sigma 33 Panache. This order remained for the next round, but the Sonata kept close enough to Judicious to win on handicap at the finish.
The two Flying Fifteens Nae Ffear (Iain Sinclair and Kirsty Brown) and Efficacious (Tommy and Susan McGeachie) both had a good start heading to the first mark at a fast pace where Nae Ffear took the lead. Wind conditions dropped just enough to give perfect sailing conditions for this fast fleet. Nae Ffear’s lead lengthened significantly when Efficacious headed incorrectly to mark C. Unfortunately, even with some spinnaker flying Efficacious were unable to recover their previous close positioning resulting in a win for Nae Ffear on a night where an excellent course, good wind, sunshine and some playful porpoises made for an evening of champagne sailing.
The wind was a bit more of a tease for the dinghies. Seeing white horses on the loch, the fleet excitingly rigged, but by the time racing started the wind had dropped and sadly it wasn't as good as first promised. The Albacore was still pumped up enough for an early trip across the start line leading to an attempt 2 after the gun. The fleet headed up to mark A before Team Gonzo, complete again with the return of Jamie to the back of the boat, hoisted their spinnaker and made their way down to mark D in low wind mode, whilst thinking about what could have been if the wind had stayed. This was followed by the long beat back up wind, back around mark A and then down through the line to repeat for the second lap. At the end of the race Team Gonzo had pulled away enough from the Albacore to take the win on corrected time. All are hoping for the sun and a strong breeze for the final race of series 1 next week.
Dinghies: 1st Great Gonzo, 2nd Home Brew
Flying Fifteens: 1st Nae Ffear, 2nd Efficacious
Pipers: 1st Tom Piper, 2nd Sanderling, 3rd Stay Puff, 4th Leander
White Sails: 1st Moonlight, 2nd Judicious
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