Wind was from the south east so that it was not possible to start with a leg to windward. We began with a fine reach to A, off the club.
From force of habit, many approached the line on port tack. Teal and Catriona approached the pin from the loch, on starboard tack, intending to tack at the line. As on Sunday, Teal got an overlap to leeward and pushed Catriona out of the way. She was a little early, though, so that Catriona was able to tuck in behind and tack at the right moment.
The reach to A offered little opportunity to change places. Athene was strong in third.
The second leg downwind to Clynder. Catriona stretched her lead. The last leg of the round appeared to be a fetch as boats rounded C but turned out to be a challenging beat to windward. Wind variable in strength and direction required concentration. Teal closed the gap. Athene and Ceres began to pull away from the pack.
The second round was similar, Teal looking dangerous at the start of the third round.
On the downwind leg, Teal and Catriona indulged in some tactical gybing but the order did not change. Keen spinnaker handling by crew Rona Prentice on Thia kept her in the hunt.
On previous rounds the middle of the loch was favoured. By this time, the tide had changed and removed the advantage. This was of no account to the two leaders, who indulged in a tacking duel. They were too far ahead to be caught. Athene allowed Ceres and Thia to break away to the Shandon shore. Having been third for all of the race, this lapse cost her.
1 Catriona, 2 Teal, 3 Ceres, 4 Thia, 5 Athene, 6 Thalia, 7 Hermes.
President: