On the water Race Officer Iain MacGillivray selected a course beginning with a leg to windward across the loch to D, north of Clynder. Wind was light and changeable. Catriona and Teal covered each other and changed places as wind favoured one then the other. Meanwhile, Halcyone and Hermes headed straight across the loch, found wind on the west shore and rounded well in front. Thalia, Teal and Catriona approached the mark together in next to no wind. For a while it seemed Thalia had a decisive inside overlap but Catriona found a breath which took her clear. Teal cut inside Thalia to make a better rounding. Offwind, across the loch she overtook Catriona by dint of superior spinnaker handling.
The leg down the Shandon shore to the finish was curious. Teal and Catriona gybed their spinnakers at the mark but ahead, Halcyone and Hermes were close hauled on opposite tacks. Further down the leg, Teal and Catriona dropped their spinnakers and tacked with little change in direction. There was more tacking of a similar nature. As the pair were wondering how close to the shore they could go, it became apparent that Halcyone, closer in, was not moving. She prodded herself clear using the spinnaker pole but soon found the land again and paddled away from her first place to retire.
Catriona, meanwhile, found herself to windward of Teal after one of those curious tacks and failed to keep clear. Teal went on to win with Catriona taking penalty turns in next to no wind. Hermes (who had not set a spinnaker) and Thalia were battling each other but failed to capitalise on the penalty turns. In the end Hermes came out the better of that pair but Thia had found some pressure. She just managed to touch the finishing line before losing momentum. Hermes passed with comparative speed but just too late.
Athene was looking strong near the shore but losing way in light air and was obliged to paddle so as to avoid doing what Halcyone had done. Galatea was in the hunt for a while but failed to catch Thalia.
1 Teal, 2 Catriona, 3 Thia, 4 Hermes, 5 Thalia, 6 Galatea. Halcyone and Athene RTD.
President: