Our Convener had been looking at a Met Office forecast which showed isobars widely spaced so that he feared a lack of wind. As it was, there was more than enough to keep us amused. Any more and we might not have raced. Halcyone’s helm was returning from holiday and noted, as we were beating across the loch from Rahane, ‘from the road you could see spray flying off their quarters’. The Convener’s boat Athene is still undergoing shakedown. The strong wind did not help so that she decided to stay on her mooring. Six of us went to the starting area.
On the water Race Officer Peter Proctor selected a long course, beginning downwind to D, north of Clynder and then back and forth across the loch. Our start was delayed so as to allow a submarine to make its way out of the loch. Thalia and Catriona were on the starting line at the correct time although perhaps not as close to the pin end as they should have been. Teal misread the first leg and set off across the loch on port tack, thinking a gybe would be needed to reach the mark and she would approach on favoured starboard tack with the fleet having had to gybe on to port. By the time she realised the mark could be made by remaining on starboard, she was behind.
At the mark, Catriona had edged into the lead with Thalia and Zephyrus fighting over the overlap for mark room. These two were swapping places until a ferule splicing wire rigging on Zephyrus slipped and she was forced to retire. Thia thought better of it after the first mark. Hermes had had enough at the end of the first round, Teal showed her speed to move firmly into second.
It is good that it was a warm day, because we all got wet with spray. Some of it incompletely atomised.
1 Catriona, 2 Teal, 3 Thalia. Zephyrus, Hermes and Thia DNF.
President: