Mid-Summer but that required some imagination in view of low
temperatures and strong winds. The West Coast of Scotland has endured its coldest June since 1972.
In a stiff NW breeze, Race Officer Peter Proctor set course L8 which
gave a testing beat from the start line to D mark. The wind direction and strength varied as only it can in the Gareloch. Teal (Iain MacGillivray) and Catriona helmed by visiting airline pilot Thad Burr chose rightly to head for the Rosneath shore and quickly built up a big lead. However, Hermes (Carol Rowe) did reasonably well persisting with the Shandon shore but Halcyone sailed single-handedly by Shane Rankin,
Ceres (Neil Isaacs) and Thalia (Peter Proctor) got the worst of both
worlds by repeatedly tacking in mid-loch. And the rule that those who round the windward mark first get the best down-wind applied as the fleet of six was divided in half – Teal, Catriona and Hermes with spinnakers set leaving Halcyone , Ceres and Thalia, almost becalmed for a few minutes, well behind.
The second lap again again proved that winning skill (luck?) is as much about choosing the best route between marks as it is about upwind sail-setting and responding to every lift. This time, the Shandon shore let Hermes down as she slipped to last place whilst Thalia found strong winds towards the west side of the Gareloch and moved from sixth to fourth place. Teal and Catriona continued to press each other at the front of the fleet. Positions remained unchanged on the final down-wind leg except that Thalia and Ceres passed Halcyone who was not flying a spinnaker.
Result: 1 Teal 2 Catriona 3 Thalia 4 Ceres 5 Halcyone 6 Hermes
Athene (John Blackie) made a welcome ‘guest appearance’ as the fleet
returned to their moorings.
Galatea is scheduled to launch on 30 June bringing the number of
Garelochs afloat for the season to eleven.
President: