The usual Sunday afternoon race had been switched to Saturday to accommodate the Dog Race on Sunday. Only three Garelochs came to race.
On the water Race Officer Iain MacGillivray chose a course down then up the Shandon shore. With wind forecast to reduce, he wisely avoided a course taking us across the loch and across the tide.
Catriona got the best start down the windward leg to A, off the club. She chose to tack out into the loch to clear a moored boat near the line. The others bore away and stayed inshore. Out was better.
Zephyrus and Teal were on terms after the mark, at the beginning of the run to G at Shandon. Teal used her spinnaker to draw ahead.
At A on the second round, Teal had narrowed the gap and drew alongside Catriona under spinnaker. Catriona fell into the wind shadow and thus behind. In one of those curiosities of air currents in the Gareloch, a puff from behind took her back through the wind shadow and ahead.
Back at the starting line, the leader was just in time to trigger a third round. It might have been better if she hadn’t because wind was reducing as forecast. Zephyrus saw little point battling the adverse tide in very light air.
1 Catriona, 2 Teal, Zephyrus DNF
President: