Sunday 4th June

Nine of the ten Garelochs which are afloat turned out for a race in sunshine and good wind.

On the water Race Officer Peter Proctor chose a course beginning with a windward leg to B, off Silvers.  He selected a different starting line to avoid shallow water which had the unintended consequence of being heavily biassed.  Teal and Catriona were both a little early for the favoured end but managed to adjust their starts without much damage.  There began a tacking duel which Teal was winning until she set off across the loch, failing to cover.  She found air so much less good that she dropped more than one place.  Halcyone made hay here and unobtrusively kept her place near the front.

Thalia, with ambitions, was approaching the windward mark on port tack and paid insufficient attention to Ceres, who had right of way on starboard tack.  It was close.

Downwind from Silvers to the Shandon shore Thalia responded to a passing move by Teal which did not delay the two as much as it might have.  They both sailed high but in a streak of wind.  Teal had the favourable inside overlap at the leeward mark and set off in hot pursuit of Catriona on the next windward leg to C off Clynder.

Back to the starting area, it was just a little fine for spinnakers and the gaps closed.  There was time for a second round beginning with another windward leg to B.  Fluky Gareloch wind did for Catriona, from being comfortably in front she was prevented from tacking by Teal, just to windward.  She did, however, manage to climb and force Teal to tack away.  In the tacking duel which was developing, Teal tacked into the wake of a tug, which stopped her.  She next found herself disadvantaged by a sudden shift of wind and she failed to keep clear of a right of way Zephyrus.  The penalty turns were extremely damaging.

After B, there followed two offwind legs where spinnakers could be carried by the enthusiastic.  The others watched the occasionally extreme angles of heel with amusement.

1 Catriona, 2 Halcyone, 3 Thalia, 4 Teal, 5 Zephyrus, 6 Hermes, 7 Ceres, 8 Thia, 9 Athene.