Category Archives: Race Reports ’15

Wind Guru said gusting over 30 kts. It wasn’t kidding.

No Race.

The forecast said gusting over 30 kts. It certainly did not blow as strongly as that although it showed no resolve regarding direction or strength.

On the Water Race Officer Roger Kinns sent us on one of the longer courses, beginning with a beat to B, off Silvers. Catriona started well but Teal played the changeable wind to better effect and was comfortably first at B. She was slicker with the spinnaker and pulled away.

The next mark, F, was located much further south than normal, which caught out Catriona. She went in vain to look off Shandon Church, its usual position, which did for her. Teal, meanwhile, was caught out by a freak gust (few gusts were of predictable character) and gybed into the mark. Her penalty turn did her no damage. Hermes went home after the first round, before the (heavy) rain started.

1 Teal, 2 Thalia, Hermes DNF. Catriona RET.

A wet and windy day so that those lacking enthusiasm decided not to sail. It turned put to be a good evening. Dry with a good wind. Little sunshine, but you cannot have everything. There were three of us at the start.

Race Officer Neill Ross sent us on a good course up and down the loch. A true beat and a downwind leg requiring a gybe. Teal made the best start at the theoretically unfavored pin end. The wind was better there. Catriona battled against unfavourable shifts of wind and made no impression on Teal before the windward mark.

We were rusty on Sunday and showed no improvement. Catriona’s spinnaker hoist was slow. Teal’s drop convoluted. Teal kept her first place but lost a lot of ground with an error over the course. On the second downwind leg, Teal lost her spinnaker halyard and with it, the lead. Despite Catriona’s best efforts, she remained second. Thia was on the pace, but made no attempt to hoist a spinnaker, which consigned her to third.

All this bodes badly for the team racing at the end of the month.

1 Catriona, 2 Teal, 3 Thia.

The weather on Sunday morning was especially discouraging. Rain and gusts exceeding 30kts. Most were put off but the forecast by WindGuru was for things to calm between noon and 3. Zephyrus, Catriona and Ufo and Miriam Sutter arrived at the car park.

Miriam took the helm of Catriona and indulged in some match racing tactics before the start of a run across the loch to Clynder. Zephyrus got the best of it but Catriona had an overlap to leeward, stayed with the green boat, and delayed her gybe onto Port to head for the mark. Eventually, Zephyrus took Catriona’s counter and that was that.

The crew of Catriona was extremely rusty after the winter lay off. It was suggested we finish after one round and have some practice. Zephyrus, felt the same. We tried some team racing moves. Trapping the opposition to windward, trapping them to leeward and preventing a gybe. It is clear that, against half decent opposition, we should be way off the pace.

1 Catriona, 2 Zephyrus.

The first race of the season and naturally, excitement and anticipation. Six Garelochs are on the moorings, four went to the start. The weather forecast had been poor so that the Sonars, with many youngsters as crew, stayed at home. As it was, wind was no more than brisk although it was cold.

The evening began badly. Shortly before the start, Catriona was recovering from a tangle of her mainsheet, lost concentration and incompetently ran into Zoe. There was no severe damage although both boats suffered broken rigging and retired. That left Thalia and Thia racing. They had been sent on a longish course, back and forth across the loch. During the second leg across to the Clynder shore, wind died away and left the fleet with no momentum. On this first evening, the light had begun to fade so that the two made for home. A Broadley finish at the G mark. Named after former Rear Commodore Sailing Ian Broadley, if no boat completes the course, the result may be determined by the positions at an intermediate mark.

1 Thalia, 2 Thia. Catriona, Zoe RET.