(Report from the Secretary on Arke)
Arke volunteered to be race officer given others seemed to have new crew or be sailing solo. A good wind from the WNW allowed a classic course to the D mark followed by running reaches to G and then back to the start. Catriona was aggressively early and Arke chased her in. Arke slowed enough to be able to start well at the shore end but Catriona had to cross the line early. Dione looked to be well over oddly early and seemed to need to be told in order to realise it. It later became clear she was looking at the wrong buoy which explained the uncharacteristic error!
Arke thought she was well in control heading across the loch to get out of any remaining tide. Meanwhile – perhaps forced by being OCS – both Catriona and Dione tacked up the Shandon shore. Was it just being forced? Or did they correctly realise there might be even better tide and/or wind on that shore? Or perhaps it was just faster sailing? Probably some combination of all of the above! Because when Catriona crossed she was 10 boat-lengths ahead of Arke!
At the D mark there were more lessons to be learnt, Gareloch style! Arke thought she had laid the mark – especially since Thalia was pointing up higher beneath her. As they headed in however they were both headed and the wind conspired to somewhat disappear. Catriona was more cautious and made it. Meanwhile Thalia and Arke both watched as Dione now waltzed in on some excellent wind, followed by Ceres. Going backwards: Catriona leading from D, followed by Dione, Thalia, Ceres then Arke.
Across to G, Catriona had established a solid lead and Dione pretty well clear of the chasing pack too. Arke headed a bit higher and at least managed to roll over both Ceres and then Thalia to retake third. From Y back up to D now – on a simple ‘sausage’ course (so called because of the shape of the simple loop) – Catriona and Dione made no mistakes in a now much stronger, if still very streaky, wind.
Further back, others had also been caught in the earlier patchy doldrums at D. Hermes had tacked on to port to round the mark and had promptly parked. There was nothing she could do to avoid Iris coming in on starboard. Iris – rightly – protested. Hermes gracefully retired later after a polite post-race discussion in the car park. Everyone recognised it was entirely unintentional and there was nothing Hermes could have done… Worse things happen at sea.
1 Catriona, 2 Dione, 3 Arke, 4 Athene, 5 Thalia, 6 Ceres, 7 Iris, 8 Zephyrus. RET Hermes.
