Report from the Secretary (on Catriona)
A balmy afternoon, sun cream required. Seven of us raced. Thalia was there too but treated it as a practice sail and did not compete.
On the water Race Officer John Campbell set a course beginning to windward towards the north of the Clynder shore and then back and forth across the loch. The shore end of the starting line was favoured. No one was in the optimum place at the gun, Circe and Catriona better than the rest.
As we set off across the loch, Circe felt the need to tack away towards the Shandon shore so as to clear her air. She benefitted as wind veered further up the loch and was lifted towards the mark whilst the rest suffered the corresponding header on the opposite tack. She was soon too far ahead to read her sail numbers. Arke did the converse. Luna, with Chris Ings sailing alone was on the pace and well placed at the windward mark. Catriona was comfortably ahead of Dione until an entanglement with the spinnaker. In the struggling, a clip on the guy attached to the forestay, trapped by a hank of the jib and too far up to reach. She hardened up at the beginning of the second round just behind Dione (Circe still out of sight), tacked away for clear air and moved backwards.
At the finish, Dione was getting closer to Circe. Arke had found the right way to go and made up places. The wind was not kind to Luna.
1 Circe, 2 Dione, 3 Catriona, 4 Arke, 5 Hermes, 6 Luna, 7 Halcyone. Thalia DNS
