It was a dreich day. What you expect on a bank holiday weekend. Good wind for racing, though. Seven Garelochs are now on the moorings. It was a surprise, then, that only three turned out to race. Those owners with an interest in gardening which borders on obsessive had no excuse.
Iris and Catriona agreed to let their crews take the helm. John Mucklow on Iris, Barrie Choules on Catriona. The first leg a beat to B, off Silvers. The starting line was unavoidably biased to the pin end. Barrie was a little early on the approach and bore away to let Iris take pole position. Sailing down the Shandon shore, there was the usual thing of Iris pointing high, Catriona dropping down and going faster. Catriona tacked out to avoid tangling with moored boats. On port tack she crossed close behind the starboard tack Iris. Catriona carried on towards the Clynder shore until wind became lighter. When the two crossed tacks again, it was Iris who shaved Catriona’s counter. Iris seemed to suffer more in at the Clynder shore so that Catriona was under no pressure as she hoisted her spinnaker for the long run to F at Shandon Church.
Teal was close to Iris on the run and was only a little behind at F. Thereafter, the gaps increased. There was time for a second round, but Iris had given up on the lead by that time.
1 Catriona, 2 Iris, 3 Teal.
