Tuesday, 07 July 2009 -
Mr Ewan Mackay
The Clyde Sonar Championships where once
again scheduled to be run as part of the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club
Annual Regatta. With 3 races scheduled for Saturday forming the Club Regatta
and 3 races scheduled for Sunday, with all 6 races counting for the Scottish
championships.
A good number of entered of local boats and
1 visitor from down South, everything was set for a good weekends racing.
Saturday dawned to a beautiful sunny day,
with nae wind. Great if you want to play golf, not so great if you want to go
sailing. However go sailing we did. Out on the race course it was a race
officers night mare, with little or no wind filling in and dying , shifting
through 180 degrees, you get the picture. However after a bit of a wait the
wind did fill in enough to start a race. Most boats managed to get to the
windward mark before the first big shift, which allowed some of the boats at
the back of the fleet to sneak past into the lead. The race then turned into a
light wind drift to the bottom mark, with wind once again changing direction
changing the race to a running finish, with Haggis taking 1st.
After another wait the wind once again
filled in enough to get a second race underway. A shift to the left on the
first beat spread out the fleet giving the boats on the left a good lead they
could hang on to the end of the race with Grouse taking 1st.
Another wait and the wind allowed us to get
a 3rd and final race for the day. Once again it was fickle and
shifty, however Grouse was being sailed very well and they were able to take
another win. This was enough to ensure that Grouse was the overall winner of
the RNCYC regatta.
The forecast for Sunday was for even less
wind than Saturday, this did not look promising. In retrospect maybe golf would
have been the better option, however out we all went. Again after a short wait
the wind filled sufficiently to start a race however another shift at the start
of the race made the pin end bias with 2 boats taking the opportunity for a
port tack start, with Haggis getting clean away giving them the lead at the
windward mark which they where able to hold on to until the finish.
Second and third races of the day where
similar affairs, with the wind shifting and dying. However John Robertson and Team GBR proved the
most consistent over the weekend and taking the wins in both of the final
races. This was enough to give them the overall win for the weekend.
Well done John and Team GBR.
The Clyde Sonar Association would like to
thank The Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club for arranging the event.
Our next event is the Helensburgh Sailing
Club Regatta in 6 weeks on the 15/16th August.
1st Repost – J.Robertson
2nd Grouse – L.Pender
3rd ASBOat – A.Yendel
4th Haggis – E.Mackay