Wednesday Night Series - Round Shuna Weekend

I have been getting some stick for neglecting the Wednesday series race reports in recent weeks (latest results attached).  Particularly as Isla capsized right in front of me the other week and I think was extremely disappointed that I didn't hold her up to public ridicule.    Why would I? The occasional capsize is part and parcel of small dinghy sailing and not something that marks you out as a duffer.   A fact that seemed to escape everyone I met in the Lord of the Isles on Saturday and Sunday last.  Didn't matter whether I knew them or not - they all wanted to point out my momentary lack of attention prior to the start of the feeder race - "have you met Nick, he is the one that capsized on the line"; blah blah "But you had capsized before the race had even started, how did you possibly make it round?"  blah bleeding blah...... yes very amusing !

Anyway it was a great weekend, with decent winds on both days and a good turnout of boats from Craignish and Tayvallich.  As far as the F15s were concerned Ali and Sally McLeod took the honours on both days. Though for the feeder race it was a close thing, as David Attwood from Tayvallich led for most of the race only for a minor tactical error and awesome spinnaker handling on Sally's part allowed Ffia to sneak through to win.  In the dinghy class Donald Carmichael in his Kestrel came in first with me second and Alex third.  Alex also picks up the "Balls of Steel" award for sailing straight though the standing waves in the Dorus in his Radial which is something quite a few bigger boats bottled out of.

For the Round Shuna race itself we were joined by Fiona Morrison in her 2.4 and Tony Tucker in Spliffy.  Unfortunately Alex had a Rugby trial so was not able to compete, but a couple of other Lasers turned up from Oban, so I had someone to race against at least.  Conditions were near perfect with a decent westerly/north westerly wind.  Most boats went round clockwise which was a first for me, and there was more startline drama when I was forced to bounce off the back of a big white yacht, who just perhaps should have gotten out of my way.  However, the red mist that descended certainly helped me catch the other two Lasers by the first mark, so it wasn't all bad.  Overall the race was won by Karen Kerr of Tayvallich in a Laser 16, and in third place came our very own Andy Chadwick who had decided to try out the new sails on his big boat rather than sail his 15.  Ali was 4th and 1st Flying 15, closely followed by George McGruer and Gilly Wilson of Tayvallich and Ranny Stewart in Ali's Yellow boat.

A mention in dispatches should also go to Iain Catterwell and Michael Fleming for completing both days in what was pretty much the first time out in a Fifteen, they also managed a pretty decent performance - particularly on Sunday coming in 47th overall.

Thanks should go to all who helped make it such a good weekend, particularly Ali  for his help in organising things and for hosting a first class barbeque on Saturday night - a big thanks to Sally too on that front.  Also to Donald Carmichael for handling the Tayvallich side of things, to Tony Gill and Ian from Tayvallich for driving the rescue boats and simultaneously winning first and second in the Captain Birdseye look-alike contest.

Full results for the Round Shuna are here.

By the way only two more Wednesday nights to go before the end of the season and Alex can relax at last - the stress of being at the top of the leaderboard is beginning to take its toll I think.

Regards Nick 01/09/07

[Also pics of Round Shuna Race taken by Simon Pledger here]