Access 303s at the Scottish Multiclass Regatta
by David Hill 20 Jun 2013 19:33 BST
15-16 June 2013
Access class at the Castle Semple Scottish Multiclass regatta © Steve Sawford
The event took place at Castle Semple Centre within Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park over the weekend of 15th & 16th June with a training day on the 14th for the access boats. The event was jointly run between the centre and Castle Semple Sailing Club. Nine Challengers and 5 Access 303's took part in the regatta.
Friday practice was dry but windy and the access boats took the water to get a few laps in and do some practice starts. For the majority of the sailors in the access boats this was their first regatta.
Saturday dawned wet and very windy and by the first start time the wind was F5-6 and the rain was incredibly heavy. Needless to say this race was postponed.
A few Challengers went out later and soon after a few came ashore again leaving a hardcore group of 4 out to complete 2 short races. Racing was abandoned not long after as the wind continued to build.
Sunday dawned sunny and dry with no wind at all, there was some concerns that no racing would be possible but thankfully at 10am a lovely F2 filled in and all the boats took to the water.
The wind remained light and variable for the morning but some races were completed some boats finishing just inside the allowed time.
Following a BBQ that was laid on by Castle Semple Sailing Club the wind filled in once again and there was a flurry of activity as all the crews rushed to get back out and get two more races in during the afternoon.
Prize giving took place about 4pm and then the mass packing up of a traveller regatta!
The winner of the Access 303 class was Sean, second was Ross and third was Laura. All were from Able2Sail.
The Access boats were all crewed by young people from a local special school helped by volunteers from sailing charity Able2Sail and instructors from Castle Semple Centre, well done to them all and all the Access crews over the weekend.
Despite the lack of sailing on the Saturday the regatta was very well received by everyone attending and it's our hope that it will become a regular feature on the Access Class Association (UK) calendar.