Annual Regatta & Findhorn Week at Royal Findhorn Yacht Club

Findhorn Week © Iona Cornish

Findhorn Week © Iona Cornish

Royal Findhorn Yacht Club Regatta Weekend (sponsored by Switchshop, 10-11 July)

The Royal Findhorn Yacht Club’s annual regatta took place on Saturday 10th July. The regatta, which was sponsored by Switchshop, attracted 40 boats. The racing was split between the Firth and the Bay with the Fast Handicap competing outside in the Firth and the Slow Handicap sailing in the Bay.

There were light winds on the Saturday which made getting out to the Firth difficult and most boats required a tow to get to the start; once there, however, there was a pleasant breeze which unfortunately swung through 150 degrees during the second race. Two races took place on each day for each class, with Sunday having the more challenging racing.

The forecast for Sunday was for the wind to increase during the morning with gusts of up to 40 knots by lunchtime, which meant the Race Officers had to organise the racing to finish before the conditions got too extreme. The Bay racing had finished and the last few boats were coming in from the Firth when the wind suddenly increased from a delightful 12kts to nearer thirty and many were knocked over, creating an opportunity for the rescue boats to practise their skills. Luckily no one was hurt and no boats were damaged.

The Fast Handicap in the Firth was won by National 18ft Class number 344, helmed by Stuart Urquhart with Richard Urquhart and Nadine Stander crewing; the Slow Handicap in the Bay was won by Phantom 1106, helmed by William McTurk.

Findhorn Week (sponsored by Isleburn, 12-16 July)

Findhorn Week, sponsored by Isleburn, began on the Monday with two races in 10-12kts. There were 5 classes: National 18ft Class, RS Feva and Laser plus a Fast Handicap and a Slow Handicap. A Novice class, consisting of Topazs, Optimists and a Cadet also took place on a separate course with their own Race Officer and rescue. In all, 55 boats - some from as far away as Oxford and Severn - took part in the week.

On Tuesday the wind increased to a fresh 15kts and racing took place over the whole Bay, with a triangle course followed by a trapezoid one for all classes.

On Wednesday there was a Fun Race which did not count towards the week’s series which allowed sailors to swap boats or let the crew have a shot at helming. The Race Officer sent them on a convoluted course around the Bay and included some flag recognition problems to make it even more interesting. The race was eventually won by Gary & Finlay Laing in Topaz. A Triathlon also took place on Wednesday with 15 teams of 3 members each competing to raise money for Help for Heroes and the RFYC Rescue. One of the team members ran from Findhorn to Kinloss, another cycled from Kinloss back to Findhorn and the third swam between the piers at Findhorn and back again.

Thursday was the final day of the class racing. The wind was fresh and the racing was very close with the final class results depending a lot on who had managed to stay upright.

On Friday, after some very damp golf in the morning, the top boats from each class competed for the Four Seasons Trophy, while everyone else sailed in the ‘Best of the Rest’ Race. The forecast was again for gusts of 40kts by the end of the afternoon and some of the less experienced sailors chose to watch from the shore. At the scheduled start time, however, the wind was about 10kts and the Race Officer, Iona Cornish, elected to proceed with the races while keeping a close eye on the wind. As the wind was from the South West and the tide was still coming in, the smaller boats were in a good position to be competitive as they weren’t battling against the tide while beating.

After about 45 minutes, with the wind rising and boats starting to capsize, the Race Officer decided that the time had come to finish the race. The Best of the Rest Race was won by RS Feva 3217 sailed by Robbie and Ewan Wilson from Wormit Boating Club, with Mirror dinghies coming second and third. As the smaller, slower boats were doing well, no one was particularly surprised when a Mirror dinghy seemed to have won the Four Seasons Trophy with an RS 200 coming second. However, the very honest Mirror dinghy sailor in question realised after returning home that he had not sailed the correct course. He contacted the Race Officer to confess and apologise and to ‘retire after finishing’. The winner of the Four Seasons Trophy 2010, therefore, was RS 200 number 395 sailed by Chris Perry and Kirsty Lytton from Aberdeen and Stonehaven Yacht Club.

The week went very well with no racing lost due to lack of wind which is unusual for Findhorn Week and the Race Officer managed to complete he scheduled races before the wind increased too much on the days when it was forecast to be windy. The social side of the event was a big success with events including a quiz night, a games night, a sports day, a triathlon, golf, a duck race, a sandcastle competition and a treasure hunt, making the week a real family holiday for all the competitors.