Scottish Skiff Series at Largo Bay Sailing Club

by Alistair Reid 28 Jun 2011 10:14 BST 25-26 June 2011

The third round of the Scottish Skiff Series was held over the weekend of 25/26 June at Largo Bay Sailing Club. The competitors arrived on Saturday morning to a flat calm River Forth. A long delay and a wait for wind ensued but eventually the patience of Race Officer Jim Blyth and the fleet was rewarded with the opportunity to get the racing started late in the afternoon.

After a game of Snakes and Ladders with lots of place changing over the 75 minute race, the first four boats finished within seconds of each other, with Alastair Conn (MPS 130) from Derwent Reservoir taking the win from fellow Derwent sailor John Evans (MPS 211) and Ian Renilson (MPS 449) from Dalgety Bay third.

Sunday saw the fleet take to the water for the scheduled 11am start. The light southerly breeze that the race started in soon dropped and the fleet drifted to complete a shortened course. Martin Wilkie and Iain McCafferty (Int 14 1473) DBSC made the best use of the light wind to win from Alistair Reid (MPS 254) LBSC and again Ian Renilson was third. The conditions did not suit Bob Yeamans (Slack Alice) or the foiling Moths.

Race 3 started after a short delay to reset the course for the building South Westerly. We were now trapezing and it felt good to stretch the legs. Martin and Iain in the Int 14 lead all the way for their second win of the day with Ian Renilson in second place. Alistair Reid held off John Evans for a hard fought third place.

The last race of the series started in the best sailing conditions of the weekend. Alastair Conn took a good lead from the start and pulled away from the chasing field. Both Moth’s put on a very impressive performance lapping all the fleet, not once but twice. With only 100 meters to the finish line Paul Rigg (Int Moth 3371) had gear failure, ending his weekend with a dramatic pitch pole. Paul Hignett (Int Moth 3890) Loch Vennacher won the race on his seventh lap with Alastair Conn second. Third place for Martin and Iain in the Int14 gave them the event win with a three point lead over Ian Renilson in second place.

Thanks go to Largo Bay Sailing Club for hosting the event and making the most of some difficult conditions.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Boat Type	Helm	Crew	Club	PY	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	1473	Mango Chutney	Int. 14	Martin Wilkie	Iain McCafferty	DalgetyBaySC	825	4	1	1	3	5
2	449		Musto Skiff	Ian Renilson		DalgetyBaySC	860	3	3	2	4	8
3	254	Upsidedowner	Musto Skiff	Alistair Reid		LargoBaySC	860	5	2	3	6	10
4	211		Musto Skiff	John Evans		DerwentReservoirSC	860	2	5	4	5	11
5	130		Musto Skiff	Alastair Conn		DerwentReservoirSC	860	1	13	13	2	16
6	1181	Double Trouble	Laser Vortex	Angus Winchester		CastleSempleSC	937	8	4	6	8	18
7	695	Kirsten	49er	Ben Robertson	Rob Friend	RoyalForthYC	740	6	8	5	13	19
8	294		Musto Skiff	Tom Conway		DerwentReservoirSC	860	7	6	8	13	21
9	2683	Pocket Rocket	Cherub	Phil Alderson	Carol Alderson	LargsSC	941	13	7	7	7	21
10	3890	Aurora	Int. Moth	Paul Hignett		LochVennacharSC	650	13	13	10	1	24
11	3371		Int. Moth	Paul Rigg		DalgetyBaySC	650	13	13	9	13	35
12	98	Slack Alice	Musto Skiff	Bob Yeamans		Aberdeen&StonehavenYC	860	9	13	13	13	35