MYA Scottish District IOM Travellers at Greenock Model Yacht and Power Boat Club

MYA Scottish District IOM Travellers at Greenock © Simon Thomson

Eleven skippers from throughout Scotland assembled at Greenock Murdieston Dam on Saturday 13th May for the MYA SD IOM Travellers 2. Amongst the fleet, there was a 3D printed and five wooden hulls participating. The forecast for the day promised good weather and light winds from the South East going to the South West in the afternoon.

Following the skippers briefing and after a short delay due to lack of wind, the racing started with a 2 to 4 knot breeze from the North East flicking to the North for short periods of time. It allowed the RO to lay the Start Line in the South East corner of the Dam with the weather mark midway up the North bank which provided a good but tricky beat with a few holes in the wind to negotiate.

The run followed to the original start marks which were used as a gate. The course consisted of 2 rounds and a final beat to the finish. The conditions persisted for the morning with several small delays to allow the patchy breeze to fill in.

MYA Scottish District IOM Travellers at Greenock - photo © Simon Thomson

During the morning Ian Dundas scored a series of bullets and 2nd places. Steve Taylor scored a bullet and two 2nd places. However, both skippers were also at times caught out by holes in the fickle wind. They could never relax with the likes of Brian Summers, Richard Ennos, Robert Rooney and Richard Rowan ready to score good results. In fact, during the day, five different skippers scored a bullet.

Following the lunch (pie, beans and mash!) that was provided by the Greenock MY&PBC, the wind swung to the West North West building to 8 to 10 knots of breeze. Thus, the course was switched to start at the Eastern end of the Dam and the weather mark close to the bank for the Western corner near the club house. This provided great visibility for the skippers. With the sun shining and a good breeze it was champagne sailing conditions. In total there were twelve races completed during the day.

In the afternoon, Steve Taylor scored three successive bullets to put pressure on Ian Dundas who responded with a bullet, a 2nd and a 3rd to keep in the mix. Brian Summers scored a bullet, a couple of 2nd and 3rd places but also carried a number of mid-fleet finishes.

MYA Scottish District IOM Travellers at Greenock - photo © Simon Thomson

The eventual winner of the event was Ian Dundas (Aberdeen MYC) with his self-designed and built Corbie 6. He posted consistent results despite the tricky morning sailing scoring no more than a 6th in one race, which earned him the overall win.

Stephen Taylor (Aberdeen MYC) with his Venti secured second place just 3 points behind after discards. Only 8 points separated the next 3 boats with Brian Summers (Tayside RSC) taking 3rd spot with Richard Ennos 4th and Robert Rooney 5th.

Richard Rowan and Gordon Alison had some good results during the day but fell foul of the tricky wind conditions coming in 6th and 7th respectively.

At the prize-giving, Ian Dundas noted that that this was an extremely well-run event and thanked the Race Team of Simon Thomson (RO), Bill Terry (Assistant RO), David Addison and Charlie Morrison (Boat crew) from Greenock and David Smith from Paisley as the finisher and scorer.

Special mention was also made of Hughie Shields (an MYA Vice President and member of Greenock MY&PBC) who has given great support to free and radio sailing in Scotland for over 70 years.

MYA Scottish District IOM Travellers at Greenock - photo © Simon Thomson

Overall Results:

MYA Scottish District IOM Travellers at Greenock - photo © Simon Thomson