Finn Scottish Championships at Largs Sailing Club

The Scottish Championships and the first Scottish traveller took place at Largs over the weekend of 20 and 21 April. This was the inaugural event for the Stephen Farrell Quaich.

The event was organised and run by the Scottish Sailing Institute and Largs Sailing Club. Following on a fortnight after the Holt event at Pwhelli all involved hoped for fairer wind and an opportunity to go racing. Nobody was disappointed.

Six boats attended the event, five Scottish and a lone, but very welcome, John Greenwood from south of the border. Two new recruits have joined the Scottish fleet over the winter, Colin Ferrier and Dave McKay both sailing out of North Berwick.

The race area was set between Largs Sailing Club and the island of Cumbrae in the Clyde . The courses set were triangles and sausages. On Saturday the weather was Force 4/5 with a moderate sea. Three races were sailed.

Race 1 commenced at 1300. Kenny Robertson in his eagerness to get underway was OCS. Greenwood and John de Leeuw both made good starts and the rest of the fleet followed. At the windward mark the order was Greenwood, de Leeuw, Robertson, Chris Farrell, McKay and Ferrier. On the leg from the wing mark to the leeward de Leeuw broke his tiller extension and was forced to retire from the race. Robertson took over second place. These positions were maintained up to the close of the race when Farrell pipped Robertson for second place. This was as a result of an incorrect rounding of the finish mark.

Race 2 saw de Leeuw return and six boats started. Greenwood and de Leeuw started well again, followed by Robertson and Farrell, who tacked across each other up the first beat. Ferrier overtook McKay on the reach but dropped back on the beat. On the run to the finish Ferrier fought back to challenge McKay and finished close behind. The positions were Greenwood, de Leeuw, Robertson, Farrell, McKay and Ferrier. The second race took its toll on sails, Robertson with a tear and McKay with a badly ripped sail.

Only 4 boats started Race 3 Greenwood and de Leeuw sailed towards the shore and the port side of the course whilst Ferrier and Farrell favoured starboard. Ferrier put a close cover on Farrell. This was the situation for the first lap and half the second beat. After a series of tacks Farrell finally managed to break clear, unfortunately he put his boat into irons and lost the advantage. Greenwood and de Leeuw rounded the windward mark, first and second, with Ferrier and Farrell third and fourth. On the downwind leg Farrell tried to make up the deficit. This went well initially however a windward capsize left Farrell in the water and separated from his boat. Ferrier sailed on to secure a well earned third place. Greenwood finished first and de Leeuw second.

On Sunday the wind freshened to a Force 6, wind speed constantly in the mid-twenties with gusts reaching thirty-three knots.

Four boats went out for Race 4, Ferrier and McKay opting to remain ashore. The course was amended to leave the marks to starboard. All four boats made a clean start. Greenwood and de Leeuw sailed to the starboard side of the course with Robertson and Farrell preferring port and closer to the shore. Greenwood was first to the windward mark with de Leeuw second followed by Robertson and Farrell. On the leg to the wing mark Greenwood took the mainsheet directly off the boom. Upon approaching the mark the mainsheet was accidentally released, the boat rolled and capsized. This was Greenwood's first capsize since 1999. As Greenwood righted his boat de Leeuw took the lead and Robertson and Farrell sailed through. Greenwood recovered, passed Farrell and set about catching Robertson and de Leeuw. Crossing the line to complete the first lap de Leeuw led, Robertson second, Greenwood now third and Farrell fourth. For the beat three boats took the port side with Greenwood exploring starboard. At the windward mark Greenwood had passed Robertson and taken second place. This order remained to the finish. On the final lap the wind increased to Force 7 this ensured a fast reach to the wing mark. On the final leg all sailors were positioned well aft to prevent the bows of their crafts being buried into the waves. Greenwood opted for three granny gybes on this leg.

With Race 4 completed and worsening weather conditions the Race Officer brought the championships to a close.

Overall Results:

This was a good event and the Finns will certainly include Largs in next year's calendar.

Special thanks must be made to the Scottish Sailing Institute, Largs Sailing Club and also Saturn Sails who all contributed to make this a memorable weekend.