25th Jubilee Regatta at Strathclyde Loch Sailing Club

Sunday 11th May

Photo © Crawford Reid Robin Paris winner of the handicap class

Three races were run, and with all results counting, meant that a reasonable level of consistency would be required to be near the top of the results board.

Four classes, including ALBACORE, LASER 2000, CHALLENGER and HANDICAP were registered and by the 11.00 am start the wind had filled nicely from the s/west.

All races were of a lap average format, in race one, with the ALBACORES off, Charlie Frize and Graham Wallace from Clyde Cruising Club were away sharp and it was almost a full lap before being caught by locals Crawford Reid and Isobelle Martin. The wind by this time was building to fresh, but as is usual, was still variable which meant lots of chances to gain some places, or indeed to loose some, Dick Downie and Linda McMullen worked well to be on the right side of some good lifts and eventually took second place from “the Frize guys”. John McKelvie and Andrew Macdonald had progressed into forth place and although the distance between the boats changed considerably, this was the positions over the finishing line.

The LASER 2000’s, which started at the same time as the ALBACORES were enjoying some very close racing, Roy McLean and Douglas McQuilkin from the home club lead for a considerable time, but unfortunately, come the finish, were overhauled by Robert McCulloch and Alma Cadzow from Loch Venacher and also their stable mates Jim and Margret Galloway.

The Handicap fleet was a very mixed bag with RS 400 to Topper and six different classes in between, however, this did not lessen the competition in any way, Alison Davies and Mark Galbraith lead out and around the windward mark, and as the wind increased, were fast reaching with full kite toward the wing marker. Mark number three took the fleets back to windward again in a zig zag fashion and this gave the other classes the chance to close the gap, the Lasers especially didn’t have to be asked twice, Colin Boyce and Andy McDaid both came to the fore but found it considerably frustraighting to often look behind and find themselves invisibly connected to Robin Paris and his Topper, by the time the shortened course flag went up, many boats were finishing side by side, but after the calculations it was the Topper first, RS 200 second and the Lasers of McDaid and Boyce 3rd and 4th in that order.

Races two and three were held back to back over the same course and as the wind increased, many crews struggled with the shifty conditions causing several capsizes. Reid and Martin won both Albacore races, and McCulloch and Cadzow did the same in the Laser 2000’s. In the Handicap class Paris won the first, and the second was taken by McDaid in his Laser.

As befitted a 25th birthday party, there was lots of goodies and of course, a celebration cake, provided by the main event sponsor Thomas Tunnock. Commodore, Keith Rodmell presented centenary glasses to the winners along with the many “extra’s” which filled the presentation table before offering a vote of thanks, to the backroom helpers, the staff at the Watersports Centre and last but never least, all five of the generous sponsors who supported the event.

Overall Results: