Albacore Scottish Nationals at Royal West of Scotland Club

by Karen Hammond 9 Jun 2003 16:38 BST

7/8 June

Photo © Alan Henderson Neville Herbert & Steve Penfold at the Albacore Scottish Nationals

Albacores from as far afield as Datchet and Ogston SC, Derbyshire met with boats from all over Scotland to contest the Albacore Scottish Championship over the weekend of 7 to 8 June at the Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club.

Race One began in a 15 knot south-westerly breeze and bright sunshine on a course set in the middle of the Clyde. First to the windward mark were Neville Herbert and Steven Penfold followed by Crawford Reid and Izzy Martin with Graham Wallace and Charlie Frize 3rd. By the wing mark, both Reid and David and Nick Hammond, who were sailing a borrowed local boat, had overhauled Herbert with Reid seizing the lead. Positions changed up the following beat as crews tried to master the short chop and tricky wind shifts. Herbert gained the lead which he held to the finish, following by Hammond with Dave Kelly and crew moving up to third.

Conditions for the second back to back race remained the same. After a close first beat, Hammond and Kelly rounded the windward mark together followed by Herbert and Wallace. Showing good speed on the reaches, Hammond pulled away to a comfortable lead which he held to the finish, followed by Kelly and Herbert with Wallace 4th and Reid, who pulled through the fleet after a poor first beat, 5th.

Sunday dawned cloudy with almost no wind. Despite the best efforts of the race committee to lay a course, the wind failed to freshen causing racing to be abandoned.

Thanks must go to RWSABC who provided excellent racing and hospitality.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club
1st	7176	David Hammond	Nick Hammond	Ogston SC
2nd	6825	Neville Herbert	Steve Penfold	Datchet SC
3rd	7928	Dave Kelly	Crew	RWSABC
4th	7522	Graham Wallace	Charlie Frize	Clyde Cruising Club
5th	6703	Crawford Reid	Izzy Martin	Strathclyde Lock SC
6th	7420	Dick Downy	Linda Macmullen	RWSABC