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Sportsboats at Bell Lawrie Scottish Series
The Bell Lawrie Scottish Series attracted 15 mixed sportsboats
to Loch Fyne over the May Bank Holiday weekend. Racing as part
of the Lewmar Fleet with the 1720s and Sigma 33s supplied testing
and at times hair-raising conditions.
Day One
Racing on the first day was excellent. With a moderate cool
Northerly breeze blowing and the sun shining, the committee
set an Olympic triangle on the east side of the loch. From the
start the Melges 24 Highland Enterprises Clapped Out Toy Boy
was away in front on the water. As scratch boat in the fleet,
she was soon leading the fleet into the back of the Sigma 33s
to begin the major task of finding clear air and flat water.
As the race progressed, the leading 1720s came through the Sportsboat,
leaving all three fleets well mixed together causing problems
for the slower boats. Getting into clear air and out of the
slop kicked up by so many wakes was at a premium. On Re-Tex
Dickies Yacht Sales, the Checkmate Sailing Team with Peter Evans
on the helm made the best of the conditions which suited their
Beneteau 25. Making decisions that kept them in clear air away
from the fleet was at times unnerving, but the tactic paid off
as they avoided the worst of the problems to take the first
race from Highland Enterprises.
With the conditions remaining steady, the same course was used
and the fleet got of to a clean start. Once again Highland Enterprise
was in front from the start with the First Class 8 Bootneck
leading the rest of the fleet. Trying to work out who was in
which position was as difficult as ever in a handicap fleet,
with the 707s looking good led by Eh!. Working left of the fleet
on the last beat, Dickies Yacht Sales took advantage of better
pressure that lifted on port to take the race, once again with
Highland in second and Bootneck in third.
Day Two
After a quite night in the pubs and marquee, Sunday again bought
a cool moderate/fresh breeze to wake everyone up. The committee
laid a windward/leeward course with spreader mark, guaranteed
to get as many boats as possible into one space at the same
time. From the first beat, the usual front-runners of Highland
and Dickies were joined by the Beneteau 25 Verve to finish in
that order on the water, with Dickies taking first on corrected,
Highland second and Verve third.
The second race started under the same conditions, most of the
fleet heading left from the pin end with confusion on Dickies
seeing them take a fine start from the committee end! As the
fleets became more confident on the water and the beat more
one-sided, mark roundings were placed at a premium. Dickies
used skills gained on the European Grand Prix circuit to gain
at every mark and by the last beat had got back into contention.
As the all Sportsboats continued to suffer from disturbed water
and dirty air, the Sigma 8 Double Gin pulled through to push
for second on the water and set up a fine battle on the last
beat with Bootneck and Dickies. At the gun they took fourth
on corrected, with Bootneck third, Highland second and Dickies
first.
The final race of the day took place over the same race track
with the fleet heading left off the start line. Onboard Dickies,
tactician Simon Pritchard-Jones had other ideas and called for
the right hand corner. Leaving the fleet soon after the start,
Dickies headed for the hills for the reward of being headed
all the way in. As the fleet tacked over, they dropped down
on to Dickies' line, who tacked on to the lift and control of
the fleet. Highland Heritage again took line honours but was
pushed in to second by Dickies. The Bull Nobull Pursuit took
advantage of the right hand side to take third place from Double
Gin who sailed well to take fourth, pushing Bootneck down to
fifth.
Day Three
It was obvious that Monday could bring a big change to the proceedings,
with a fresh wind blowing from the North. Re-Tex Dickies Yacht
Sales had taken five firsts from five starts, but in conditions
that are generally considered to suit the Beneteau 25. With
the increased breeze, things could and did change. To add to
the new scenario, the committee set a trapezoid course for the
first race. A shift to the left made the race a one-sided affair
and supplied a fetch along the top leg, reach along the downwind
leg and a close reach along the bottom leg. Highland Enterprises
took best advantage of the conditions to take her first bullet
of the series, her better speed helping to keep her clear of
the worst of the congestion. The battle behind was fought on
a messy race track, with many pushing the limits to reduce any
disadvantage caused by a boat from another fleet. The increased
breeze better suited the 707 fleet, who were having a battle
of there own for the Scottish Championship. In a close race
the 707 Eh! pushed Dickies hard and were unlucky not to have
got clearer air on the last two legs.
Dickies fought hard to get the most from their boat and were
relieved to take second place, having been involved in a few
loud moments with the 1720s and struggling to carry the spinnaker
on the closer legs. For race two, the committee reverted to
a windward/leeward course and the fleet got to grips with each
other on the start line. With a heavy bias to the pin end a
port tack pin end start was an option but the fleet got there
early and were pushed over by Dickies, who had been slowly edging
that way. At the re-start, Dickies took the committee end of
the line and forced the 707 Hale Bopp to tack off at the gun.
This proved a pivotal moment as the right side of the course
paid and Hale Bopp crossed the fleet after half the beat! For
Highland, this was their worst race of the week as they struggled
to make up the lost ground on the 707. The battle was on for
second place, with Eh! enjoying the conditions and pushing both
Bootneck and Dickies hard. Once again, the other fleets were
pivotal to the results as Dickies had a better last round and
managed to pull away to finish in second place to Hale Bopp,
with Eh! in third.
As the last night festivities got under way and with the discard
in place, Dickies led with 7 points from Highland Heritage on
11. The overall was still wide open, as with only one discard
no one could afford a bad race.
Day Four
The breeze for the day was forecast as light and from the West,
straight out of the harbour mouth on to the course. The committee
opted for a triangle sausage course with the windward mark off
the harbour entrance.
The first beat was a mixed affair, with Nobull Pursuit taking
a cracking start as the breeze filled from the right to make
huge gains for committee end starters. The main players for
overall were at the pin end and started to work the shifts to
get back in to the race. As the last round started, Highland
Heritage was ahead with Dickies, Hale Bopp and Bootneck all
in contention but in a dropping breeze Heritage crossed the
line and watched as any challenge dissolved. Dickies took second,
leaving Bootneck unlucky to drop to third and Hale Bopp fourth.
At this time, Dickies thought they had won the regatta but they
did not know for sure, so the last race was as important as
any to them. The committee set a windward/leeward in a fresh
breeze, with a very short run. Taking a middle line start, Dickies
showed excellent speed of the start line to put themselves at
the front of the fleet. Highland Heritage worked hard out to
the left with Dickies and Hale Bopp. Bootneck went out right
and at the mark the front of the fleet was close together. A
quick gybe at the spreader mark as the wind went right put Dickies
second on the water, chasing Highland to the bottom of the run
and a windward drop. Keeping clear air up the beat and an eye
on any boats taking fliers in the shifty breeze, Dickies' gybe
set at the top to get away from the fleet and then set off after
Highland. At the finish, Highland was beaten into second place
by two seconds on corrected time by Dickies, with Bootneck third
and Hale Bopp fourth.
With racing this close, it was not until the results board was
seen that the Re-Tex Dickies Yacht Sales (Beneteau 25) crew
of Peter Evans, Simon Pritchard-Jones, Jerry Ibberson, Rory
Barr and Iain Hepplewhite were convinced they had won. Second
place went to Highland Heritage Clapped Out Toy Boy (Melges
24) with Bootneck (First Class 8) third. Hale Bopp was fourth
and also received the 707 Scottish Championships.
Re-Tex Dickies Yacht Sales is powered exclusively by Banks Sails.
© Banks Sails 2000.
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