35 Scottish Skiffs gathered at North Berwick
under the banner of East Lothian Yacht Club for the
second of the 2007 Trident sponsored Grand Prix series.
The event also featured the Scottish Championships of
the Musto Skiff class and with 19 entries in this class
it was by far the largest of the 8 classes represented,
and the event was an ideal opportunity to practice for
the classes first ever World Championship in 2 weeks
for which there is already an entry of 88 boats.
ELYC tailored the event specifically for the skiffs,
to make the event as enjoyable a spectacle as possible
for everyone. This was evident from the outset at the
briefing when race-officer-supreme Jim Sinclair announced
that there would be as many short races as possible
within a time limit, and that if code flag 2 was flown
at the start of the race then the course would be: Start
leave the Bass Rock to port Return. The Bass Rock
is 3.5 miles away and is a huge island formed by a volcanic
plug that rises sharply 350 feet out of the water and
is home to 80,000 gannets the largest single-rock
gannetry in the world.
The first 2 races were sailed in an 18 knot easterly
and lovely big waves, and for the third race the wind
eased and swung to the South East. Richard Stenhouse
in a Musto Skiff from Rutland dominated these first
3 races taking bullets in each in the stronger winds
he got well away upwind and then extended a good lead.
In the first two races Ian Trotter (Musto Skiff - Derwent
Reservoir) and Ian Renilson (Musto Skiff - Dalgety Bay)
swapped places behind Stenhouse, with Ross Mckercher
& Stuart Gardiner taking third on handicap in the
second race. As the wind dropped in the third race newcomer
Jethro Gebhard (Musto Skiff - Derwent Reservoir) followed
Stenhouse across the line after pushing him hard throughout.
After the third race the wind was around 8 knots and
the Bass Rock race looked in jeopardy, but the competitors
were keen and a gust of wind was all the excuse that
was required to raise code flag 2 and initiate the start
sequence. Unfortunately at the start the wind dropped
under 5 knots and some boats struggled of the start
line. Kit Stenhouse (Musto Skiff Rutland) was first
to find breeze on the right side of the course and she
powered upwind towards The Bass followed by a fleet
of assorted skiffs, notably Dave & Jackie Gebhard
(RS800 Derwent Reservoir), Martin Wilkie & Ian
McCafferty (Int 14 Dalgety Bay), and Fergus Holland
(RS600 Kielder Water).
There was very little wind around the Bass due to the
mass of rock, and the big waves bouncing off the sheer
rock face were totally confused resulting in queasy
stomachs and plenty of place changing. Coming out from
the shadow of the Bass into a good 15 knots Kit Stenhouse
looked to have blown it having given the huge rock
a wide berth she was well below the downwind lay-line
to the finish, and husband Richard looked good. But
on the return trip the wind died initially to around
8 knots and this brought Kit right back into it and
she was the first of all the skiffs to cross the finish
line, followed by a bunch of faster skiffs. Then the
wind died completely and the boats struggled against
the tide. After handicaps were considered Kit won followed
by the Int 14 of Martin Wilkie & Ian McCafferty
(Dalgety Bay) and Jethro Gebhard (Musto Skiff).
Despite the lack of wind at the end everyone enjoyed
the awesome experience of sailing around The Bass and
it was the topic of much discussion late into the evening.
Sunday dawned grey and windless and racing was postponed.
As a gentle ripple started across the water the general
handicap fleets headed out to their race course and
the skiffs stayed put preferring to wait for decent
wind and happy not to sail if none arrived.
Eventually wind did arrive and 2 races were sailed in
a 12 to 15 knot easterly. Ian Trotter and Ian Renilson
were first & second Musto Skiffs in both races,
but on handicap the International 14 of Howard Steavenson
and Adam Ovington of Tynemouth split them in the last
race. Another newcomer Robbie Wilson (Musto Skiff
Wormit) was third in the first race.
Richard Stenhouse struggled (by his high standards)
in the lighter winds and nearly lost the huge lead he
had gained on Saturday with a sixth and a fourth putting
him on equal points with Ian Trotter but he won the
event on countback.
It was a fabulous event, thanks to the competence of
the ELYC race team and their willingness to configure
the event to suit the competitors. The next event for
the Scottish Skiffs is at Findhorn on 14/15 July. Further
info at: www.ScottishSkiffRacing.com
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Scottish Skiff Racing Grand Prix Event
