Laser 2000 Open at Strathclyde Loch Sailing Club
by John Cox 25 May 2005 08:51 UTC
15 May 2005
Jim & Margaret Galloway win the Laser 2000 class at the Strathclyde Spring Regatta © Alan Henderson /
www.fotoboat.com
Laser Direct Caledonian Ring Series
Once again Strathclyde Park greeted us with bright sunshine, but unlike last year, wind as well! Throughout this one day event of 3 races, we enjoyed force 3-4 or sometimes less winds, although we probably enjoyed less the frequent 30 or even 60 degree wind shifts that made life especially difficult for the crews all day long.
In the first race Robert McCulloch& Alma Cadzow led early on due to a good port end start but thanks to a large windshift the smiles were short-lived. The rest of the fleet caught up, or in the case of David and Kate Eccles overtook. David & Kate were first to the windward mark closely followed by Robert & Alma and Jim and Margaret Galloway. Racing continued fairly closely for the first triangle, but on the subsequent downwind sausage, David and Jim headed right, whilst Robert headed left. The boats heading right got it right, as Robert failed to spot that avoiding the gate downwind took him too far off course as a result of which he lost touch with the two leaders. Of these, Jim was going the faster and gradually pulled out further and further, ending a clear winner, followed home by David and Kate in second place.
Meanwhile further back Robert and Alma were having a great tussle with Roy McLean and Stewart Gibb, with the two boats being neck and neck for the best part of a lap. This culminated in an unfortunate coming together at the leeward marks, as Robert & Alma were hit by a gust just as Roy shouted ‘no water’. A rapid lowering of the gennaker narrowly avoided impaling Roy with the pole but unfortunately this only succeeded in wrapping the gennaker around him instead. Well we do enjoy our close racing, and it did give us all a good laugh over lunch.
For the two afternoon races a complicated zig-zag up & down side to side sightseeing tour of the Loch was kindly laid on by the Race Officer, taking in most of the marks on Strathclyde Loch. This obviously appealed to Sam Harding as husband Dick was displaced from the boat and left onshore, quite literally holding the baby. Robert & Alma were leading at the first two marks, and then on the long reach towards the clubhouse David and Kate headed high, which paid off by taking them to the mark in first place. They gradually extended their lead for the rest of the race and never looked like being caught. Robert & Alma were second, with Jim and Margaret closely following in third place.
Race 3 was full of incident, in quite gusty conditions, and the first six boats were very close indeed at the first mark. Once we’d rounded the second mark and headed off on the long reach towards the clubhouse, a close group of four boats planing at speed must have been quite a sight from the Committee Boat. If it wasn’t already then it was certainly about to be as Roy executed a sudden 90 degree turn to leeward for no apparent reason, taking David & Kate with him in a manoeuvre that deserves a nomination for ‘best 2005 T-Bone avoidance.’ To add insult to injury, both boats crossed the start finish gate from the wrong side, which we’d already been warned was a disqualification offence.
The following boats took full advantage with Jim and Margaret leading, followed by Robert & Alma at the next mark. The gusty conditions continued, and there was a ding-dong battle at the front of the fleet, eventually ending up with Jim & Margaret first, followed by Robert and Alma second. David Tulloch & Emma Stobie were unlucky this time to finish in third position, having surrendered a late second place on a close gennaker reach in conditions where the heavier crew weight will always win out.
So what happened to Roy? We learned afterwards that in a somewhat freak accident, Roy had snagged his rudder on one of the rowing lane markers and at the speed he was going at (we are reliably informed about 12 knots) this broke the rudder downhaul resulting in lots of speed and no rudder. No damage to boat or crew resulted so not too bad from that point of view, but with no discards the incident did rather spoil things not only for Roy & Stewart, but also for David & Kate who had travelled such a long way for the day and were odds on favourites to win overall when the incident occurred. Still, everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed the close, competitive racing in pleasant surroundings, brilliant sunshine and decent winds. If all this years events live up to this standard then we’ll be doing very well indeed.
Last laugh of the day probably went to our sponsors, Laser Direct. All were much impressed by the generosity of the prizes. So much so that one jealous competitor was heard to whisper during the prize giving ceremony ‘I think I’m going to buy a Laser 2000’. Well let’s hope he does!
Many thanks to all who travelled, particularly those from South of the Border, and we hope to see you all at more events this year.
Overall Results:
1st 2800 Jim & Margaret Galloway (Loch Venacher SC)
2nd 2969 Robert McCulloch & Alma Cadzow (Loch Venacher SC)
3rd 21109 David & Kate Eccles (Bala SC)