Scottish skiffs
at North Berwick incorporating the Scottish MPS Championships
A smaller than expected entry turned
up for round 2 of the Scottish skiff circuit at Elyc
for the clubs 80th anniversary regatta. A light sea
fog on Saturday was eventually burnt off to give a force
2-3 sea breeze leading to close racing throughout the
day. Race officer Ted hill started promptly which caught
out a few boats for race one although several more were
disqualified for failing to go through the leeward gate
properly. After a close race John Reekie won from Ian
Renilson (both Mps) with Matty and James Lyons 3rd in
there 49er.
With the race officer running as many races as possible
within the days sailing time and a helpful reminder
to the fleet what the leeward gate should be race 2
got underway quickly after race 1 with Ian renilson
reversing the order and winning race 2 with Alistair
Reid getting into third. Race 3 and again Renilson and
reekie lead the way with John Evans being best of the
rest. Race 4 and it was the first chance for some one
to break the Renilson / Reekie duopoly with the 49er
of Craig Hepplewhite gaining 2nd place.
After four races of 30-40 minutes the race committee
decided that the final race of the day would be around
the Bass rock which lies 3 miles to the east of North
Berwick and giving the fleet some different tactical
options compared to the standard windward leeward course.
In the 49ers Stewart and Ben Robertson led the way but
were overhauled by the Lyons and hepplewhite/McGachy
on the drag race home. In the Mps fleet Renilson lead
the way round from Gavin Homer who attempted to sneak
past renilson by gybing inside him although Reekie took
this option to the extreme and ended up being becalmed
in the wind shadow of the rock and allowed several boats
through. By the end of the race Renilson won from Homer
with Evans third.
Sunday dawned with a force 3 westerly,
which slowly built to 20 knots through the day. With
the change in wind direction the race committee had
to shorten the length of the course. This change meant
that the lead boats were lapping in approximately 6-8
minutes and led to a busy day for both competitors and
the race committee. Ian Renilson continued his dominance
of the event completing the day with four firsts. Although
he won all the races, various competitors tried hard
to break it with the Lyons brothers managing 3 seconds
and Gavin Homer losing out in the final gybe to Renilson
in race 4. After the end of race 4 the dwindling fleet
was sent home to enjoy pie and beans and ice creams
while the shore team toted up the scores. At the end
of the day Renilson counted 7 firsts with Lyons in 2nd
and John Evans 3rd. Thanks to elyc for hosting another
excellent regatta and an ideal warm up for the competitors
going to the mps nationals
1st Ian Renilson (mps) 7pts
2nd Matty and James Lyons (49er) 22pts
3rd John Evans (mps) 27pts
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