Report by Jamie Hilton
A small but talented Scottish and Northern Musto Skiff fleet converged at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club on the weekend of August 31st to September 1st, 2024, and were treated to two days of brilliant racing and some wild downwind rides for six well-fought races and a big night out. Ultimately, it was Jono Shelly who narrowly took the overall victory from Euan Hurter.
Dalgety Bay Sailing Club is situated on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth, a few miles east of the landmark railway bridge, with impressive views of Inchcolm Island and the resplendent City of Edinburgh to the south, made all the more enjoyable from the sunny vantage point of the impressive club terrace.
This year, nine boats arrived for the regatta, including seven Musto Skiffs and two RS800s, with boats travelling from Aberdeen, Aviemore, Sunderland, and Tynemouth. Three races were scheduled on Saturday, and the fleet launched just after noon in glorious sunny conditions with around 10 knots of breeze from the east. The racing was held in Inverkeithing Bay, gaining access to an expansive race somewhat sheltered from the flooding tide.
Race Highlights—Saturday
Race 1: The first race of the day saw a three-way battle between Danny Boatman, Euan Hurter, and Jamie Hilton, with the race lead changing numerous times before Jamie pulled out a reasonable lead by the end of the third and final lap. The playbook seemed to favour the left side of the beat to avoid the worst of the flooding tide, with the opposite applying downwind but keeping an eye out for 10° oscillations in the wind. A little further back there was some good battling between the RS800s and the remaining Musto, albeit without Jono Shelley, who sat this one out owing to a rigging error.
Race 2: For the second race, a similar pattern emerged, but with a softening tide. This time it was Danny Boatman who came out on top, making gains upwind with his bow-down mode. Jono pushed him hard to take second, but it really was close amongst the top four.
Race 3: By the start of the third race, the tide had started to change – a fact not lost on some of the Musto’s who elected to start on port, heading out into the main channel. The breeze had then increased to around 14 knots, and the waves were starting to steepen. This time Euan, known to revel in wavey conditions, came out on top, pulling out big gains on the downwind legs.
Black ashore, the fleet enjoyed some pizza and a couple of drinks on the sun terrace before venturing into Edinburgh to make the most of the post-festival atmosphere.
Race Highlights—Sunday
After the beautiful weather of Saturday, Sunday felt like a change of season where grey and ominous skies meant hats and winter wetsuits were dug out from the bottom of kit bags..
Race 4: With a slightly delayed start (thank you, Mr. Race Officer), the fleet launched in around 14 knots of breeze, again from the east and again with a flooding tide. Both Danny and Jono were able to convert their somewhat bulkier frames into a noticeable speed difference. Danny, however, succumbed to a swim, handing Jono the victory, leaving Euan, who arguably sailed smartest and tidiest to take second place.
Race 5 unravelled in much the same way, albeit after one swim too many, Danny decided his day was done and headed ashore. This left Jono and Euan with a 1,2 as chief benefactors, having dropped another swimmer – Hilton – at the leeward gate.
Race 6 took on a different format. This was to be a long-distance race, first proposed by the Race Officer at the Saturday briefing, where the fleet would beat up to a Cardinal buoy near Inchcolm Island, a long run back down to Inverkeithing Bay, before a final upwind leg towards the club.
The wind had then picked up to around 16 knots, and it was getting a little fruity. Jono and Jamie started well, but Jono took a swim on an early tack having suffered problems with his mainsheet system. With the bigger seas, it was no surprise to see Euan making gains and sailing into the lead. But it was Jamie who picked the best strategy upwind, sailing further inshore to beat the tide and arrive at the top mark just behind an RS800 that was revelling in these conditions. Then the confusion started to set in.
Jamie thought the mark was to be taken to starboard; everyone else thought it was to port. Distracted by all this, Jamie took a quick dip, leaving Euan to take the lead, with Jamie then setting off downwind simultaneously with Jono. And what a downwind ride this was. It was rapid. The safety ribs were unable to keep up and looked on longingly in disbelief.
Euan arrived first at the leeward mark, a navigation pole, and took it to port, while Jono and Jamie, a few hundred yards back, both took it to starboard. Euan crossed the line with a healthy lead and what he thought was the overall victory. However, with only Jono having sailed the course as shown on the noticeboard, Jamie and Euan retired to hand Jono the win for the race and the overall win.
Back ashore, hot showers, cups of tea, and tales of bravado, and then the fleet gathered for a prize giving where we all arrived at the same conclusion that those that were there were all the real winners.
The Dalgety Bay race team were superb and received a big thank you. The courses were well set up thanks to John Mackenzie, his team, and his admiration for ‘Buoyzone’, while the rescue team were owed a big thanks for their cover and notably for getting Chris home after suffering a mast breakage. A real club effort in putting the event together. And thanks also to the club for all their photographic work in capturing the event as it unfolded, specifically Ian Renilson and Ian Baillie.
Next up for the Scottish and Northern Musto Skiff fleet is Largs SC on 28th and 29th September.
Hope to see you there.
Overall Results
Overall results:
https://www.dalgetybaysc.org/series/10089
Feature Image: Jono Shelley – 2024 Scottish Skiffs Regatta / © Dalgety Bay Sailing Club
