Largo Bay 24-25 June 2006

The Scottish Championship was held as part of the Largo Bay Regatta on the Firth of Forth on 24th and 25th June in bright and breezy weather. Largo Bay is well out in the Forth Estuary where the tidal effect is not too dramatic and the racing area has the space to set  big courses for any wind direction. The winds at the weekend were stronger than forecast and increased to 17 knots or more by Sunday afternoon giving some lively but tiring sailing.

Fiona Annan, Kate Annan and Brian Finnie, all from Loch Tummel SC, added Largo Bay to their travelling tally after the trek to and from Weymouth earlier in the month. However, the turnout for the championship was disappointing and only these three Europe sailors took part. With insufficient boats to claim a class start, the Europes joined the general handicap, with results computed from the Europe's relative finishing places. The low numbers and the inclusion in the handicap meant that the racing became a mixture of handicap tactics at the start to gain clear wind away from the larger boats and match racing tactics at the finish as places were attacked or defended approaching the line. Apart from the big triangular courses which were set for the faster classes and were not ideal for the Europe, the organisation at Largo Bay was excellent and the sailing conditions were probably the best of the year so far.

Race 1

The wind was south-westerly around 8 -10 knots. The tide, such as there was, was still coming in.  After an unremarkable start with the Europes spread along the line, Fiona took the long tack to the right towards the shore while Brian and Kate stayed further out taking the middle ground up the first beat. By the windward mark Fiona had built up a sizeable lead over Brian while Kate was finding it difficult to drive thorough the deceptive Largo Bay chop and was behind by similar amount. From then it was a procession with no further change of positions in the remaining 60 minutes or so of the two lap race.

Race 2

The chop had reduced and the wind seemed to have eased but this could have just been the effect of the turn in the tide. At the start all three Europes started together and once again split, with Kate going to the left after a short tacking duel with Brian as both tried to get clear air. Fiona once again went right with Brian leaving his tussle with Kate to chase Fiona. This time Brian looked set to arrive at the mark in the lead but Kate appeared from the port lay line to get round just ahead. Brian tried a quick tack behind a straggling Laser 3000 from the same handicap class as the L3000 tacked for the mark but he had not allowed for the Europe's faster tack and failed to keep clear. His subsequent penalty turns allowed Fiona to pass and go on to challenge Kate on the reaching legs. By the next windward mark Fiona was ahead. On the second beat Brian tracked Fiona to the right leaving Kate to take her own route left. This nearly paid off again but by the final windward mark Brian had caught Kate and concentrated on getting back in touch with Fiona. On the last beat to the finish Brian played the”speed not height” card and caught up as far as Fiona's transom to engage in a tacking duel to the line. Eventually Fiona, not quite clear ahead on port, tacked to avoid Brian on starboard whereupon Brian tacked to avoid Fiona's lee bow effect but fluffed the tack in the chop. On recovery he looked across to see that Fiona had also fluffed her tack and was taking longer to recover. It was then just a case of Brian keeping between Fiona and the line for Brian to take first place. Further back, Kate had taken a surprise ducking from a capsize on the reach and trailed in third.

Race 3

By the start of race three the chop had reduced with the wind remaining mostly light. At the start Brian got away with ducking into a sagging line to start cleanly at the pin end with Kate trapped close behind. However a slow moving L3000 (yes, the same one as before!) blocked Brian from going right to track Fiona as he intended and when finally released he continued up the middle.  By the mark Kate again came in from the left having mastered the “higher not faster” method to lead round the mark, followed by Brian with Fiona close behind. Fiona used her dramatic reaching speed to get in front and stayed there for the rest of the race. On the final beat Brian had been chasing Fiona on the right letting Kate, who had fallen behind, to get  her own way on the left. Realising that Fiona was now out of reach Brian chose to cross to cover Kate but soon regretted it as he was overhauled and shadowed by boats from  the Laser 2000 class coming up from behind. By the final approach to the line Kate looked to have broken through to get ahead of Brian but a series of short tacks put Brian just back in front at the photo finish for second place.

Race 4

On Sunday the wind had shifted round to the North East and freshened to 12 knots, shifting easterly and increasing progressively through the afternoon to 17 to 20 knots at times.

Launching for Race 4, Brian found his halyard strop had failed and spent the race on the shore rigging a replacement. Meanwhile, out on the water, Kate and Fiona were coping with an increasing breeze. On the first beat Kate, in the lead, capsized during a crash tack while avoiding a starboard boat, letting Fiona through only to overtake again when Fiona fluffed her gybe at the reaching mark. Fiona overtook again downwind but on the next beat the places changed again and this time Kate stayed in front to the finish.

Race 5

Brian joined in again for the fifth race which got under way after a lengthy postponement for a reorientation of the course as the wind went Easterly.  With the wind now 15 knots and a very short line, the handicap class start line was a densely packed mass of boats. Not surprisingly up went the “X” flag as the fast boats misjudged their ten second run up to the line. Fiona and Kate got away safely but Brian who had started in a clutch of faster boats was uncertain about his start and the “X” flag was still up. After too much time thinking he decided to return, not wanting to risk another DNS after missing the first race of the day but now the other two were well ahead. By the second beat Kate was out in front and stayed there to take her second win of the series. By this time Fiona was tiring and Brian worked hard for the rest of the race to eventually overtake Fiona and finish in second place.

Race 6

With both Fiona and Kate having two wins and a combination of second and thirds to count, and Brian with one win but three seconds in support, the championship depended on the last race result – any one of the three could still take the prize but for this each needed to win the final race.

At the start this time the fleet was line shy which allowed Brian once again to find a convenient hole and start with a safe leeward position except for two faster boats which soon cleared. Brian decided to go for the long tack left, allowing Kate and Fiona to take the right and middle. This paid off and Brian rounded with a clear space between him and Kate with Fiona not far behind. However, by the leeward mark the two reaching experts had reduced the gap by half.  On the beat, Brian again used the left side to make up lost ground and by the next windward mark Kate was some way behind Brian again.  However Kate blasted down the reaching legs and shot past just behind Brian's transom as he tacked left at the windward mark for the last time. This time Kate was gaining the advantage all the way up the beat to the committee boat, but Brian sailed fast and low again to sit on Kate's wind for the last few tacks to the finish to keep his place and take the series.

Brian Finnie GBR315