|
Loch Earn 2007 |
|
|
Loch Earn 28-29 April
2007 Race 1 The first race on Saturday saw a typical Loch Earn cat's cradle course round 6 of the available 16 marks. Val set off on the correct route from the start while Brian followed the wrong Laser guide boats past the lay line at the windward mark. Well ahead, Val used the downwind legs to further advantage but then she followed another Laser to the wrong downwind mark giving Brian the chance to recover lost ground. However, Val's superior downwind speed and a fluffed gybe by Brian finally gave Val a safe lead at the finish. Race 2 For the second race there was a change of course. The wind had increased and Brian was able to take advantage of the conditions to get to the windward mark well ahead of Val. However, zig-zag downwind legs provided four reaches which gave Val her chance to get back in touch by the start of the second beat. With the wind now dropping Brian lost some of his weight advantage and for a while Val threatened to overtake upwind and used each of the remaining downwind legs to keep up the challenge. However the breeze strengthened again and Brian was able to build up his lead on the final beat for the finish. Race 3 Sunday started grey and misty but with a stronger than forecast breeze from the East. The two Europes kept up with the handicap pack upwind and Brian arrived at the starboard lay line near the front of the fleet. Val had elected to go left to the north shore and was trailing near the back. Brian then badly misjudged his tack and at the mark found himself inside the lay line and most of the rest of the fleet. By the time Brian had extricated himself from the mess and finished two 720 turns incurred in the process Val was well ahead down the following reaching leg. Downwind however, while Val was being slowed by the pack, Brian had clear wind astern and closed up within reach of Val again. He then worked hard on the upwind leg to just get through Val at the windward mark. On the downwind legs once again Val overtook and pulled ahead leaving Brian what then seemed an impossible task to overhaul on the final beat to the finish line. Brian tried to put some pressure on Val by sailing for speed and had drawn parallel but was still some way down to leeward when the only real gust of the weekend hit both boats. Val came out worse from the encounter leaving Brian an unchallenged sprint to the finish. Race 4 With the breeze coming more from the south the course was changed again for the final race of the regatta, encompassing some of the further out marks of the sailing area. There were several doubling back turns giving the effect of a very long windward/leeward course. From the start Brian stayed ahead of Val until at the first leeward turning mark she sneaked through when Brian was stuck behind a Laser straggler. Val kept this lead until the start of the first beat back to the line when she tacked right to clear her wind while Brian continued left into the shore. A major shift gave Brian all the advantage and although Val worked hard to close the gap Brian had clear air and water to work the shifts while Val was still hemmed in by stragglers. Brian eventually opened out his lead to win by a good margin at the end of the second round, nearly two hours after the starting signal in a still freshening wind! Results With Brian's three wins to Val's one it was Brian who took the event, but the result concealed some very close competition and Val had been unlucky to lose the third race after leading for most of the time. The long Loch Earn courses were taxing so early in the season both physically due to their length and mentally because they were so complex. Loch Earn is very deep and there is no opportunity to drop marks for special events, so the club uses its 16 permanent marks to construct courses to suit the conditions, inevitably leading to some twists and turns. The Europes were 6th and 9th in the overall handicap and Brian took a second place overall in race four, where the course, with its windward leeward bias, suited the Europes over the faster Lasers and Blazes. This was a good weekend's sailing, nearly perfect conditions for Loch Earn and could only have been bettered by having a greater Europe turnout. Brian Finnie GBR367 |
|