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IOM Scottish Travellers 2011 Event 2 – Aberdeen – 21st May 2011

Report by Ian Dundas  Score Sheet

Although the weather forecast was not good, 12 skippers from 6 different clubs across Scotland travelled to Aberdeen for the second of the three race District IOM Travellers series.

The stiff breeze from the South West had skippers rigging their No 2 Rigs, but large swings in the wind direction had the race team out moving marks trying to set a fair course. Some skippers sailing at Inchgarth for the first time experienced the challenge of racing in the shifty and gusty winds that fan the reservoir.

To help with the race management the “Bye Boat” system was used where a skipper stood down from each race to do Race Observer duties. This helped ensure that any “on the water” incidents were properly noted and resolved.

Ali Law got out in front on the first beat of Race 1 and he held this to win from Robert Brown sailing his Italiko and Steve Taylor who was clearly enjoying sailing his Robot with a new fin and rudder. Unfortunately Pat Johnston from Greenock lost radio control and retired but was able to return to racing in Race 3.

Steve Taylor won race 2 from Ian Thomson and Brian Robertson. Ian, as a novice, was sailing with a Starting Advantage. The Starting Advantage system was introduced to help newcomers to the sport to quickly get into the thick of the racing.

Steve also won Race 3 ahead of Ali Law and Richard Ennos who was sailing his very well finished self-designed and self-built Kelpie design. At this point the wind continued to swing southerly and a fourth race was just squeezed in before it was decided to move the course to a new area to gain a better course with better visibility. The fourth race was won by Robert Brown ahead of Gordon Neil, Ali Law and Mel Percival.

On the new course 4 races were sailed before lunch. Constantly oscillating winds meant marks had to be regularly adjusted. In this spell, Ali Law and Steve Taylor each counted two wins a 3rd and a 4th which meant they went to lunch as joint leaders. They did not get it easy as others like David Stewart, Richard Ennos, Bill Reid and Gordon Neil were pushing hard.

After lunch the wind dropped and some skippers changed up to their No 1 Rig. Those who stayed on No 2 rig struggled and they too decided to change up for the next race. As often happens, the wind then strengthened again which tested skippers as they surfed downwind often broaching with the big rigs. In this session it was difficult to maintain consistent results with a good result often being followed by a discard score. Race wins went to Ali Law, Robert Brown, Richard Ennos and Gordon Neil.

Going into the last race, the scores showed that Steve Taylor held a very slender two point lead over Ali Law. Ali was first off the line and read the beat well to round the first mark in the lead ahead of Ian Thomson and Brian Robertson with Steve in the middle of the fleet. Steve pulled back to 4th but Ali held his lead and won the event by a single point.

The prize for “best improver” went to newcomer Gordon Neil from Ayr Bay who finished 6th showing how much he had learnt in recent events.

Top placings were:

PossSkipperClubHull designPoints
1.A LawBuchannessBlackbird24
2.S TaylorAberdeenRobot25
3.R BrownLevenhallItaliko35
4.R EnnosLevenhallKelpie45
5.B RobertsonBuchanessTopiko61
6.G NeilAyr BayStealth62

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