West Highland Yachting Week

LONG TIME West Highland Week sailors John Readman and family lifted the prestigious Peter Cocks Memorial Trophy at this year’s Tennents West Highland Yachting Week that ran from August 1-8.

Finishing with a first in the last race of the week from Tobermory to Oban, Readman and his family in their Dufour 41 Te Bhan clinched the best performance of the Aggregate Series by 3.5 points from Clyde based Geoffrey Howison and his BH 41 Local Hero.

A successful regatta based round Craobh, Oban and Tobermory with passage and Olympic courses for spinnaker and restricted sail classes saw a mix of wind and weather conditions to give mainly excellent racing for the 122-boat fleet over the six days. The spinnaker fleet contested eight races with two races held on the Round the Cans days for the first time and all reports point to this being a success.

Light and variable winds made for tricky sailing conditions for the launch of the Week with the fleet struggling at times to find wind on the first passage race from Craobh to Oban. After an initial beat the expected moderate breeze from the southwest failed to materialise with the fleet bunching up at the bottom of Luing. Those who made for the Scarba shore were able to set kites earlier and made good gains on the tide through Fladda. Gradually the wind filled in for all and Chris Tiso’s Farr 40 Tiso Thunderbird steered by Jon Fitzgerald was the first boat across the shortened course line off Kerrera in two hours fifteen minutes to lift the MacBrayne Centenary Challenge Cup and also first in Class 1. Ian Cleaver with Chris Owen aboard finished second in the Melges 24 Clapped Out Toy Boy with Geoff Howison’s Local Hero third.

David Lyons’ Supertramp won restricted sail Class 2 and Texa Class 3. Johnny Readman and family lifted their first place of the week in Te Bhan in restricted sail Class 4 with Andy Thoms’ Quail taking silverware in Class 5. Stevie Andrews from Northern Ireland in Penelope Pitstop won restricted sail Class 6 and Ken Andrew’s Highlander 28 Stevie B took the win from Kenny MacDonald and family on Highpointer in Class 7.

Campbeltown boat Carna was to the fore in Class 8 with Alastair Cousin wining by a strong margin from Owen Hoey in his GK 24 Girl Karina with Hot Toddy third. The McGruer Lorne Class Malindi of Lorne took first overall in Class 9.

The Campbeltown win added to the excellent results from the Gigha to Craobh Feeder race where first, second and third were taken by Campbeltown boats. Tom Grant’s Shipman 28 Inspiration won the Brian Houston Memorial Trophy with Judy Orr’s Eureka second and Jochr sailed by Owen McManus was third.

In the feeder race from Oban John Murphy’s Erin secured the Feochan Trophy with David Walters’ Finesse second and Eric Chapman’s Sigma 33 Amber Haze third. The unexpected closure of the Crinan Canal forced the cancellation of the Inverkip to Ardrishaig feeder race with competitors from the Clyde and Ireland coming round the Mull of Kintyre to Gigha. One the Friday preceding the West Highland Week feeder, 53 boats were on moorings or at anchor in Gigha.

An excellent evening of entertainment was organised by the Lord of the Isles on Saturday night to welcome the West Highland Week fleet to the start of the week at Craobh with fireworks rounding the night off in spectacular fashion. Marina manager Jim Berry and his team accommodated all the boats in smooth and efficient fashion and the atmosphere at Craobh was fantastic.

Firth of Lorn

Monday’s racing in the Firth of Lorn saw the fleet split with a delayed start for the Olympic course till the wind filled. Two races were run for the spinnaker fleet under the helm of Race Officer Malcolm MacGregor who made the best of the variable wind conditions. Local Hero XX found form in Class 1 winning both races while in Class 2 Manuka took first from Scanne and Rioja on the restricted sail course to the south. Freebird and Skywalker were first and second respectively in the two races in Class 3 and in Class 4 Trilleachan took the win. Oban sailor Eric Chapman was first and second in Class 5 for the two races with Glenafton, Slippi Jin and Penelope Pitstop the placing in restricted sail class 6. In Class 7 Misjif was in form winning from Stevie B and Mellow Moment in Race 1 with Misjif again wining Race 2. Close racing in Class 8 saw Carna again lifting a first with Marian Austin’s Scintilla of the Sea sailing with her all girls crew second and Hot Toddy third.

Round Lismore

A breezy start to the Round Lismore Race ended in disappointment for many competitors when the wind died away for all but the faster boats in the fleet, despite a shortened course. Many boats used this as their discard race for the week with a glassy calm and strong opposing tide ensuring most people retired or did not finish. Local Hero, Supertramp and Texa won Class 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Te Bhan, Signet, Slippi Jin and Misjif were also class winners as was Marian Austin’s Scintilla of the Sea from Lochaber in Class 8. Carna took a second in this race with Chris McCondichie’s Sadler 25 Silenus a third. Coigach won Class 9.

Tobermory

Wednesday’s passage to Tobermory similarly showed promise with a strong northeasterly breeze with the race committee opting to lay a windward mark to start the fleet. A shy kite run became for most a white sail fetch, which slowed as the wind died off the Green Isles to a kite run again. Places were won and lost over several hours drifting as the slower end of the fleet struggled to reach Tobermory. Tiso Thunderbird came good with a win over Hero and David Walter’s Finesse finished third. Scanne dominated Class 2 with Twig Olsen steering the Dunstaffnage Yachts’ Salona Rioja to a second place. AeRo won Class 3 and Trilleachan Class 4. Class 5 was won by Piecemaker with Glenafton taking the honours in Class 6 and Vaila winning Class 7. Donald Philips took Class 8 with Whigmaleerie.

Sound of Mull

Thursday’s racing around the cans off Tobermory proved excellent with two races run for the spinnaker fleet and a new inshore race for the restricted sail classes. The passage race on Friday returned the boats to Oban with light winds again prevailing forcing the committee to shorten course off Yule Rock. Local Hero showed form taking a first and the Class for Howison with Manuka scoring the win in Class 2. It was to be a first win in this passage race for Brian Robertson of Ardrishaig and his crew on Celtic Spirit by only 6 seconds from Skywalker in Class 3 that saw them finish third overall. Charlie Gourley’s Freebird won the Class with Iain Laidlaw’s Bavaria Match 35 Skywalker taking second. The Readmans in Te Bhan secured their Class 4 win with Taika and Satisfaction taking second and third in Class.

Tennent Caledonian Salver

Last year’s overall Regatta winner Craig Anderson in Class 5 was back on the podium again this time storming through the fleet to take the Tennent Caledonian 25th Anniversary Salver for the best corrected time in the passage race between Tobermory and Oban with his Moody 336 Cool Bandit 2. Anderson also won the Iona Shop Trophy for the best performance over the three passage races although the Sigma 33s Ziggy Stardust, taking first and Amber Haze, second dominated the Class placings overall. Stuart Hamilton’s Moody 336 Piecemaker, always a strong contender, finished third in the Points Series. Michael Briggs beautiful Mikado ’ the Fife Clyde Linear 30 that is the oldest boat racing in the UK - missed out on a first in the passage race back by only 2 seconds and finished seventh overall in Class 5.

Slippi Jin won restricted sail class 6 with Misjif taking Class 7. Hot Toddy took the final day’s silverware in Class 8 to take a very closely contested points win from Alastair Cousin of Campbeltown in his Contessa 28 Carna with Marian Austin’s Scintilla of the Sea from Lochaber third.

David Denholm’s kenspeckle McGruer yawl Coigach had a string of consistent placings and took restricted sail Class 9.

Traditionally a family event, particularly in the white sail classes, the Tennent Caledonian Trophy for the best family yacht was this year won by Patrick Clark and family in their Dufour 40 Manuka. Vaila won the Angus Meldrum Trophy for the best time from Oban to Tobermory.

Apres Sail

Famed for its competitive racing on the water, Tennents West Highland Yachting Week is also noted for its successful apr’s sail entertainment. The muster at Craobh was no exception followed by Oban Marina’s boatshed dance being a similar success as was the entertainment at Dunstaffnage Marina and Tobermory.

Sponsor’s Tennent Caledonian Breweries, now in their 29th year, bow out after next year’s event having supported West Highland Yachting Week for 30 years, the longest running sponsorship of any sport in the UK. Kevin Summers from the sponsors presented the trophies at the final prize-giving dance last Friday in the Corran Halls.

Chairman of the Joint Regatta Committee David Waltho expressed appreciation of the sponsorship from Tennents, funding support from Argyll and Bute Council and also from EventScotland in the quest for new sponsorship for 2010. He said: ’The regatta will be a special event in 2009 celebrating an amazing 30 years of partnership with Tennents and we look forward to growing the event even more to be one of the most successful regattas, not only in Scotland but in the UK. Your diary dates for next year’s event are 31st July to 7th August.