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IOM Scottish Wooden Hull Championship 2006 Brechin - 27th May 2006 |
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report and photos by Mel Percival (race officer) The second year of this popular event attracted an entry of 13
boats, which is about the maximum fleet the relatively small Brechin lake can accommodate. Also with
westerly winds it was impossible to arrange a long beat to the first windward mark and allow the fleet to
separate. As Race Officer I was very surprised at the number of skippers approaching the windward mark on
the port layline, and risking tacking within the four-length circle etc. With the wind continually varying this
can, and does, lead to boats stalling on the mark and risking entanglement with right of way starboard boats. |
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The RYGG handicap system was used throughout, with five skippers starting on yellow, but after
winning 3 of the first four races John Milne (72) was promoted to green. After a hectic first race skippers
settled down, becoming relatively polite by about race 3. At the first tweaking break, the wind swung
slightly to the south allowing the start to be positioned at the extreme northerly leeward mark, this then
allowing a much longer beat to the first mark and giving just about perfect racing conditions. However
it returned to its predominately western direction after the lunch break forcing us to return to the original
starting line halfway down our long but rather narrow lake. During lunch the windward mark was moved a
further 5 metres from the windward bank to encourage greater use of the starboard side of the course. But we all
know the old saying about horses and water! |
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The results were reasonably well spread during the first races but unfortunately Ali Law (175) was seriously
holed in race 1, he must have been enjoying himself as he had no knowledge of this until the boat started
to sink. Sailing on, after a duct tape repair, Ali’s misfortune was compounded when his sail
arm failed during race 13. Also Steve Taylor (00) missed races 2 to 7 due to winch problems before
changing to his second boat (24), which preformed very well as the wind strength increased during the
second half of the event. Murray Hackney (87) also retired after race 8 due to control problems associated
with sailing on the limits of No1 rig. Grant Cuthbert made a welcome appearance, the first this
year, but unfortunately had reliability problems and retired after race 14. |
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| The results were greatly influenced by the decision of the majority of skippers to change to No.2 rig after race 7, only 38, 75, 83 and 175 retaining No.1. As the wind increased the big cats on No.1 struggled and fought for supremacy, while the nimble easily managed gazelles on No.2 rig crept silently ahead, getting more top places, with Jimmy Roger (25) very evidently shocked with his win at the prize giving. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Top places
full score sheet |
 All the skippers |
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Analysis Top places by handicap/scratch for event
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Top places by handicap/scratch for races 1 to 7
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Top places by handicap/scratch for races 8 to 17
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On average, the big cats who retained no1 rig after race 7 halved their chance of winning races 8 to 18 |
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