Fastnet Race – Brechin – 29th March 2008

Report by Ian Dundas    Detailed final results table (pdf file)

In the past couple of years the Scottish Fastnet race has seen dwindling entries with most of the entries being modern IOM’s.The new Scottish District racing secretary Colin McGinnis along with some stalwarts from the host club Brechin made an effort this year to rekindle enthusiasm and encourage participation from all classes and ages of boat.

The Fastnet Race is an endurance event with a series of 30 minute races run over the day. Each skipper picks up a counter after completing a lap. After a 30 min time limit a hooter sounds and the race is stopped and skippers duly cash in their lap counters with the race scorer. Handicaps are then applied to adjust for different classes. This year, in order to encourage participation from older boats, a further adjustment would be made to take account of the age of the design. The boat with the best number of laps (adjusted for class and age) would win the Fastnet Shield. The creation of teams was encouraged.

This effort worked and 10 boats entered including a number of classic boats brought out of storage. There were two Isle of Man 50’s – a class designed in 1932 – which had been refurbished by Boyd Baird and John Milne. Ian Dundas had re-rigged his DM – a cedar wood Parisian pond yacht from 1984. Bill Reid and Brian Robertson had formed a team to sail Ali Law’s 6 meter Renaissance. There were 5 IOMs – Dave Stewart’s wooden Isis, Ali Law’s wooden Tejas, Andrew Haxton’s 2 Dogs, David Brown’s Scotch Mist and Alan Massie’s Image. Pride of place however went to the magnificent A Class of Colin McGinnis “Emperor” which had been built by his dad in 1980 and had not been in the water for many years.

Race Officer Mel Percival assisted by Neil Jardine and Albert Ireland got the racing underway into a good breeze under sunny skies. It was clear that many boats had not been raced for some time as pit stops were required to make running repairs or rig adjustments as they came past the jetty. The strong breeze also showed up that some boats might have benefited from smaller rigs or larger rudders. The larger boats looked serene on the water and were deceptively fast when compared to the apparently nippier IOM’s. The DM and R6M got away from the fleet in the first race as the strong wind matched their rigs.

As the day progressed the wind dropped with Race 5 seeing the IOMs at the front with their No1 suits and the heavier boats struggling in the lighter conditions. By now the endurance element of the race was beginning to tell on skippers and boats with many (boats that is) strapped up with jury rigs or sticky tape. None less so than the DM which with a much reduced freeboard after a “T bone” with a planing IOM indicated that it had a serious water tightness issue. Encouragement from other skippers plus a large length of duck tape and a rewiring of damp electrics got the boat on the start line for the next race!

After 5 good 30 minute races the event stopped to allow the adjusted lap calculations to be computed. Despite the rain that had now started, many keen skippers went back on the water for a bonus race. This was a clear testament to the enthusiasm of the day.

Worthy winners were the team of Bill Reid and Brian Robertson with the R6M who were presented with the Fastnet Shield. They were closely followed by David Brown and David Stewart in their IOM’s. The full results sheet is attached.

The Age Adjusted Fastnet Quaich was awarded to John Milne whose Isle of Man 50 design was 78 years old.

This new look Fastnet Race proved to be an enjoyable event and has demonstrated that this type of event has development potential. The Brechin club are now looking at the possibility to fit in a couple of Fastnet club events over the summer to allow tuning of both boats and the handicap system. Some skippers are already planning to fit larger rudders, renew running gear and sails to improve the competitiveness of the older boats for next year.

Hopefully other skippers from further a field will now be encouraged to dust down their older boats and come along for a fun day and a good sail.

Final results were: