IOM Scottish Travellers Event 2 – Greenock – 2nd May 2015
Report by Richard Rowan
The second Scottish District IOM Travellers event of 2015 was moved at Castle Semple due to low water levels at Murdieston Dam. The Greenock club also decided not to hold the Scotts of Greenock trophy as part of the days sailing – it will be held at Murdieston Dam later in the season.
Fifteen skippers from a total of seven Scottish clubs gathered to face a strong easterly breeze. RO Richard Rowan got the racing started at 10am using a windward – leeward course with a windward spreader mark and a leeward gate. The starting line was situated to leeward of the gate giving a slightly longer first beat.
Steve Taylor started the regatta well by sailing to 3 firsts in the first 4 races. He was followed closely by Ali Law and Ian Dundas, all sailing their Britpops. As the races unfolded, Ian got to grips with the conditions and started to ease out a lead over Ali and Steve.
Watching the running boats from the shore, the Britpops could be seen to be much faster downwind in the choppy conditions, with the sole exception of Gordon Allison who was sailing his new V9 for the first time in the strong number 2 suit conditions. Gordon will be pleased with his new boat because, after coping with un-optimised boat and rigging setup in the morning session, he gradually improved his speed to the extent that he was getting in amongst the Britpops at the end of the day.
Best of the rest were Robert Rooney sailing his Topico who took quite a few races to get his boat settled into the conditions and Richard Ennos sailing his own design wooden hulled Rhyme.
So after 18 hard races, the winner was Ian Dundas followed quite closely by Ali Law and Steve Taylor, with Gordon Allison ending up a slightly distant fourth.
Top placings were:
Pos | Skipper | Club | Hull design | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | I Dundas | Aberdeen | Britpop | 27 |
2. | A Law | Buchanness | Britpop | 31 |
3. | S Taylor | Aberdeen | Britpop | 33 |
4. | G Allison | Ayr Bay | V9 | 66 |
5. | R Rooney | Paisley | Topico | 84 |
6. | R Ennos | Levenhall | Rhyme | 85 |
Race Team
Richard Rowan, Hugh Shields, David Smith, Drew Taylor, Victor Kelly, John Mason and John Mathieson.