IOM Scottish Travellers Event 3 – Brechin – 17th June 2006

Report by Richard Rowan

Score Sheet

The third event in the 2006 Scottish IOM Travellers took place in light to medium conditions at the Brechin pond with 12 boats entered. Race Officer Mel Percival assisted by Ali Law got a cracking 20 races run over the course of the day.
The general wind direction was from the south (ie the Dundee end of the pond) but varied slightly throughout the day, sometimes coming round one side of the island and sometimes round the other. This generally meant that the final part of the beat into the first mark required constant attention to the wind shifts and also introduced a degree of variability into the first reach and the top end of the second reach.

Hugh Shields took an early advantage from his 20sec handicap to put in 6 top four finishes (including 3 firsts) in the first 11 races – however, his third first place in race 11 meant his handicap was cut to scratch for the rest of the event. So just to prove that he didn’t need a handicap anyway, he threw in another 2 firsts before the end of the day. Ian Dundas also overcame the advantage of the handicap starters by managing to finish 5th or better over the first 10 races – he continued with a similar level of results in the second half thereby holding off Richard Rowan to win the event. Richard (as I am writing this report, it allows me to make my excuses) had a number of poor placings over the day and although he had a run of better places than Ian at the end of the day, the deficit built up earlier couldn’t be overcome. Boyd Baird also had a run of better results towards the end of the day to finish 4th overall. Best of the handicap sailors was David Smith who managed 8 finishes in the top half of the fleet – hopefully, David will feel encouraged by his progress in the Travellers Series this year.

Top placings were: