IOM Scottish Wooden Hull Championship 2009 Brechin – 2nd May 2009

Report by Ali Law

The Scottish wooden hull championship was the brainchild of the Brechin Club and was first sailed in 2005 when it was realized that there were quite a few skippers building their own hulls in wood and it would be good idea to hold a regatta for these home built wooden yachts. What started out as a good day out has now become a fixed date in the Scottish District radio controlled sailing calendar and is not to be missed. What makes this regatta such a good day’s sailing? Good company, good surroundings and an excellent club house, all go towards making it a day to remember. It’s not every day you see so many beautifully built wooden yachts in one place – a real joy to behold.

This year all Scottish Clubs were represented and twelve skippers participated under the control of Race Officer Colin Deakin (Buchanness) who was ably assisted by Murray Hackney (Brechin) acting as scorer. To maximize the amount of yachts on the water and to help with observing, a “bye boat” system was used with a skipper standing down from each race to act as race observer. In line with current practice at Scottish District events, two races were sailed back to back followed by a rest period and starting advantages were used, with one skipper being offered – Brian Lamont from Greenock MYC who has newly taken up the sport.

Racing started at 10:15 and eleven yachts lined up on the start line to sail a triangle and sausage course leaving all marks to starboard. The wind was quite fresh coming from the southwest as forecast which at times approached the upper limit of number one rig. This meant it was quite a challenge going downwind and some skippers suffered badly by nose diving and going out of control. The sailing was very tight and one mistake would take you from the front of the fleet to the rear. Steve Taylor, last year’s winner, soon had his sights on the trophy and quickly settled down with his Bantock designed Zig Zag trimmed up and his brain in gear. He won the first race by a healthy margin and this set the tone for the rest of the event. Sailing continued during the morning. The lunch break was called early at 1145 (to miss the queue) and skippers and race team enthusiastically made their way to the very well appointed restaurant which overlooks the sailing water.

After lunch, racing recommenced following the same format as the morning session but the wind began to ease allowing the narrower yachts like the Nip & Tuck (Bantock one off) and Brian Lamont’s Mcshee (Shields design)to perform more effectively, Sailing continued at a brisk pace throughout the afternoon with a total of 18 races being sailed. The last race was called shortly before 15h30. In the last race David Stewart and his Boyd Baird built Isis yacht lead the fleet around the course right from the start gun only to be beaten on the line by Ali Law. David is worthy of a mention as he controls all the yacht’s functions with a single stick and he is fast becoming a very hard skipper to beat.

The event was hard fought but in a very sportsmanship way and skippers enjoyed themselves! The race team did an extremely good job and they too enjoyed themselves!

Steve Taylor from Aberdeen was very consistent with 11 top three positions and ran out as worthy winner defending the trophy he won last year. He did not get it all his own way and had a tough fight on his hands at times from Robert Rooney the “quite man” from the West who was sailing one of four Hughie Shield designed and built yachts that had entered. Robert had four wins and came a good second. Ali Law (Buchanness) and Ralph Knowles (Brechin) both sailed yachts that had not seen water since the last year’s Woody event but they overcame initial difficulties to notch up a win or two and by sheer doggedness managed to keep going finishing in third and fourth respectively just ahead of Richard Ennos from the Levenhall club. This meant that the top 5 places went to skippers from different Scottish Clubs. It has to be said that all skippers performed magnificently, at times in the very trying conditions caused by Brechin’s unique topography. All incidents were dealt with on the water and only one protest for redress came ashore therefore no time was lost to protests. Boyd Baird and Ali Law who have attended the RYA Course were asked by the race committee to use the Advisory/ Arbitration Procedures to deal with any rules disputes.

What about next year? There are other wooden yachts that are known to be or are about to go on the building board. Next year it is hoped to see more wooden home built yachts entering which is strongly encouraged in the Scottish District. There is no better feeling than launching and racing a yacht which you have built with your own hands.

Results

Detailed final results table (pdf file)