North East Clubs 2007 Late Series Event 2 – Aberdeen – 17th November 2007

Report & photos by John Owens

The event attracted eleven skippers with 5 from Brechin, 3 from Buchanness and 3 from Aberdeen. Initial conditions were sunny with a light south westerly breeze in the mid number 1 range with the forecast for rain by mid-day. The wind soon filled in and after two races the fleet changed to number 2 rigs. However, after lunch the wind decreased, the promised rain stayed away and skippers made tactical decisions regarding when to change back-up to number 1’s which were then used for the rest of the day. The wind direction stayed from the same general south-westerly direction throughout the day but skippers had to concentrate on reading the shifts, making the most of gusts and avoiding the holes.

A total of 14 races were sailed. The race team of John Owens and Steve Taylor set a long windward-leeward course with a windward and spreader mark rounded to starboard and a gate at the leeward end through which boats had to pass. This allowed skippers to make decisions regarding their tactics for the beat based on the wind direction at the time, the wind direction they anticipated and their position with respect to other boats.

Given recent discussions on when best to take breaks, a 2-and-a-break format was to be trialled. The early wind increase fitted in perfectly with this as the fleet was forced to change from number 1 to number 2’s ! As the day went on, breaks were taken as per general consensus based on conditions, the occasional need to recover boats and allow for quick repairs and rig tweaks – there was more enjoyment to be gained from the excellent sailing conditions by this flexible approach. The good mannered racing was also helped by continuing the trial of a bye-boat per race with the skipper acting as observer. This provided an opportunity for all skippers to witness how incidents arise, which boat is in the wrong and hopefully learn from other’s. In return, the bye-boat skipper was awarded equal 3rd place in that race. This rewards the majority of the skippers without disadvantaging the top skippers. A very special thanks to Colin Cawte who kept track of who was observer for each race and maintaining the scoring.

Throughout the day there was very close sailing and it was never a foregone conclusion who would be in the top four of each race. Nearly every skipper had at least one top 4 position. Both the skippers with starting advantages, Colin Deakin and Jimmy Rodgers, had top two finishes. However, it was consistency that paid at the end of the day with very little separating the top four skippers. Ali Law (Buchanness) just came out on top having been given a very close run by Steve Taylor (Aberdeen) sailing his home-built wooden Zig Zag. They we closely followed by Ian Dundas (Aberdeen) and Ralph Knowles (Brechin). Thus, all three clubs were represented in the top four. It was also a close fought thing for the next two positions with only two points separating Neil Jardine (Brechin) from Bill Reid (Buchanness).

Final positions were:

Full results (pdf file)