Albacore Scottish Championship at Aberdeen & Stonehaven Yacht Club

Aberdeen & Stonehaven YC Regatta © Alex Peacock / Nadia McMinn

This year's venue was settled based on the club's reputation for running a good event and to help entice some of the many Albacore sailors down from Shetland, when it came to it, a contingent of five boats from the various island clubs made the fourteen and a half hour ferry journey from Lerwick, bringing with them the trophy from last year's event in Burravoe. Four English crews also made the long trip North from Rudyard Lake and Scaling Dam.

Race 1 was lead off by husband and wife team of Judy and Paul Armstrong, having won the event several times in the past were out to prove themselves main contenders, in this they did not disappoint, stretching out a lead which took them to the finishing gun. For everyone else the competition was very close with lots of cross tacking battles and close covering, the best of the rest was Steven Brown and Frank Guthrie from South Yell followed by Crawford Reid and Graeme Russell from Strathclyde Loch.

Race 2 confirmed the benefits of a good start, especially on a short line. This time it was Brown and Guthrie who established the first break and around the 1st mark it was nose to tail through the whole fleet. The wind was by this time a fresh 15kts and made for lots of exciting place changing on the fast off wind legs and down wind gybes, by midway up the next beat the pair from Scaling Dam had again taken the lead and went on to hold it to the finish line, followed up by Reid then Mathew Metcalf-Smith crewed by Joe Tucker in third.

Race 3 was a tight start line with Reid and Russell getting shut in, only to make an escape and then get caught by a starboard tacker, sometimes it can't get any worse! Up at the front no-one was hanging back, the Armstrongs were back in front and the Shetland boats revelling in the brisk conditions. On the runs Brown was fighting off attacks from fellow Shetlander Brydon Leask and David Thomson and also from Mathew Metcalfe-Smith sailing appropriately named 'It wasn't me' and local boat of Gordon Scott and Brian Inglis, at that stage the wind dropped off considerably and lead to a group of some six boats trying to get around the bottom mark together, Reid sailing Ptarmigan by this time had caught up the leading pack only to take more penalty turns for contact with Angus McNeil on the mark rounding, sometimes it does get worse! As the wind died off further, the race officer thought it prudent to shorten the race at the gate and the Armstrongs took their third bullet followed again by Brown and Guthrie and Scott and Inglis third.

Sunday dawned after a heavy Saturday night which only ended when the bar ran out of alcohol. The forecast was for very little wind but by the time everyone got out to the committee boat, it started to build and the first race started in a healthy 7kts.

Race 4 and flying out the blocks was 'The Wizard' with Leask and Thomson showing the fleet a clean pair of heels. Going around the top mark it was line astern with Brown in pursuit then Metcalfe-Smith then the Armstrongs who came up from sixth then Reid having passed three boats on the reach after yet another bad start. At the bottom mark Leask was still ahead and holding a commanding lead over Armstrong chased by Metcalfe-Smith and Brown racing side by side all the way to the finish line. Armstrong took the gun but unfortunately Leask crossed in silence to later discover that he was OCS at the start, making Metcalfe Smith second and Brown in third.

The breeze was still holding in race 5 but getting lighter as time went on. Armstrong sailing Slightly Ratty took the lead from the start and was followed by Brown, Leask and Metcalf-Smith. These positions didn't change until the wind started to die off and the race officer blew the horn to shorten the course. Going around the bottom mark and onto the short beat to the line it was all short tacking between the RS400 fleet who shared the event and were qybing through to the bottom mark, Armstrong again took line honours to make it five bullets followed by Brown and then Reid who won the short tacking battle to get passed into third place.

Race 6 was abandoned when the Race Officer decided it was probably a lost cause and all were sent home.

Overall Results: (top three)

1st Judy and Paul Armstrong, Slightly Ratty (Scaling Dam SC) 4pts
2nd Steven Brown and Frank Guthrie, Storm (South Yell BC) 9pts
3rd Crawford Reid and Graeme Russell, Ptarmigan (Strathclyde Loch SC) 12pts

Albacore Scottish Championship prize winners - photo © Crawford Reid