Artemis Sonata Nationals at Helensburgh Sailing Club - Day 1
by Mike Heath 26 Jul 2015 17:47 BST
25-28 July 2015
The first day of racing for the 25 entries in the 2015 Artemis Sonata class National Championships got under way on Saturday 25 July at Helensburgh, with brilliant blue skies and a steady south-westerly breeze. Perfect conditions.
Race Officer Donald McLaren set a course out on the East Patch, and even the spectacular bloom of plankton which had turned the waters of the Clyde an orange-brown did not prevent Steve Goacher from Royal Windermere taking the first race in 'Eric the Red' from the local boat 'Jazz' of Kenny Manderson.
The paddle steamer 'Waverley' made an appearance at the end of race 1, rumbling through the race area to disembark passengers at Helensburgh Peir, but this did not unduly delay race 2, which resulted in the same 1,2 positions. But then it was all change.
A big wind shift to the northwest during race 3 saw the RO decide to shortened the course to avoid a procession, with the boats at the front of the previous races dropping down the field to make way for Joe Cross and crew from Poole in "Exposition' and 'Virtuoso' from Craignish BC (Guy Neville).
By race 4 there were vigorous rain squalls coming in over the hills which added some spice to the racing and a frantically close finish with less than 30 seconds covering places 2-7. Out of this emerged a new pair of 1, 2 finishers in the form of David Matthews (Sunderland YC, "White Magic") and Colin Greer ('Out of the Blue').
By the end of day 1, Steve Goacher, Joe Cross and Kenny Manderson were vying for the lead on points with only 1 point separating each, and Kevin Cross (Poole YC) was ten points back in 4th.
Back ashore, the crews were entertained by music and a barbecue in the glorious evening sunshine at Helensburgh Sailing Club, with a table tennis competition and other entertainments laid on, supported by the event sponsors, Artemis Fund Managers, Babcock International Group, CraftInsure Boat Insurance, Tunnock's, and Advanced Asset Consultants. Everyone retired looking forward to another day of close racing, but with a very different weather foreacast – overcast and easterly winds.