RYA Scotland Zone Championships at Loch Tummel Sailing Club
by Christine Wood 2 Oct 2015 10:04 BST
26-27 September 2015
This year the RYA Zone and Home-Country Championships were held at Loch Tummel Sailing Club on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September.
With a turnout of over 120 boats, it was going to be a busy weekend. The Topper fleet was the largest, with 26 boats in the Main fleet and a further 10 in the Regatta fleet. It was great to see so many new faces at the event, with representatives from sailing clubs stretching from as far as Annandale in the south to Cape Wrath in the north.
The forecast was for settled weather over the weekend and the Race Committee knew from the outset that the winds were likely to be light and shifty, so set their race plans accordingly.
Competitors arrived and rigged at a cheerful and leisurely pace. Commodore Richard Harper from Loch Tummel welcomed all the competitors and introduced the RYA team headed by Tim Ellis, RYA Scotland High Performance Manager, who conducted the event briefing.
After a short postponement, during which on-shore games were organized for the coached regatta fleets, the launching signal was given and the fleets took to the water. 120 junior class sailors launching simultaneously provided an impressive photo opportunity for the Drone flying high overhead.
Saturday was challenging for the fleets as they were racing in light and shifty conditions. It was certainly a day for those with good concentration and a keen eye for spotting patches of pressure. Plenty of fun was had between each race, waiting for courses to be re-laid. David Rosie and Calum Bell dominated the day, with David taking the overnight lead. Christine Wood and Andrew Homer were in 3rd and 4th positions respectively, also only separated by one point. Finlay Tulett and Tom Aitchison were hot on their heels at the half-way point. After 6 hours and 3 races under their belts, the heat was out of the day, and the sailors were tired and chilled when they came ashore.
On Saturday night the club provided a delicious home-cooked heart-warming dinner of chilli, chicken pasta and a wide range of deserts and home baking for all the hungry competitors and their families.
Sunday morning dawned to the sound of Highland Cathedral from Calum Bell’s bagpipes as thick mist covered the loch. People emerged from their tents and camper vans to flat calm. The galley team provided a second day of hearty breakfast rolls.
As the competitors waited for the wind to fill in and the fog to clear Rory and Neil Hunter from the British Sailing Team Podium Potential Squad were giving advice to sailors and answering their questions. In 3 years they have progressed from sailing at this event to their current position in the British team in 49ers. Thank you to Rory and Neil who drove up to Scotland especially for the event, and stayed for the day to give encouragement to sailors on the water and took time to talk to people individually.
The sun came out and the wind initially filled in from the north and then swung 180 degrees to the south ! Once the wind had settled the marks were laid and racing got under way.
In the main fleet, Calum Bell and David Rosie continued their battle for first place throughout the day, Calum took race 4 and 5 but David fought back for race 6. There was competitive close-racing among this leading group with Christine Wood, Finlay Tulett, and siblings Andrew Homer and Suzie Homer all showing great determination and tenacity to get best position in every finish.
There was some great consistent racing from notably Tom Aitchison, Josh Hale, Olly Carr and Fergus Wilson. Special mentions are also deserved for fleet new-comers Emily Biggar who post a 6th place in race 4 and to Eilean Mauritzen who had an excellent set of results on the 2nd day of racing.
The steadier conditions meant that the race officer, Donald McLaren, completed the necessary races efficiently, with only one course change.
As everyone came ashore no one was sure who had won as David Rosie and Calum Bell were tied on points and on countback. The win came down to the last race and David emerged victorious once again.
Topper Main Fleet Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | GBR47592 | David ROSIE | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | GBR47344 | Calum BELL | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | GBR47398 | Christine Wood | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
| 4 | GBR46940 | Andrew HOMER | 3 | 5 | 5 | RDG | 3 | 4 | 18 |
| 5 | GBR45625 | Suzanna HOMER | 11 | 13 | 7 | RDG | 4 | 3 | 29 |
| 6 | GBR47538 | Finlay TULETT | 4 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 30 |
| 7 | GBR47606 | Tom AITCHISON | 6 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 36 |
| 8 | GBR47825 | Fergus WILSON | 7 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 44 |
| 9 | GBR46521 | Josh HALE | 8 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 44 |
| 10 | GBR47599 | Olly CARR | 13 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 46 |
| 11 | GBR1 | Calum REID | 10 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 53 |
| 12 | GBR42670 | Rory ANGUS | 18 | 11 | DNC | 11 | 6 | 12 | 58 |
| 13 | GBR5 | Alexander NOBLE | 9 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 24 | 60 |
| 14 | GBR47491 | Tom MITCHELL | 12 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 20 | 63 |
| 15 | GBR44404 | Emily BIGGAR | 20 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 13 | 73 |
| 16 | GBR44531 | Eilean MAURITZEN | DNC | DNC | DNC | 12 | 7 | 6 | 79 |
| 17 | GBR6912 | Eilidh MCQUEEN | 17 | 15 | 13 | 19 | 24 | 22 | 86 |
| 18 | GBR36824 | Finlay MCCALLUM | 16 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 22 | 15 | 87 |
| 19 | GBR40624 | Stuart KHALIQ | 14 | 12 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 23 | 88 |
| 20 | GBR18538 | Blair NICHOLL | 24 | 16 | 12 | 22 | 23 | 21 | 94 |
| 21 | GBR46442 | Michael O'DONOVAN | 15 | 23 | DNC | 18 | 19 | 19 | 94 |
| 22 | GBR35473 | Matthew GOODMAN | 25 | 18 | 21 | DNC | 18 | 14 | 96 |
| 23 | GBR45267 | James PEART | 19 | 17 | DNC | DNC | 16 | 17 | 96 |
| 24 | GBR45400 | Callum GRAY | 21 | 25 | DNC | 20 | 17 | 18 | 101 |
| 25 | GBR40212 | Zac BROWNLOW | 22 | 22 | 17 | 23 | 20 | 25 | 104 |
| 26 | GBR24127 | Nadia FENTON | 23 | 24 | 20 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 121 |
Topper Regatta Fleet Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | GBR47343 | Daniella Levins | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 2 | GBR33083 | Rebecca HEIDENREICH | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | DNC | 3 | 13 |
| 3 | GBR46285 | Lewis PARKER | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | DNC | 17 |
| 4 | GBR36823 | Molly MCCALLUM | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | DNC | DNC | 22 |
| 5 | GBR32783 | John MCINTYRE | DNC | 6 | 3 | DNC | 1 | 2 | 23 |
| 6 | GBR45189 | Finlay ERSKINE | 4 | 5 | RET | 5 | DNC | DNC | 36 |
| 7 | GBR44026 | Tom LOGAN | DNC | DNC | DNC | 6 | DNC | 1 | 40 |
| 8 | GBR1 | Benjamin COCHRANE | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 5 | 4 | 42 |
| 9 | GBR27405 | Troy Clark | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 4 | 6 | 43 |
| 10 | GBR0 | Fraser ADAMS | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 55 |
Other main fleet prizes went to 3rd Boy Andrew Homer, 2nd Girl Suzanna Homer and 3rd Girl Emily Biggar. Regatta Fleet medallists were 3rd Girl Molly McCallum, 2nd Boy John McIntyre and 3rd Boy Finlay Erskine.
We enjoyed meeting and sailing with other Topper sailors from around Scotland and hope to see them again soon at either the RYA Class Academies or the 2015-16 Travellers (dates to be announced).
Thank you to Loch Tummel Sailing Club for hosting an excellent RYA Scotland Zones event, everyone from the RYA team and all the volunteer helpers, in particular the galley crew!