Third leg of the RS400 Scottish tour at East Lothian Yacht Club

JP Watersports / Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish traveller series at East Lothian © Derek Braid

JP Watersports / Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish traveller series at East Lothian © Derek Braid

A healthy 12 boats made their way to North Berwick for the annual ELYC regatta and round three of the JP Watersports / Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish traveller series. Some tour regulars deeming Hawaii and Centerparcs a better option than racing at one of the country's best sailing locations. Saturday dawned with a bit of optimism for all with the hope that some Saturday sailing could be achieved for the first time in three years.

After a slight delay in launching, those racing on the East course were greeted with a stiff force 4 from the East, with some sizable waves added in. The waves causing the biggest headaches for the crews, with many deploying the sea anchor as the kite escaped from it's chute. Despite Ian Martin and Andy Weatherspoon sailing the aptly named 'U- Boat', the call of 'Dive Dive Dive' was heard from the front of the John McKenzie and Andy Box's boat as bow nosed into a rogue wave during a gybe.

Race 1: Normal service was continued with Stuart and Sarah Robertson showing why they have been recent national champions, and showing the fleet a clean pair of heels. MacKenzie / Box seem to be getting used to their shiny new boat coming second and Jacob Ainsworth and Kayleigh Roberts coming in a hard earned 3rd.

Race 2: The Robertsons again sailed off into the distance leaving the rest of the fleet to battle out for the remaining places. With 4 boats fighting it out for second place and changing places constantly, it was Martin / Wetherspoon who ended up in 2nd at the finish and Ainsworth / Roberts 3rd.

Race 3: Due to the delayed start to the days sailing, the third race started with a change in the tide direction, with three boats being caught OCS. Most disappointed about this was newbie Matt Toynbee / Kiki Papapanagiotou, who had taken three races to figure out the start sequence. At the finish, it was again the Robertsons taking the race victory, with Bob Yeamans / Nadia McMinn collecting a last ditch 2nd place and Ainsworth / Roberts rounding out the top three.

Onto the evening's entertainment, and as usual the class had decided to descend upon some unsuspecting restaurant for some food to accompany the standard volume of drinks and stories from the days racing. When it was discovered that the restaurant had a BYOB policy, some runners were dispatched for additional refreshments. With the Royal Wormit boys missing, Stuart Robertson stepped in to commence the singing. Via a trip to the ice cream shop for dessert, the fleet made their annual pilgrimage to the Auld Hoose for a night cap. (with some overworked crews deciding to grab 40 winks before getting home)

JP Watersports / Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish traveller series at East Lothian - photo © Derek Braid

Day 2: Someone at ELYC had forgotten to order the water. With the tide out, and the easterly swell breaking in the fairway channel, a sensible decision was made to delay the launching. Playbuoys Peter Taylor and Rob McCloud provided some inspirational music from their onboard sound system whilst waiting on the beach. Most importantly though was that the predicted drop in wind had not fully materialised, with a steady force 3 still coming in from the east. This vindicated new owner Angus Marshall's decision to hoover up all the leftovers at the previous evenings meal.

Race 4: Déjà vu, and the Robertsons take the win. MacKenzie / Box found their speed again finishing second. Richard Bolton / Naomi Moran looked to have secured third after fighting back from an individual recall on the start, but despite returning fully below the line, they forgot you still need to re-start, and sailed outside the pin end resulting in a DNS, leaving Yeamans / McMinn to take third.

Race 5: An upset was almost in the offing, with the Robertsons trailing MacKenzie / Box for over a lap, but turned on the style to overtake and take a fifth bullet for the weekend. To add insult to injury, MacKenzie / Box's decision to ensure he had water on a Laser 2000 sharing the same course, led him to miss the shortened course flag on the committee boat, dropping him to 5th. Bolton / Moran made up for their previous indiscretions and came home in 2nd, with Yeamans / McMinn 3rd.

The final results ended up with the Robertsons winning the traveller, with Yeamans / McMinn second. Ainsworth / Roberts were rewarded for their consistent sailing over the weekend with third overall, and winners of the 'First Foreigner' prize.

Aside from the racing, there were some notable Duckhams nominations for the Browning Trophy, for outstanding cockups:

• Stuart Robertson for starting the weekend literally on a bad foot by forgetting his dinghy boots, resulting in sailing in his best leather work shoes. Apparently, they are quite good, and he may use them again.
• Matt Toynbee gets a mention for showing his class naivety, and honestly carrying out a 360 after gently grazing (smashing) his boat into a gate mark.
• Richard Bolton for forgetting how to start.
• John MacKenzie for forgetting how to finish. He would do anything to get out of writing the event report.
• Various members of the fleet for deploying sea anchors at the crews request for a breather.
• Martin Booth for poor distribution of beverages.
• Jacob and Kayleigh for tasteless snapper repairs.
• Matt Toynbee's use of a 'development' jib, that looked like it was purchased from the centre aisle in Lidl.

Special mention to Tony and Stephanie Bamforth for utilising the class demo boat over the weekend, which is available for use at all events. The next tour event is up in sunny Findhorn on the 2nd/3rd of July.

JP Watersports / Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish traveller series at East Lothian - photo © Derek Braid

Overall Results:

JP Watersports / Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish traveller series at East Lothian - photo © Derek Braid