ISORA Pwllheli Castle Race
by Mark Thompson 24 Apr 2017 09:12 BST
22 April 2017
ISORA race 2 is the Pwllheli Castle Race, the first of a three race coastal series within the full ISORA series, and sponsored by Global displays.
The forecast showed an 8-10kt northerly wind, and certainly a better wind forecast that Race 1 over in Ireland where the fleet of 24 in Dun Laoghaire had a course set to Wicklow via Muglins, in a shifty and dying north easterly. Back in North Wales the racing committee set a 27 mile windward/leeward course, taking the fleet of 13 down to St Patrick's Causeway buoy, via a couple of Pwllheli Sailing Club marks.
The fleet got away on a reach to the first mark, before a long run down to the causeway. Andrew Halls Jackknife took full advantage of this long downwind leg, first to the leeward Mark, with the whole fleet enjoying the steady northerly breeze, sunshine and stunning views of both The Llyn peninsula and the mountains of Gwynedd, and pods of dolphins escorting then fleet!
A beat back to Pwllheli via the west end saw Jackknife taking line honours, with IRC class 0 won by North Star (Cris Miles) IRC Class 1 and overall being won by the consistently sailed Mojito (Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox) IRC Class 2 won by Perseverance (Wim Baptist) and Echo overall by Mojo (Paul Hampson).
All competitors who had come from as far as Liverpool Conwy and Holyhead enjoyed the excellent sailing conditions, the race organisation and outstanding facilities in Plas Heli where the staff provided great catering offerings. The bar was packed and it's great to see the enthusiasm for the 2017 ISORA season.
The next race sees the fleet combine for the Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire race on May 13th where we expect to see a fleet of 40 plus.
www.isora.org