RS300 Scottish Series at Pentland Firth Yacht Club

There was an RS300 Scottish Series event at Thurso on the 19/20th June as part of the Pentland Firth YC Summer Regatta. There were only 2 travellers there due to a clash with another regatta but we had a great time, although Garry was a bit seasick.

We didn't get sailing on Saturday as the waves were too big to launch the rescue boats and the wind was a bit marginal. But we went sand yachting instead - wow it's brilliant. There were 4, all home made to the same design with 5m windsurfer rigs on. When you have them all going into the gybe mark at 30 mph it's quite a buzz.

We got out on Sunday for 3 races, still with a big swell, just about losing the Fireballs in the troughs, so the sailing was exciting and demanding with about 15 knots of wind. The speed of the waves was impressive. I was coming round the windward mark, tearing off on a broad reach down a big wave, full power, hiking hard and then finding it was overtaking me. The wind had been blowing from the north all week, so these guys had travelled all the way from the North Pole. Cold? 5 degrees on Saturday but almost into double figures on Sunday.

Thanks also to Pentland Firth YC for their fantastic hospitality, all the food was included in the entry and I even left with a party bag of goodies for the trip home.

Overall Results:

1st Ian Baillie (Dalgety Bay SC)
2nd Andrew Grant (Pentland Firth YC)
3rd Garry Knott (Dalgety Bay SC)