Carl Dyson Regatta at Port Edgar Yacht Club overall
by nigel duncan 2 Oct 2004 21:31 BST
2-3 October 2004
Port Edgar-based John Murphy cruised to victory in the fast handicap class on Alouette in the Carl Dyson Regatta at Port Edgar, adding this success to his win in the Banff to Stavanger event earlier this season.
The 62-year-old Dunfermline car dealer won three of the five races while his nearest challenger, clubmate Jock Blair on RoBo, won two in Sunday's lighter winds.
Blair, who wons the Bosun's Locker chandlers at Port Edgar, admitted: "We could not keep up with John in Saturday's heavy weather."
One of their major rivals, Absolutely 2, helmed by Mike Bramall, was forced to withdraw after breaking their mast on a gybe in the first race of the five-race series as gusts topped 30mph in the Forth between Blackness and Limekilns.
Elsewhere, James Urquhart (Port Edgar) won the Scottish Hunter 707 Championship in Code Z in emphatic style winning four of the five races.
Neil McLure (Dalgety Bay) triumped in the Sonata class on So while Tom Wilson (Royal Forth) topped the cruiser section on Smithereen.
Alistair Dickson (Port Edgar) on Auberge was first in the slow cruisers class while Brian Pennycook and co-owner, Eddie North, were in buoyant mood after collecting the medium handicap prize.
North celebrated his second major prize this season after crewing on a winning boat in the prestige East Coast Sailing Week earlier this summer.
The Forth Corinthian Yacht Club duo sailed Misty Blue to victory and the 28ft yacht prospered in the gruelling, 30mph winds on day one of the regatta, winning both races.
And the pair clinched the win thanks to a first place in the opening race yesterday (Sun) as the wind moderated.
They were third in the fourth event and Pennycook admitted: "The boat thrives in heavy weather and the conditions on Saturday suited us brilliantly."
Willie Barr, who helmed Firecrest to victory in East Coast Sailing Week, and Howard Thompson completed the crew on Misty Blue and Pennycook admitted: "Willie, Eddie and Howard tasted success then and I was not involved so this helps make up for that.
"This is the biggest win I've had in a major event and I am delighted with the way the boat handled."