Scottish Optimist Travellers at Annandale Sailing Club

Scottish Optimist travellers at Annandale © Phil Rose

Scottish Optimist travellers at Annandale © Phil Rose

Second year on the trot at Annandale, and more than twice as many Oppies as last year. 31 turned up for Traveller 2, with new sailors from as far away as Inverness and Stonehaven. The Sword family beat volcanic ash having travelled overland through five or so countries en route from the Algarve.

Saturday brought clear skies, sunshine and 6 to 8 knots of breeze.
Thirty one boats took to the water which saw close racing throughout the fleet.

The reigning National Champion didn't get it all his own way in the first race with the lead changing throughout the race between Callum Airlie, Jamie Calder, Alasdair Logan and Alasdair Ireland. It was a close run battle but eventually saw Jamie take the win with Alastair (Scoop) Ireland second, Callum third and Alasdair Logan fourth.


Race two again saw close racing with Development Squad sailor Alasdair Logan lead the fleet at the windward mark with Callum in hot pursuit and new Opi recruit Ruaridh Mills sailing a tactically smart beat to round in third. The National Champion, Mr Airlie, recovered his composure from race one to show the fleet how it is done to take the race win with Jamie Calder second and Angus Johnstone sailing into third.


The last race of the day saw Callum start prematurely, return over the line and recover to show his metal to still lead the fleet to the windward mark. Alasdair Logan again sailed a tactically smart first leg spotting the breeze to the left of the course to round second and Rachel Mawer in third. Further down the fleet many places changed and the results in a dying breeze were Callum first, Alasdair Logan second only to discover he was OCS, and Jamie third.


Sunday brought an overcast day with showers but wind varing from 6 to 12 knots. Race four saw the star performance of the weekend from nine year old Rory Harper. This was Rory's first regatta in the main fleet and saw him lead the National Champion up the first beat. Callum did however take the lead before the top mark but Rory sailed extremely well to hold off Jamie for a further lap and finally finishing third. Definitely a young man to watch for the future.


Race five once more saw close racing throughout the fleet with Callum winning, Jamie second and Alasdair Logan third. In race six Jamie took an early lead and opened a considerable lead to win the race. Callum rounded the first mark in fourth but showed his skill in taking the shifts upwind to finish second and Alasdair Ireland took third.

The final race of the weekend ended with Callum stamping his authority to win with Jamie in hot pursuit and Sophie Taylor sailing smart to finish third, a good distance in front of the chasing pack.


In the Regatta fleet, our resident Regatta fleet coaches did a great job with a very competitive fleet completing seven races dominated by Rebecca Bryant, who is looking forward to moving up to the main fleet to help the other girls even up the numbers against the boys. Anna Protheroe sailed very consistently to take second overall and Finn Mitchell third. The other race winner in the regatta fleet was Claire Holliday, another debutante.

Overall Results:

Main Fleet
1st Callum Airlie (East Lothian YC) 5 pts
2nd Jamie Calder (Loch Tummel SC) 8 pts
3rd Alasdair Ireland (Toward SC) 20 pts
4th Angus Johnstone (Annandale SC) 24 pts
5th Alasdair Logan (Largs SC) 24 pts

Regatta Fleet
1st Rebecca Bryant (Annandale SC) 5 pts
2nd Anna Protheroe (Loch Lomond SC) 11 pts
3rd Finn Mitchell (Annandale SC) 17 pts
4th Cara Wilson (Helensburgh SC) 19 pts
5th Drew Mitchell (Annandale SC) 20 pts

Click here for full results.

Many thanks to Annandale SC for fabulous hospitality and efficient race organisation. Great effort considering major flood damage earlier this Spring. SAT evening in village hall at Lochmabon a highlight.

Also to Scottish Oppie sponsor JP Watersport for help with prizes. Thanks to IOCA Scotland Race Coaches this weekend, James and Lynn.

Next up, the Firth of Forth! Time for Englanders and Welsh Peeps to join the North British Oppie Party, methinks!

Traveller 3 at Dalgety Bay on May 22-23.
Traveller 4 and the Scottish Optimist Championship and Open Championship at East Lothian YC (North Berwick) on June 6-7.
Entry at www.scottish-optimists.org.uk/eventsite.html

General enquiries re the UK’s fastest growing junior racing fleet to