Kestrel Scottish Championships at Royal Tay Yacht Club

The Scottish Championships and KOA Travellers event was held over the weekend 18th /19th June in conjunction with Tay Week. The entry of 12 was a little disappointing but the sailing provided lots of interest and the social programme lived up to expectations.

Saturday dawned wet and windy, horrid weather for rigging boats. Undeterred by their long drive from Southampton Steve and Lin Worf were first in the dinghy park and ready to go before the locals had finished their porridge. It was great to have Dave and Corrine Hearsum present and David's regular crew Gareth Fay borrowed one of the Tay Sail Training Association boats for the weekend, sailing with an old University friend who now works at St. Andrews University. Eddie Arden also travelled up to support the event and was pressed into service as assistant OOD.

There were two class races sailed on Saturday in gusty condition with the northerly wind shifting considerably in both strength and direction. Stewart and David Murdoch began the weekend as they continued, winning by a good margin from the chasing pack. Malcolm and Danielle Worsley wiped out at the gybe and righted with their spinnaker wrapped over the spreaders and full of water - leaving no option but to drop the boat in again to sort the mess out. This left Ian Hunter to take second place from Steve and Lin Worf.

In the second race the Murdochs and Worsleys were both over at the start and charged with adrenaline had to get back through the fleet to finish first and second with Ian Hunter third.

The last race of the day was an all class handicap event for the Lawson Cup. In total 40 boat entries ranging from two A class cats down to Toppers with everything in between. For the second year running the Kestrel sailed by Stewart and David came first, with a Fireball second and RS200 third and then Kestrel sailors making up the other places. This was a good demonstration of the versatility of the Kestrel in a fleet of many different classes.

The Kestrel class had booked the RTYC dining room for the customary regatta dinner and a very good evening was had despite a certain Mr Bremner lowering the tone and indulging in some gratuitous verbal abuse of the unsuspecting visitors which of course was met with by a wholly justified counter offensive.

Sunday was all very different. It was hot and sunny with predominately light winds from the south west. The race team got both races in as scheduled and most managed to finish as the wind disappeared. Again the Murdochs led both races with Ian Hunter second followed by Angus Femming in race three and Malcolm Worsley in the last race and overall. The sailing might not have been as exciting as Saturday but it provided great spectator sport and was a bonny sight for visitors as the various fleets short tacked up the shore and bunched up on the off wind legs.

Overall Results: