Kestrel Scottish Championships at Royal Tay Yacht Club

by Stewart Murdoch and Gus Broadhurst 24 Jun 2011 10:13 BST 18-19 June 2011

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:

Pos	Boat	SailNo	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1st	Seathing	1610	Stewart Murdoch	David Murdoch	Royal Tay Yacht Club	-1	1	1	1	3
2nd	Second Fiddle	1559	Ian Hunter		Royal Tay Yacht Club	2	-3	2	2	6
3rd	Fartypants	1621	Malcolm Worsley	Dannielle Worsley	Royal Tay Yacht Club	-6	2	4	3	9
4th	Blooburd	1535	Angus Fleming	Hamish Brunton	Royal Tay Yacht Club	4	4	3	(DNF)	11
5th	Windhover	1511	Steven Worf	Lin Worf	Calshot SC	3	(DNC)	6	4	13
6th	Doilooklikeigiveadamn	1615	Sandy Bremner	Lesley Bremner	Royal Tay Yacht Club	5	-7	7	7	19
7th	Alison Jane	1606	Angus Broadhurst	Iona Broadhurst	Royal Tay Yacht Club	7	5	-8	8	20
8th	Hakuna Matata	1591	Fiona Moir	Chris Duncan	Royal Tay Yacht Club	(DNF)	8	9	5	22
9th	Rarebird	1601	Alistair Hood	P Miller	Royal Tay Yacht Club	(DNC)	DNC	5	6	24
10th	Gaa Sands	1579	Gareth Fay	Clare Lacey	Derwent Reservoir SC	(DNF)	6	10	9	25
11th	Carpe Diem	1567	David Gavine	Anna	Royal Tay Yacht Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNF	DNF	39
11th	Breakin' Wind	1574	Dave Hearsum		Hickling SC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	39