Laser 2000 Traveller at Clyde Cruising Club, Bardowie Loch
by John McGruer, CCC Dinghy Section Bardowie 1 Aug 2011 20:52 BST
23-24 July 2011
Bardowie Loch, to the north of Glasgow, is home to the Dinghy Section of the Clyde Cruising Club. Bardowie has a large fleet of club-owned boats used for training and general sailing, of which 6 are Laser 2000s. This was the first time a Laser 2000 traveller has been held here and club members were looking forward to competing in a one-design fleet.
The event attracted visitors from East Lothian, Helensburgh, Leigh & Lowton and Loch Venachar, and so, adding the local boats we had 12 Laser 2000s on the start line. Saturday was sunny with light and very shifty winds that challenged the race officers. The wind was shifting between North West and North East, seemingly at random making it difficult to set a course.
The host club got off to a good start with Michael McLennan and crew Douglas Wheel finding much better wind than anyone else and taking a commanding lead that they held to the finish, followed by Robert and Andrew McCulloch and Iain and Sarah Yardley.
For race 2 the start had to be moved to the west end of the loch as there only seemed to be wind in the western half. A short windward-leeward course was set and keenly contested with Robert taking pole position, Iain second, and John McGruer & Lynne Watson third.
The start of race 3 had to be postponed and the course changed when the wind shifted and the fleet were unable to cross the start line while beating. This time Iain was first, followed by Robert, John, Mike and Caroline Heath, Jane and Eric Robertson and then Michael. Saturday finished with Robert first, Iain one point behind, and John third.
The sunny weather continued into the evening and everyone relaxed with a barbecue on the shore in front of the clubhouse.
Sunday’s wind was more consistent and mainly stayed in the northwest, but again there were large shifts, particularly near the Castle on the north shore. There were big gains to be made if you judged when to tack or gybe on a windshift, or when to keep going because the wind would shift back again. Jane and Eric seemed to have got their heads round the shifty winds and races 4, 5, and 6 were closely contested between Robert, Iain, John and Jane, with Robert, Iain and John each winning one race and Jane achieving two second places.
The final result was as close as it can get, with Robert and Iain having identical points and each having two first, two second, and two third places. The prize therefore went to Robert for winning the last race. The sunny weather meant that the prize giving was also held outside on the loch shore, after which we said goodbye to the visitors until the next event.
Overall we had a very enjoyable weekend’s racing, made possible by the race officer Alan Kirk and the team of helpers at Bardowie. Thanks also go to our sponsors LaserPerformace.
Overall Results:
1st Robert & Andrew McCulloch (Loch Vennachar)
2nd Iain and Sarah Yardley (Leigh & Lowton)
3rd John McGruer & Lynne Watson (CCC Bardowie)
4th Jane and Eric Robertson (ELYC)
5th Mike & Caroline Heath (Helensburgh)
6th Michael McLennan & Douglas Wheel (CCC)
7th Andrew Kirk & Struan McBride (CCC)
8th Jackie Meldrum & Aileen McDonald (CCC)
9th Greg & Euan Watson (CCC)
10th Alasdair Jackson & Campbell Watson (CCC)
11th Alexander Mills & Edmund Fitzjohn (CCC)
12th James Edmund & Gordon Clark (CCC)