Scottish Optimist Travellers at Prestwick sailing Club
by Ditta Neumann 20 Sep 2011 13:25 BST
17-18 September 2011
Scottish Optimist Travellers at Prestwick © Alan Henderson /
www.fotoboat.com
Following in the torrential rains of Hurricane Katrina, 28 Oppies from all over Scotland headed towards Prestwick sailing club for the seventh and final Scottish traveller of 2011. Everyone arrived to find a stiff SW breeze had whipping up a substantial swell near the beach. The 14 main fleet sailors joined the big boys and girls out on a large course, while 14 regatta optimists stuck on a smaller course closer to shore.
On Saturday, sailors experienced uncomfortable sharp and choppy waves with more wind further out to sea (F4-5).
Rachel Mawer led in the main fleet, winning 5 out of 6 races. At some point the entire fleet was lost at sea as the visibility dropped drastically as more rain showers arrived.
In the regatta fleet, Lewis Forbes, Calum Cook, David Rosie and Grace Laverty battled it out for the medal positions, while the back of the fleet was fighting just to stay afloat. Conditions proved too much for the six least experienced sailors who retired after the first race.
Sunday could not have felt more different. Sailors awoke to glorious sunshine, little to no wind and small wavelets lapping against a gloriously sandy beach. Sandy Simpson, during his first outing with the main fleet, showed his light wind skills by coming third in the first race, before slipping once more down the field as he struggled in increasing wind conditions. There course had to be reset for race 2 as the wind had backed to the NW and increasing to F4+.
In the regatta fleet racing once again saw close racing with Lewis Forbes winning one race and Callum Cook winning two. The lighter end of the fleet again struggled to cope as the wind freshened up.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| Main Fleet |
|---|
| 1st | 6105 | Rachel Mawer | CCC/lLargs | 1 | -2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2nd | 5878 | Nico Vetta | Annandale SC | -6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| 3rd | 5807 | Rory Rose | Aberdeen and Stonehaven | -8 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 21 |
| 4th | 5945 | Iain Sword | Loch Tummel SC | 5 | 6 | 3 | -7 | 5 | 3 | 22 |
| 5th | 5159 | Fiona MacKay | Toward SC | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | -7 | 7 | 23 |
| 6th | 5916 | Rebecca Bryant | Annandale SC | 3 | 9 | 7 | -12 | 4 | 6 | 29 |
| 7th | 6060 | Rory Harper | Loch Lomond SC | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | -10 | 33 |
| 8th | 6006 | Chris Crockett | Loch Lomond SC | 2 | 8 | 6 | 10 | -13 | 9 | 35 |
| 9th | 5961 | Finn Mitchell | Annandale SC | 10 | 5 | 9 | -13 | 12 | 5 | 41 |
| 10th | 6005 | Harris Cartwright | Loch Lomond SC | 11 | -13 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 44 |
| 11th | 6073 | Sandy Simpson | Annandale SC | 12 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 9 | -14 | 47 |
| 12th | 5305 | Isla Harper | Loch Lomond | (DNS) | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 49 |
| 13th | 5918 | Anna Protheroe | Loch Lomond SC | 9 | -12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 54 |
| 14th | 5977 | Stuart Beattie | Loch Lomond SC | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | 14 | DNF | 13 | 72 |
| Regatta Fleet |
|---|
| 1st | 5726 | Lewis Forbes | Loch Lomond SC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | -4 | 10 |
| 2nd | 5287 | Calum Cook | Nairn Sailing Club | -4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| 3rd | 5413 | David Rosie | Helensburgh SC | 2 | 3 | 1 | -5 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 4th | 5781 | Grace Laverty | Helensburgh SC | 1 | -4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 14 |
| 5th | 6062 | Rebecca Coles | Annandale SC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | -6 | 3 | 20 |
| 6th | 5254 | Scott Forbes | Loch Lomond SC | 7 | 7 | 6.5 | 7 | 5 | -9 | 32.5 |
| 7th | 5988 | Anna Sturrock | Loch Tummel SC | -10 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 34 |
| 8th | 6068 | Finn Aitken | Helensburgh SC | 6 | 8 | 8 | -10 | 9 | 8 | 39 |
| 9th | 4613 | Catriona Warburton | Loch Venachar | 8 | (DNS) | DNS | 8 | 8 | DNF | 54 |
| 10th | 5496 | Cameron Auld | Prestwick | 9 | (DNS) | DNS | 9 | 11 | DNF | 59 |
| 11th | 5743 | James Forsyth | Helensburgh SC | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | DNF | 10 | 7 | 62 |
| 12th | 2 | Cameron McIntyre | Prestwick | (DNS) | DNF | 6.5 | DNF | DNS | DNS | 66.5 |
| 13th | 4720 | Jamie Warburton | Loch Venachar | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | 11 | 12 | DNF | 68 |
| 14th | 1 | Thomas Beard | Prestwick | 11 | (DNS) | DNS | DNF | DNS | DNS | 71 |