RS400 Scottish Traveller at Royal Forth Yacht Club

RS400 Scottish Travellers at Royal Forth © RFYC

A hardy fleet of 8 boats turned up for the final RS400 Scottish traveller at Royal Forth on 22nd October and despite dogs blowing off leads, in true Scottish tradition there was little discussion or debate over whether we should go sailing. Sails were hoisted, masts wound, rakes dropped and off we set. With the wind a very gusty 20-30knots from the south virtually every boat capsized on the way out to the start line, some before they had left the (relative) calm of the harbour.

However not to be disheartened the determined race officers (George and Fiona Brown) set a short windward-leeward course close to the shore and fired the 5 minute gun bang on schedule. Unfortunately, at this point a huge gust put paid to Robbie Wilson’s belated RS400 2011 campaign, a broken gooseneck putting him out of action before the racing had even started and he was left to limp home under jib alone. Amazingly every other boat was upright at the start and after a short beat leading at the windward mark was RS400 sponsor and Finn impressario Dave Harcourt making light work of the "gentle breeze", closely chased by 18 stone newcomers Paul Rigg and Fi Hall! Some incredible adrenalin reaching made short work of the run - and the gybe mark was soon marked by the rescue boats, as the wary dropped kites and wore around the upturned obstacles of those who hadn't quite managed the drop. A familiar pattern emerged out of the carnage on the 2nd beat with son Ben and heavy weather crew Callum Reid chasing father Grumpy Robertson, today very ably crewed by Emma Palmer. Grumpy held the lead to the end, however it was the scratch team of Richard and Patrick Shellcock who claimed eventual 2nd place despite not having a kite - an indication of how extreme the conditions were. Ben crossed the line 3rd with Dave Harcourt (teamed up with forthcoming 400 owner Richard Bolton) limped into 4th with a shredded jib and kite and minus one sailing boot!

After the race the wind increased still further and it proved increasingly difficult to stay upright on any point of sailing. Robbie Wilson had just enough time to get back to harbour and commandeer a reserve boat and capsize to windward on the return to the race area, but arrived just in time to witness a spectular wipeout by Mr Robertson senior in a 30+ knot gust as his mast gave up the fight and exited over the bow with most of the rig. At this point most teams had already suffered critical gear breakage and the race officer made the regrettable but sensible decision to abandon racing.

Once the carnage had been cleared a short prizegiving followed to distribute the now customary liquid prizes (generously supplied by sponsors DH Sytems and Stewart Brewing). Despite the conditions everyone agreed it had been a spectacular morning's sailing - testament to this being that at least 2 of the scratch teams are now in the market for boats next season.

Special thanks must go to the Royal Forth rescue teams who did a brilliant job in challenging conditions, and the race management team who suffered an uncomfortable ride on the Hunter 707 comedy boat but performed a great job getting the racing going. Thanks also to headline sponsors JP Watersports, and to all the 400 sailors who made it along despite the weather forecast. Special mention of the weekend goes to to Paul Rigg and Fiona Hall, 200 sailors who decided on Saturday morning to give the 400 a try and despite a 10 stone weight disadvantage yet again demonstrated that Keith Bedborough's (borrowed) RS400 seems to go best when he's not in it. Everyone is now looking forward to the RS Scotland end of season party on the 5th November at Dalgety Bay sailing club, a joint event with 200s and 300s which we hope will put a fitting end to a most successful 2011 Scottish RS season (boom of doom etc).