West Highland Yachting Week - Day 5
by Alison Chadwick 8 Aug 2015 00:37 BST
1-7 August 2015
WHYW boats battle the tide on the Gael Force race to Tobermory
With winds light for the start of the Oban to Tobermory Race, sponsored by Gael Force Marine Equipment, the WHYW fleet faced an uphill battle with the tide through Lismore light and up to Craignure. Speeds of less than two knots at stages saw yachts struggling to make progress until the wind filled in by the Grey Isles.
The faster boats that had made it this far up the sound benefitted hugely as the wind filled in with the Tunnock's spinnaker fleet living up to the sponsor's name and flying kites to the finish which was a shortened course off Sgeir Savary.
A steadily freshening breeze saw many boats reducing sail rapidly. Duckwall Pooley took the first in Class 1 from J Fever and Spirit of Jacana with More Misjif and Roddy Angus at the helm leading Class 1. Calum Matheson's Roxanne from Skye finished second with Ian McLachlan's Polaris third.
The Chalmers family on Sunrise once again won Class 2. Class 3 saw a shift of position with Graham Anderson and his Hanse Lucky Ned Pepper winning pushing Shadowfax to a second, the first time in the week. Brian Robertson's Celtic Spirit was third. Glenafton made it another first in Class 4 and in Class 6 Rambler forged ahead to win from Judy Orr's Eureka from Campbeltown second.
It was three in a row for the Moody 336s with only 25 seconds separating Craig Anderson's Cool Bandit from Dougie Reid of Campbeltown's Stargaxzer. Stuart Hamilton's Piecemaker was third. In Class 8 the Grand Soleil Stargazer from Arran continued to dominate the points league with another first.
All results on www.whyw.co.uk