49er Scottish Championships at Loch Lomond Sailing Club
by Alister Kinsman 12 Sep 2005 12:57 BST
3-4 September 2005
Action from the 49er Scottish Championships at Loch Lomond © Jan Margetts, LLSC
The inaugural 49er Scottish Championship proved to be a popular and well attended event, on the 3rd and 4th of September. Loch Lomond Sailing Club, on the east shore of the UK's largest body of fresh water, hosted the event, as part of their annual Open Dinghy Weekend.
10 49ers took part, 5 'natives' and 5 from 'down south'. We were blessed with fine weather for the whole weekend. On Saturday, we had a fairly unstable southerly breeze, of between 5 and 15 kts. This allowed 3 races to be run, and although race 1 changed from windward-leward into a close reach/broad reach drag race, a good time was had by all.
The racing at the front of the fleet was tight, with Richard Bone and Chris Rodway of Bough Beech taking the first 2 races, but Jonny Coates and Charlie Muir keeping them under pressure, and taking the 3rd. The top placed Scottish entry overnight was the McGaughey brothers of Largs SC, with two seconds places and a 6th, and everything to play for on the Sunday. Perhaps the forcast lighter breeze on Sunday would favour them?
The evening social was well attended, with an excellent meal, live bands, and a well stocked bar - despite our best efforts, the beer kept flowing late into the night. No 49ers were damaged by the sudden arrival of a rescue helicopter on the slip-way during the meal, attending to a casualty in the 29er fleet. We're pleased to report that said casualty has fully recovered.
Sunday dawned still and clear, and unfortunately the sea-breeze failed to make an early appearance. Racing was cancelled for the day at around 2pm (a light breeze arrivied shortly afterwards of course), allowing a swift prize giving, and an early getaway for the many visitors who had travelled from as far afield as southern England and France.
The final standings were as per the overnight table above.
Hopefully all participants will look forward to a repetition of this event next summer - let's hope that the sun shines and the bar is well stocked.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Crew | Club | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 789 | | Ricahrd Bone | Chris Rodway | Bough Beech SC | 5 |
| 2nd | 806 | | Jonny Coates | Charlie Muir | RYA | 6 |
| 3rd | 746 | | Connor McGaughey | Johnny McGaughey | Largs SC | 10 |
| 4th | 681 | | Simon Evans | Stephen Cronshaw | Delph SC | 13 |
| 5th | 17 | | Alan Bennett | Matt Sharman | Etherow | 15 |
| 6th | 695 | | Stewart Robinson | Ben Robinson | RFYC | 20 |
| 7th | 445 | Billy Suggers | Alister Kinsman | Alasdair Hendry | Loch Lomond SC | 21 |
| 8th | 310 | | Craig English | Ian Judd | South Shields | 23 |
| 9th | 662 | | Phil Eltringham | Matt Lee | South Shields | 24 |
| 10th | 104 | | Chris Laverty | Darren Booth | Helensburgh SC | 31 |