RS200 JP Watersports Circuit at Royal Findhorn Yacht Club
by Martin Faulkner 14 Jul 2017 19:12 BST
RS200 JP Watersports Circuit at Royal Findhorn © Colin Johnston
Findhorn in the north east of Scotland on the Moray coast was a top venue for the latest Scottish RS200 event. Those who made the journey and one local boat had a cracking weekend of racing and a great time in the lovely village and surrounds of Findhorn.
Saturday was anything between force 2 and force 4 plus, with importance on staying in the lines of breeze and not getting on the wrong side of the many shifts coming off Culbin forest. Everyone had some exciting racing with plenty of place changing at the front of the fleet and some really close racing battles to keep it interesting.
Robbie and Jenny Wilson lead with a 1/1/2 closely followed by Brendan Lynch and Matt Morson with a 1/2/4, Martin Faulkner and Bill Forsyth in 3rd overnight, with mini Wilson (Ewan) and Michael O'Donovan rueing some minor gear failure issues (Dad Wilson has to do something to stay ahead of the loon!?)
Saturday night was spent with the RS400 fleet after they had finished their swimming and capsize practise out on the course. It was a tricky business dodging them in the bar too....
Sunday brought a lighter but steady force 1 wind much more suited to the loons of Ewan and Mike, who disappeared away with a 1/1/2 to bag them third overall. It was a big tussle between oldies Robbie and Jenny versus Brendan and Mathew who sailed really well bagging a very smart first place in race 2.
Then it was down to whoever got the best result in the last to win the event. After the loons shot away in first place in the last race the oldies were leading round the youngsters after lap one but let them slip cover on lap two and they came back ahead half way up the beat, with a tacking duel commencing - which was a first time for the Wilsons since the 1990s - resulting in the inevitable looking for the bath toys with the boat filling up with water, and Mrs Wilson commenting that going round corners is not our forte. This went down really well with Mr Wilson who duly carried on tacking to finally do a good impression of the Bismarck by the top mark!
Brendan and Matthew sailed away to a very well deserved overall victory with a second in the last race followed by Martin and Bill passing the floundering Wilsons still looking for the yellow duck!
Big thanks to Royal Findhorn Yacht Club for some excellent race management and putting on a great event and hospitality.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Club | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 806 | PEYC | B Lynch | M Morson | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| 2nd | 1621 | WBC | R Wilson | J Wilson | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 3rd | 781 | WBC | E Wilson | M O’Donovan | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| 4th | 930 | LSC | M Faulkner | B Forsyth | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| 5th | 1283 | RFYC | G Munro | K Munro | 4 | 5 | DNS | 5 | 5 | 5 | 24 |