Scottish Hansa Class TT at Galloway Activity Centre

Hansa Scottish TT Series at Galloway © Carol Bryden

Hansa Scottish TT Series at Galloway © Carol Bryden

Hansa Scottish TT Series at Galloway © Carol Bryden

The weekend started with five competitors participating in race training on the Saturday in light to moderate wind preparing for the race on Sunday.

Racing saw nine competitors from Scotland with two new members to the class. The fleet was split with five Hansa 303 one person Class boats and two Hansa 2.3 Class boats. To allow each sailor to race, it was decided by the race officer that the 303's would class race whilst the 2.3's would match race in a round robin.

The racing got off to a good start in light winds for both fleets. Rory McKinna from Clyde Cruising got the lead early and mastered the calm airs win. This became a common theme for the whole day as he kept up his performance through the strengthened winds taking first place in all four races.

Throughout the day the wind gradually built causing some anchors to fail and some drifting of the committee boat and windward mark to meet down by the bottom mark. By this point the wind was too much for the 2.3s and the decision was made to abandon the racing for them for the rest of the day. The 303's continued to race in the strong winds getting all four planned races successfully completed.

First time racer Heather O'Pray successfully finished one race before the wind got too much giving her a much deserved fifth place. Despite technical issues Craig Holland overcome the problems to sail three of the four races ending in a forth position overall. The racing was close between second and third but it was eventually Steve Bramwell from Castle Semple who negotiated the conditions well to get second overall beating fellow Castle Semple sailor, Phil Reoch, into a well sailed third place. The traveller was won by Rory with for fist places giving him a second overall win in the 2018 Scottish Hansa TT series.

In the Hansa 2.3 Class the strong wind forced the round robin to end early. Only two races were sailed making two competitors first and two competitors second. All sailors in this class were from Southwest Scotland Sailability @ Galloway Activity Ctr. New to the fleet John Hepburn won race one with Sasha Piper second and second time racer Jessica Bryden, won the second race with Jack Bryden second. It was good to see all these new racers take part and we are very hopeful that we will see them racing again soon.

Thanks go to the staff of Galloway Activity Centre and the Hansa Race Team for running this very enjoyable event.

Overall Results:

Hansa 303 one person Class
1st Rory McKinna (CCC)
2nd Steve Bramwell (Castle Semple)
3rd Phil Reoch (Castle Semple)
4th Craig Holland (RSDC)
5th Heather O'Pray (SSS@GAC)

Hansa 2.3 Class
1st= John Hepburn (SSS@GAC)
1st= Jessica Bryden (SSS@GAC)
2nd= Sasha Piper (SSS@GAC)
2nd= Jack Bryden (SSS@GAC)