Scottish Optimist Traveller at Nairn Sailing Club

Scottish Optimist Traveller at Nairn © Alec Munro

On the 8-9th September 2018 the Optimist fleet headed to Nairn, a lovely seaside town in the North of Scotland for the second event in the 2018/19 traveller series.

The weekend started with bright sunshine and light winds, it was due to drop off so the race committee were keen to launch us early which they did. The first day of racing was challenging as the wind strength varied quite a lot. After completing three races we headed in, before the tide went out, which would have left the committee boat stranded outside the harbour!

After a discard the top 3 boats were all on the same points so it was all to play for on the second day. Once we had changed there were fun games organised on the beach such as chariot racing, sand castle competitions and football, with prizes of sweets everyone joined in.

On Sunday the the wind was lighter than forecast but due to build. We launched in under 1 knot, paddling out to the start line, but within minutes it had built to a steady 5 knot breeze. By the end of the fourth race it was gusting about 20 knots, yet in some of the lulls it was under 5 knots making for challenging conditions. The fifth and final race was quite eventful with Morven capsizing, Sophies sprit falling out and Rory Gifford sailing to the wrong mark, leaving his brother James in first place.

After some close racing James Gifford was first, Rory Gifford second and myself third, the top girl and fourth overall was Anna Miller. Cara Russell and Oliver Rose did particularly well having recently joined the main fleet to sail in such demanding conditions.

Once everyone was ashore and de-rigged prize giving commenced, the top three boys and three girls in each class were awarded prizes, there were also lots of fun prizes presented.

A massive thank you to Nairn Sailing Club for making us most welcome, the food on Saturday night and home bakes throughout the weekend were excellent. Thank you to the race office and their team for running a great event

The Optimist fleet are now looking forward to the RYA Scotland Youth and Junior Championship and third Traveller at Helensburgh Sailing Club on 29-30th September.

Overall Results: