707 Galbraith Edinburgh Cup at Port Edgar Yacht Club

707 Galbraith Edinburgh Cup at Port Edgar © Neill Ross

Sixteen 707s descended on the Forth for the 2019 edition of the Edinburgh Cup, kindly hosted by Port Edgar YC and sponsored by Galbraith. Due to popular demand this season opener for the 707 Traveller Series was extended to a full weekend regatta, having been a one day event in previous years. As with previous incarnations the event was sailed with no discards favouring consistency at a time of year when cobwebs can still be seen on boats and crews have just awoken from their winter slumber.

Conditions over the weekend were decidedly chilly, with wavy conditions and gusts reaching 27 knots meaning there was no chance for crews to ease themselves back in after the winter break. The first race saw the familiar sight of a win for SeaWord, with a great second place for local boat Mojito and a third for proponents of reefing early Partial Pleasure. The second race went to new boat Mad Dog who showed throughout the weekend they will be real contenders this year, adding a new dynamic to an already ultra-competitive fleet. SeaWord took the third race after battling with Mad Dog, who themselves notched another victory on the fourth and final race of the day. An honourable mention must go to Racing Demon, who had to miss races 2 & 3 due to a breakage but managed to make it back to the start line for the fourth race.

Sunday's first race was won by Valhalla, who put in a stellar performance on the final day to rocket up the standings. The race will be better remembered by some for an incident which resulted in one of the crew of SeaWord going for a wee dip in the Forth unsurprisingly not recommended in April! Hartlepool based Sharky, the events furthest travellers, took a well-deserved bullet in the penultimate race, before Valhalla rounded off their excellent day by winning the last. Racing Demon and Blue Funk took third in those races to finish their event on a high.

Congratulations to SeaWord on winning the event their consistent top three finishes securing the Galbraith Edinburgh Cup. Valhalla secured second after their phenomenal showing on Sunday, with Sharky completing the podium. With five different race winners and half the boats securing a top three finish in at least one race, the omens are good for another fantastic season of ultra-competitive racing for the 707 fleet.

707 Galbraith Edinburgh Cup at Port Edgar - photo © Neill Ross

Welcome into the Fleet two new teams based in Scotland...

Eastlander is based at Port Edgar and sailed by a new, enthusiastic squad complete with very smart matching sailing kit. They are from Poland where they are also apparently known as Eastlanders. The crew of Emilio, Pawel, David, Pawel, and Tom are fairly new to racing but are undoubtedly going to rocket up the fleet having seen their keen attitude, boat preparation and smiling faces.

Mad Dog is sailed by Dan Challis from the Clyde with a keen, experienced race team who showed from the off what they are capable of by winning in two races over the Edinburgh Cup weekend. Their sleek boat is already turning heads as it looks fantastic. They hope to sail the East Patch series, and plan to be at all of the major 707 events in 2019. Could this also be the start of a 707 Fleet on the Clyde?

It was also great to meet two sailors who normally sail a 707 in Milford Haven. Jonathan Pierce and Caroline, owners of Lola based in West Wales, joined Andrew Lawrie on Valhalla as part of the crew, and what a difference they seemed to make! Valhalla has never sailed so well, and never tried so many port end flyers, which actually came off and produced two 1st places giving them second place in this ultra-competitive fleet. Hopefully this will spur them on to develop the fleet of one-design racing in Milford Haven.

As well as the new boats on the water at the weekend, three sailors were able to get out on the water thanks to the 707 Class Association's 'Competent Crew' initiative. This matches able and willing crew to boats looking for extra bodies, helping keen sailors get out on the water and boats to compete with a full crew. Anyone interested in joining the competent crew list is strongly encouraged to get in touch with the Class Associationvia www.sail707.com or email or Facebook. The Class Association has also recently taken delivery of a new class owned boat for the 'Deserving Boat' scheme, which has resulted in the addition of Autism on the Water and Partial Pleasure as permanent members of the class in recent years. The boat is now ready to sail and any teams interested in campaigning her this season should get in touch with the Class Association.

Thanks as always to the wonderful race committee and volunteers from Port Edgar YC, who once again put on a fantastic weekend of one design racing. It was brilliant to also have such generous support from Galbraith in their sponsorship of the event.

Next up on the 707 calendar is Scottish Series on 24 27 May. With 12 boats already officially entered, and more expected to join, the 707 fleet looks set to once again be the largest one design fleet at the regatta. The closeness of the racing has attracted a number of new crews to join the fleet in recent years, and once again we'll have Olympian Luke Patience join the fleet for Scottish Series. If you want to see boat-on-boat racing as good as it gets, then watch (or even join!) the 707 Fleet at the Scottish Series.

707 Galbraith Edinburgh Cup at Port Edgar - photo © Gregor Southall

Overall Results:

707 Galbraith Edinburgh Cup at Port Edgar - photo © Neill Ross