Squib May Day Series at South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club

Squib May Day Series at Abersoch © Selina Morris

SCYC Squib sailors gathered at Pwllheli Marina ready for Nicholas Butterworth of Firmhelm to crane in ready for racing this Bank Holiday weekend.

Race 1

Saturday brought an unusual mist and no wind. Gradually the sun burned off the mist an a SW sea breeze established at about 2.30. The first best saw RicOshea sailed by Mark and Tom leading at the windward mark followed by Harry and Grayling. Great to see Banshee sailed by Nigel Harris and John Stevenson back on the water enjoying the light conditions. The second beat was tricky, with more breeze in shore and plenty of shifts. The top three maintained their positions with Banshee 4th and Panni Munta 5th.

Race 2

Grayling set off from centre and carried on inshore. Panni Munta got out of the gate second and tacked to windward of the pack. The breeze was now very shifty and full of holes. Getting inshore was the key, Grayling had taken the long tack in from the start and rounded the windward mark first followed by RicOshea and Panni Munta. A sensible call to shorten the course at the 2nd windward mark saw Grayling take the honours followed by RicOshea and Panni Munta.

Squib May Day Series at Abersoch - photo © Selina Morris

Sunday at SCYC was misty but a decent SSW breeze greeted the sailors.

Race 3

Tide flooding, breeze shifting and SSW mark a tricky mark to call. The fleet were close, 11 boats all converged on the mark. There was more carnage than a Wetherspoons on a Saturday night. First RicOshea bayed out gybing out of a tricky spot, then Grayling and Panni Munta followed suit.Alexa sailed by Mike Hughes and Gary Catterall judged the tide to perfection and rounded in the lead followed by Moonstone Malcolm and Dave Shiel. As the boats sailed up the second beat Moonstone were closing in on Alexa. Despite calling Mast A beam Moonstone got through to take the win followed by Alexa and Harry. The results show how close the Squib racing is at SCYC this season, any mistake is very costly.

Race 4

RicOshea joined the racing after finishing their three course lunch and set about taking a few places.

Very close again but with the knowledge of the shifts at SSW boats we’re giving themselves room. The final beat saw Harry and RicOshea fighting it out for the win. Mike and Grebo took the win. Tom and Mark sailed impressively to take 2nd followed by Dave Best and Glenn in 3rd.

Racing today was challenging, close and more importantly a hell of a lot of fun. Good few beers in the bar ensued.

Squib May Day Series at Abersoch - photo © Glenn Pritchard

Different wind tomorrow so all up for grabs.

The Final day of the May Day series at SCYC. The NW breeze and ebbing tide were a different challenge for Squibs this morning.

Race 5

Starting at South and beating to M, the fleet were keen to get out of the gate first. Moonstone got away and rounded the windward mark in the lead. Some boats decided to gybe to get out to sea on the run. Close quarter down wind gybing made for some position changes but Moonstone maintained their lead. The final beat RicOshea put the hammer down to pip Moonstone to the win. Grayling took advantage of boats over standing the finish to take 3rd spot.

Race 6

The breeze was lighter and full of holes now. Grayling were gate boat, RicOshea were 1st out of the gate. These two boat arrived at the windward mark together. Had the tide changed out to sea 2 hours early? Alexa were in the mix with Harry and Panni Munta behind. The final beat RicOshea managed to hold off a charging Grayling, according to Mark Thompson 2 inches made all the difference. Alexa held their nerve to take 3rd from Harry.

Squib May Day Series at Abersoch - photo © Selina Morris

After some fantastic racing in varied conditions the results were compiled. The SCYC fleet has again offered outstanding racing.

Thanks to Firmhelm Pwllheli Marine centre for continuing support craning boats in and out. Great launch service thanks to the team on the water and brilliant social at the Club thanks to Dave Pilling and Stacey for the results. More sailing next weekend.

Overall Results: