Stewart Brewing RS200 Scottish Tour Update

RS200s at Tynemouth © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

The Stewart Brewing Scottish Tour is back for 2025, and have been enjoying some east coast sea venues, with events at East Lothian and Tynemouth giving us a great start to the season.

The traditional early June slot for East Lothian gave us a postcard-perfect day on the Firth of Forth. Unfortunately, postcards don't usually give the best conditions for sailing. Although the reflection of the Bass rock in the water was very pretty, the fleet and the race committee were gradually becoming more and more frustrated with the light and shifty winds, and racing was called off mid-way through the afternoon.

Of course this was the signal for a beautiful easterly to fill in, but the flags had already been flown. Some of the fleet took the opportunity to go puffin-watching around Craigleith, while the rest headed ashore to rest up for the breezier conditions forecast on Sunday.

The next morning was as perfect a sailing day as could be asked for, a lovely westerly, marginal planing conditions without too much chop, and glorious sunshine.

Brendan Lynch and Ellen Clark set the early pace, winning the first two races of the day, their experience in the waves paying big dividends downwind, planing earlier and for longer than their competitors. Ewan Wilson/Anna Sturrock and the returning John Ilson/Laura Glover kept the pressure on them but couldn't quite match their speed.

In the third race, some pin end carnage led to Brendan and Ellen having to bail out, and Fiona and Matt having to take a long sail back to the line when the X flag stubbornly refused to come down. All that meant that Ewan and Anna were able to take a race win from Brendan and Ellen, and make things interesting going into the last race.

The dropping breeze made things tense, but Brendan and Ellen were able to hold on for the win, with Ewan and Anna in second, and the youngest boat in the fleet, Ben and Suzie Homer, in third.

Overall Results:

Tynemouth, two weeks later, promised more of the same; summer heat wave and perfect breeze. Ideal for sitting on the beach with a beer or two after sailing.

This lasted just until we reached the sailing area, when the downpour started. A strangely warm downpour, but a downpour nonetheless. Ewan Wilson/Rory Gifford were the quickest boat through the choppy waters and Force 3 south-easterly of the North Bay, with a fierce battle between Peter Collings/Sophia Lopez and locals Neil and Ellen Piper behind. In the end, Neil/Ellen won that battle, and that set the tone for the rest of the event.

Crew doing all the work, as usual - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

The second race saw slightly lighter breeze, and the visit of a pod of dolphins, who followed us downwind, jumping, splashing and generally being very distracting. In the words of Rory, "we nearly got one with our spinnaker pole when we gybed."

The dolphins stayed around for the much lighter third race, mocking us by swimming quickly while we bobbed around, struggling to make headway against the tide. At the end of it all, Ewan and Rory had three wins, Neil and Ellen had three seconds, and Peter and Sophia had a really nice day on the water.

Slop, slop, slop - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Day 2 was a much breezier affair, an offshore wind gusting into the twenties. Just leaving the beach was a tricky proposition, as one paddleboarder found out, coming mere inches from being skewered by the Scottish rep.

Conditions in the race area were lumpy and gusty. The sail to the start line was very soggy, and the upwind wasn't much better, plugging through the chop proving hard work. The downwinds, though... To quote Sophia: "Oh **** ****, this is ****ing fast!"

Gybes were a case of fully commit or go for a swim, the boat was making sounds I have never heard a 200 make before, and the 400 fleet seemed to be competing for best pitchpole. As the breeze hit 28 knots and everyone held on for dear life, I happened to look up and see Ewan and Rory gybing on the shifts. Maniacs!

After two races of this, the seven-boat 400 fleet had been winnowed down to a single brave soul, and the three 200s were clinging on through willpower alone. As the warning signal went up for the final race, the Scottish rep decided that this did not spark joy, and made the decision to head for shore. Neil and Ellen followed shortly afterwards, leaving Ewan and Rory to do a victory lap and head for shore with a perfect record of six bullets.

Overall Results:

As always, a massive thanks to our generous sponsors at Stewart Brewing, who made sure we were well-hydrated throughout both events, and to the volunteers who made all those great days of racing possible. I hope you enjoy your well-deserved crates!

Sponsor beers on tour - photo © Peter Collings

The next event is at Royal Findhorn on the 12th and 13th of July. Another cracking venue, and hopefully we'll get a good turnout for it. Where else would you want to be?!