Optimal Scottish Supernova Cup at Port Edgar Yacht Club

Optimal Scottish Supernova Cup at Port Edgar Yacht Club © Calum Robertson

Sunday dawned with a pea-souper fog and light winds dimming down the initial enthusiasm for going racing. The local weather expert (I looked up XCWeather) predicted it would lift by 1pm which thankfully it did and after a short postponement the boats headed out under the bridges to start racing in Queensferry Bay.

Race 1 – This was the getting acquainted race with everyone (apart from Matt) learning what their boat was like after the setup changes the day before and the Castle Semple guys trying to work out why the water would not stay still. The short start line with pin bias meant Matt had to get his elbows out and do a bit more ‘education’ on Walter McDonald to get a good start and lead around the windward mark, followed closely by Pete Sykes, Arthur Logan and Calum Robertson. Matt and Calum went right in search of wind whilst Pete chose left to get out the tide. When Pete made gains the choice was clear and Matt arrived at the next mark still ahead. The light winds made it tricky to find the perfect lane around the rest of the course, but Matt gradually pulled away leaving Pete to fight of Calum for local honours. There was trouble in the MacDonald clan when young Orlagh finished well ahead of her Dad and was beginning to wonder how she was going to get home! What was significant however was that all the other boats were close behind and closer together than the previous events. The training had made an impact.

Race 2 (The ‘Bannockburn’ race) – The sun was so strong that even Matt was beginning to perspire. Calum aced the start at the pin end and banged the lay line to lead at the first mark. If the race had stopped there he would have been a happy bunny, but as he is a slow learner he went right again believing in the wind gods and got stuffed by the tide. He then became a sea-weed magnet and spent the rest of the race sulking at the back of the fleet. Andy MacDonald hit the next mark and joined Calum in the sulking stakes. Up front the wind was fickle and the tide strong with the lighter sailors making significant gains. Matt had either too much or too little whisky the night before and lost the lead when the mysterious back eddy near the start/finish line had him doing an eightsome reel after touching the mark. That left Neil McRae and Arthur Logan fighting with Matt around the final lap. Neil went turbo on the tide and took the win with Arthur Logan putting Castle Semple on the map.

Optimal Scottish Supernova Cup at Port Edgar Yacht Club - photo © Calum Robertson

Race 3 – Scottish hope were high after the previous race but were soon dashed when Matt pushed everyone out at the pin end, resulting in Pete being OCS by a long way and Calum doing turns after failing to keep clear of Walter. The wind had thankfully picked up a little so racing was more boat to boat than race 2 and on a longer windward/leeward course some great battles were being had. Orlagh had stormed away from the start to trail Matt around the course until she remembered she still had to get transport home and let her Dad past. Unfortunately, that meant she had to let a few others past as well. She did get a bit ‘stroppy’ however and claimed that father had made her mainsheet strop too short! At the finish, Matt was well ahead but behind him a real photo finish was developing. Calum and Pete had recovered from their bad starts to catch and pass Neil and Orlagh on the final beat, whilst Andy had gone into stealth mode and gone to Inverkeithing for chips, or so we thought. He then appeared at speed on a reach with tide and sneaked in ahead of Pete who snatched 3rd on the line from Calum. Simon Rogers won the prize for best smile and after a steep learning curve in the first 2 races, finished of with a storming beat to snatch 7th from Joh

Optimal Scottish Supernova Cup at Port Edgar Yacht Club - photo © Calum Robertson

In the end the championship experience of Matt meant the overall result was never really in doubt and he took the honours from Pete Sykes and Neil McRae from the host club. The reality is that everyone won. The sailors from PEYC and Castle Semple gained valuable knowledge and built new friendships for the future Supernova clan gathering at Dalget Bay SC, just across the Forth, on 27th/28th September for the final event which promises to be a 2 day celebration of all that is good about the Supernova. Many thanks go to Matt Thursfield and the Class Association for giving the Scottish fleet such a memorable weekend.

Overall Results: