Pwllheli Winter Series Weekend 2
by Vicky Cox 24 Nov 2025 07:02 GMT
22-23 November 2025
The fleet were met by cold, bright, sunny conditions and glassy seas. The wind, 6-8kts W-WNW, had dropped off significantly after the strong winds of the early hours, with the only evidence being a large swell left behind.
A sea breeze was trying to build in and gusts were swinging round to the right.
Race officer Robin Evans set a course with three laps along the beach, first to mark number 2 at the west end, back through the start/finish line and out to the fairway buoy just east of the Pwllheli channel and returning back to the line before repeating.
J70 Mojito Bach, helmed by Gareth Jones-Davies, got themselves the wrong side of the start line in the dying breeze and struggled to get back against a strong tide.
Mark Thompson's J70, Sgrech Bach, positioned nicely on the start line to lead the fleet away. Paul Sutton's Farr X2, Lightning, were second over the line, building speed on the approach to pass Finally before the line.
Once on their way, Paul&Sam Kitteringham's Elan 350, Finally, headed inshore while Lightning tacked offshore looking for more wind, while Sgrech Bach held their course, more or less a direct route to the west end.
Luckily for Mojito Bach, wind was filling in and they were able to join the race, making good progress along the beach after starting 15minutes after the rest of the fleet. Sgrech Bach and Finally were the first to approach the first mark but a strategic tack onto starboard by J70 Sgrech Bach, forced Elan 350 Finally to have to tack early too. The bigger boat then struggled to get going after the tack in the light winds, allowing Sgrech Bach to be first round the mark, clear ahead.
With wind now more NNW everyone looked to have good speed with kites up, back to number 0.
However as they passed through the line the wind had turned to northerly and was starting to die off. Was a shortened course required? By the time boats reached the fairway, flat seas out in the bay could be seen getting ever closer to the race course, so a shortened course was announced at Fairway. The fleet heading back to the finish still seemed to have relatively good speed. Had the right call been made? Another 20 minutes later and it was apparent that Sgrech Bach were patiently progressing towards the line and the shortened race was a good call. They crossed the line almost 5 minutes in front of Finally, winning the race by almost 10 minutes on corrected time. Meanwhile Lightening were struggling in the light airs, finishing almost 20 minutes behind the leaders, allowing Mojito Bach to take third place on corrected, despite them finishing almost half an hour after the winners.
The next racing at Pwllheli is in two weeks time. Weather permitting, there will be Santa hats a plenty in this festive race on Saturday 6th December - come and join us!
The Santa Special race is the precursor to the sailing club black tie prize-giving dinner the same evening, followed by an After Party Blast on Sunday 7th, round the islands and back, to clear the fuzzy heads. All cruisers and racers welcome to join us.
Check out the club website for more information, to book tickets for the Christmas party, to view full results and prize winners, and contact us if you'd like to race and/or crew. Visit www.PwllheliSailingClub.co.uk