Albacore Round Cumbrae Island Race from Largs Sailing Club

Following on from the one day TT event hosted by Largs SC the Albacore fleet took part in the round Cumbrae Island Race. With the lead changing three times on the first beat, Dick Downie and Linda McMullin having had an early lead were overhauled by Derek and Katie Gibbon taking advantage of the shifts, Crawford Reid and Colin Boyce taking the lead in the last section of the first beat by tacking into Millport Bay and gaining from several shifts that the rest of the fleet never even saw. Jim Sinclair closed the gap in fourth by staying in the assisting tide. After turning East round the back of the island the Albacores joined a fleet of Sigma 33's coming from Little Cumbrae on their reaching leg, planing along the stern waves gave some boats more of an advantage than others.

Towards the end of the Leg the Gibbons passed Reid and Boyce as they bore off for the next turning mark and got involved in overtaking manouvers with larger Yachts. The gap between the first three boats was never more than a hundered yards and Gibbons lead was almost lost at the finish line as Reid hitched another lift from a Sigma's stern wave on the lifting breeze as the final leg turned from a beat to a fetch, however the gap reduced to 10 seconds at the end saw Gibbon lead the fleet home.

Overall Results:

More Information:

• YachtsandYachting.com Albacore Page