King George V Cup at Royal Gourock Yacht Club

Saturday was Royal Gourock Yacht Club’s premier event of the season, the King George V Cup. It was a very breezy day, probably Force 4, with gusts measuring higher than that, and with a Southwesterly wind direction. The Commodore decided to send the boats on a running start, with Rosneath North the first mark, Kilcreggan and Levanne making up this epic voyage back to the start, and then Rosneath and Levanne making up the second round of the course. It was hoped that the best beat would be from Kilcreggan to Levanne, and that this would mitigate the unusual step of a running start.

All was well until the starting gun went off, and at the same time an abnormally strong gust of wind must have raced through the start area, as the boats in one part of the line veered out of control, mostly around Flying Saucer, who seemed to have launched crew member Robert Hughes up the mast along with the spinnaker. Reports say ‘All I could see were his wee feet dangling clear of the deck, I’d have let go of the rope a sight quicker than that!’ Needless to say, the helm and crew quickly brought matters under control, but spectators will be dining out on Robert’s Flying Lesson on Flying Saucer.

All seemed well, although there were stories in the bar later of broaches at Levanne and the new crewman on Well Kooshtie dangling by the fingertips, up to his waist in water. The boats all arrived at the end of the run to Rosneath more or less level, and then began to sort out into places on the reach across to Kilcreggan. By the end of the first round Marguerite was leading, well sailed as ever and not too much gin split at all. Well Kooshtie was in hot pursuit, like a gnat chasing a beetle, with many other boats also sailing well to handicap.

The second round was slightly less hair raising, as crews adjusted to conditions and exhaustion replaced excitement. It was noticeable that the smaller boats were well in touch with their larger competition, and people were egging on their favoured competitors from the warmth of the clubhouse, where the fete was in full swing. As the boats finished Well Kooshtie had finally crept in front of Marguerite and Peanuts was holding off Iceni further down the fleet.

After every handicap race, like this one, the boats’ times are adjusted by a mathematical calculation to even up disadvantages caused by differences in size and sail area. Just like horse racing handicaps this is not a perfect system, it’s just the best that we’ve got. When all of the sums were done everyone was surprised, as Well Kooshtie had to settle for second place behind last year’s winner, Ian Harris’s Iceni. The third and fourth places went to Hussar and Slioch, both also Loch Longs, and Rosanne was fifth. Retrac won the prize for first Class III boat, and Iceni also wins the Fantasy Salver for first Loch Long.

On Sunday the Loch Longs were out again, don’t those folks have homes to go to? For the Rhuna Cup the wind was westerly and a good force four, gusting higher. This time the race officer set a windward/leeward from Levanne to the Swimming Pool. The beat down to Levanne was hard going, particularly on the second round, and all of the boats were on the edge of wipe-out on the way back with spinnakers flying. The most daring of all was of course Aurora, with the Campbells looking for revenge after their second place in Well Kooshtie on Saturday. Slioch had a good tussle with Iceni, and Hussar kept up well. In the end there was no denying the battling clan Campbell, and Aurora was well ahead of Slioch, with Iceni having to be content with third.

There will be more exciting racing next weekend with the Scottish Sonata Championships at the club.

Overall Results:

More Information:

• Royal Gourock Yacht Club website