Last update 12 August 2019

Regatta 2019

Holm Regatta 2019

The torrential rain on the morning of Saturday 20 July failed to deter the intrepid sailors from taking part in the 70 years anniversary Holm Regatta held in St. Mary's. Although rigging the boats in the rain wasn't such a pleasant experience the conditions steadily improved through the day and the sailing conditions turned out to be very good, although a bit light and shifty in the morning.

Two back to back class races were held in the morning followed by a break for lunch and then the Allcomers in the afternoon. A treasure hunt was run in the village for the younger spectators which added to the festive atmosphere. It was great to see the colour of the speedy catamarans, four of which took part. Special mention should be made of the elegant looking traditional skiffs who made the journey all the way from Westray for the event, it has been a few years since the skiffs have made the journey from Westray for this regatta. The old Rosebud was also involved in the event, fully restored and in good working order.

The wind was light and shifty from the North East in the morning but then backed to the West during the second race. For the afternoon's Allcomers the wind was a much steadier Westerly of about 10 to 12 knots. The morning races were round a triangular course (around laid marks 1, 3 and 4), with the start and finish at the pier. The snipes and mixed centreboards had two laps while the yoles and skiffs did a single lap. The races were managed by Margaret Hinkley and Willie Watters along with the right honorable Liam MacArthur MSP firing the starting gun.

After the two morning races some boats tied up to the pier, while others were dragged ashore on the gravel beach or the slipway. All the competitors went along to the community hall for soup, mince rolls and home bakes. Within the Holm Hall was the 70 years of Holm Sailing club exhibition including many fascinating photos from years gone by. At the end of the hall was Erma, fully rigged in all her ancient splendour. Erma was one of the early wooden snipes sailed by Jack Foubister for many years.

After the racing was complete the boats were dragged onto trailers and trolleys to be towed back. The prizegiving was held at the pier with Graham Bruce of Highland Park presenting the trophies (as well as bottles of whisky for the winners). Thanks were also made to all the folk involved in the event including the three safety boats (Happy Hunter 2 from Stromness, Robin from Kirkwall and Lena from St. Mary's), the young ladies who helped with the tent, the time keepers, all the many helpers and organisers, the Commodore Lynn Bartlett as well as the most welcome sponsorship of Highland Park.

There was a great atmosphere at the event with a very wide age range of competitors, from young Owen Foubister at ten years sailing with his dad Michael in Wild Goose, to Sheena Taylor celebrating a grand 75th birthday sailing with Tony Miller on Tic Tac.

In the evening a buffet meal and dance was held in the Commodore Motel with music from the Kirkjvagr Ceilidh band. Club secretary Mark Causer made a speech and everyone had a jolly time.

Mixed Centreboards

Three boats took part in the mixed centreboards class races. In the first race John Orr and Sid Milton finished the race well ahead sailing his 505 Dick Dastardly but the 505 handicap took it's toll, putting him back into third place, Warspite (Laser) sailed by Andrew Leslie finished the race in front of David Clouston's Wayfarer Smyril (with R. Doull as crew) which was enough to win the race. In the second race Dick Dastardly finished in the lead again but after application of handicap had to be satisfied with another third place. Smyril finished in second place giving him the win on handicap, with Warspite in third place over the line, second place on handicap.

Snipe

Holm Sailing Club is a Snipe club and so it is quite natural that the Snipe class dominated the sailing. Sixteen boats took part in the morning races.

In the first race Mark Taylor and Anna Southall sailing Skeldro managed to get a good start and once in clear air he was able to get well clear of the fleet and won the race comfortably. Neil Foubister and Kyle Brown came in second sailing Kontiki followed by Glen Foubister and Joe Drever sailing No Fear.

In the second race Mark Taylor gave another winning performance with Pete Tipler sailing Nemo into second and Malcolm Tipler sailing his new boat Mandarino into third place with crew Tiffin. The leeward mark roundings were fairly congested at times causing some consternation abong the sailors.

Allcomers

Seventeen boats took part in the dinghy allcomers race, and the course was altered to 5, 3, 5, 3, 1, which gave a good beat from mark 3 to 5. There was quite a guddle of boats on the start line with a couple of boats not getting away cleanly. Mark Taylor's Skeldro won the race after a good start. Malcolm Tipler sailed Mandarino to second place with Tiffin as crew. Smyril still managed to come out with a third place despite a disasterous start. Glen Foubister and Joe Drever won the first placed local boat as the junior trophy, finishing in 6 place.

Yoles and Westray Skiffs

Three Westray skiffs took part along with one yole, Mohigan from Longhope sailed by Angus Budge. The first race was won by Bella skippered by Sam Harcus, Ailsa sailed by Gordon Rendall finished second and Rona with Leighton Venables finished third. Rona won the second race with Ailsa second and Bella third. Ailsa won the third race with Bella second followed by Rona in third. This gave the win to Ailsa with which 5 points overall.

Catamarans

Four Hobie 18 catamarans took part in the racing, with three races. The cats were given a longer course with a laid mark further out into the bay. In the first race Erlend Tait and Kazia Watson sailed Katoosh to win, with Ian Rushbrook finishing second in Awesome and then Calum Rendall in third place with Willy Flipit. The second race was won by Willy Flipit followed by Awesome and then Richard Flett in Plum Crazy in third place. The third race was held after lunch, Willy Flipit finished in first place followed by Katoosh nad then Plum Crazy.

Overall Willy Flipit finished top with five points.

Frozen Food Centre Trophy/Interclub

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Light and shifty breeze along with rain showers gave the eleven Snipes challenging conditions for the Interclub and Frozen Food Centre trophies. Three back to back races were held. The first race was course 7 in the harbour; 7, 3, 4, 2, 5, 1. The second race was shortened to 7, 6 then 1. The course was then reversed to give 1, 6, 7.

Frozen Food Centre Trophy: For the Frozen Food Centre Trophy the results from all three races were added to determine the winner. Moonstone took the trophy with Silver Fern close behind in second place.

Interclub: For the annual interclub challenge event scores from Stromness Boats and Holm Boats are added to give a result. On Thursday 18 July seven Holm Boats took part along with four Stromness boats, so the four best scores from the first race were used to give the result. After adding the results Stromness wins the trophy once again.

Port to Port

The annual Port to Port race was held on Sunday 23 June this year. Five boats took part in fresh conditions. On the return journey Rio’s mainsail split which slowed them down somewhat.

Longhope Regatta

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High water in Kirkwall was at 8:24 on Saturday 29 June 2019 which gave a strong ebb for Longhope Regatta. Two back to back races were held, conditions were moderate north westerly in the first race and then light and shifty in the second race. The tide was quite strong during the first race, particularly near the start/finish line off the pier, but eased a bit for the second race.

The first race was for class races as well as the Mixed Centreboard race. The second race was the Allcomers.

Class Races: Class races were held round the usual figure of eight course with a single lap.

Snipe: Two snipes raced, Malcolm Tipler's Mandarino with Paula Hemsley as crew and Scott and Amy Tulloch in Jual. Mandarino won.

Laser: Three Lasers competed, two of which were sailing with the smaller radial sail (Joshua Brown and Robert Gillespie). Warspite with Andrew Leslie won the race and also won the Mixed Centreboard trophy.

Skiffs and Yoles: Three boats took part in the Skiffs and Yoles race.

Allcomers: The Allcomers race was shortened due to the weather conditions which gave a very short race round a triangular course. The race was won by Malcolm Tipler and Paula Hemsley sailing Mandarino. This also gave him the trophy for the first snipe in the Allcomers race. Andrew Leslie won the 'First Laser in Allcomers' trophy sailing Warspite.

Yachts: Two yachts took part in the races, Harmony (Harky Hutchison) and Panache (Jimmy Clouston). Panache won both races.

Cats: Only one catamaran took part: Dire Straits.

Toppers: Three Toppers took part on a shorter course.

After the racing the prizes were presented on the Royal Hotel lawn along with soup and sandwiches.

Burray Regatta

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Burray Regatta was held on Saturday 6 July. Two races were held in the morning followed by a lunch break and lifeboat funday and raft race. After refreshments the boats went out for the Allcomers race. The breeze was fairly gusty from the North. Seven Snipes took part along with a couple of mixed centreboards (505, Wayfarer) and a couple of cats.

Snipe Class

The Allcomers race was won by David Clouston and Kazia Watson sailing Smyril. Malcolm Tipler and won the First Snipe in Allcomers race. The Cats trophy was won by Callum Rendall and Glen McLennan.

Kirkwall Regatta

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The pursuit race on Friday evening was planned with military precision to give all boats a ninety minute race, with the various handicaps applied to the start times to give a grand finish where all boats finish the course at the same time.

Dinghies:

All the dinghies started at the same time but class prizes were awarded for Wayfarers, Merlin Rockets and of course the Mixed Centreboards.

As far as class racing goes the three Merlin Rockets taking part on Saturday were the main attraction. The Merlin Rocket class has sailed in Kirkwall Bay for decades, although the fleet this year is a pale shadow of the fleets of the 70s when ten boats were not unusual. With some fairly close racing Harky Hutchison's antique Ella came out on top.

Merlin Rocket Class

Wayfarer Class

It was great to see a class of Wayfarers sailing, with David Couston's legendary Smyril racing against Gordon Rendall's Das Spoot. Smyril stormed ahead finishing the race an astonishing 12 minutes ahead of Das Spoot; quite an achievement in a race lasting a little over an hour.

Mixed Centreboards Class

The Mixed Centreboard race was a diverse selection of sailing craft, with John Orr's vintage 505 'Dick Dastardly', Mark Taylor's Skeldro, two Lasers, Mark Holbrook in 'Enron' as well as Joshua Brown sailing Radial 'Warspite'. After the handicap was applied the results were quite close but Mark Taylor came out on top.

Afternoon Centreboard Race

Club Commodore David Clouston stomped ahead in the afternoon race finishing a country mile ahead of the other boats (after handicap).

Allcomers

In a congested start Smyril bumped into Ella and had to do penalty turns, despite that she still managed to storm ahead and win, well ahead of the fleet after her handicap was applied.

Catamarans

Four Cats took part for some good class racing adding a splash of colour to the event. In both races Callum Rendall finished first sailing Willy Flippit.

Skiffs

Three of the Westray skiffs made the pilgrimage to Kirkwall for the event. They competed in two races both of which were won by Keith Kent sailing Tit.

Yachts

There was a good turn out of yachts, in the light conditions Enigma sailed by Simon Butcher won both races.

After the racing the weary sailors went to the Girnel for a sumptuous buffet along with a prizegiving, sponsored by Highland Park Distillery. The Bigsy Whalps provided some music for a dance into the wee small hours.

On Sunday afternoon the juniors had three races in training Pico boats. Kavan Kynoch won all three races so came away with the coveted DAG Kynoch Cup.