Regatta 2012

Last update 14 October 2013

Kemp Cup

Four dinghies turned out on Saturday 8th September for the Kemp Cup. The Kemp Cup is traditionally a windy affair, and the 2012 event lived up to expectations. There was plenty of power in the brisk South Westerly breeze. Harnessing this power while staying upright was the main challenge for the dinghies. The conditions moderated through the day but there were still some very strong gusts to catch out the unwary navigators. David Sabiston and Micheal Swanney sailing Aegir won the two races. A wayfarer came in second (Micheal Miller's Andante?). Two Lasers took part, Fredrik Sundman sailing Lazy Linda managed to get round the course finishing third while Jonathan Walters in St. George retired after several capsizes.

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Westray Regatta 2012

There was an early start for the boats heading to Westray on Saturday 28th July for the Westray Regatta. The Earl Sigurd left Kirkwall at 7.30 and arrived at Pierowall at 9.30. The various boats were lifted off and the crews started rigging and setting up the boats.

The first race was held in glorious conditions, the light and shifty South Easterly propelled the boats round a large triangular course. Six Snipes took part, with Neil Foubister's No Fear finishing first. Three Lasers took part, Ian Rushbrook's Solitaire got off to a good start and led all the way round. Of the three Merlin Rockets Brian Kent's Rural Girl won beating Ella by one second. Many years ago the Merlin Rocket dominated the Orkney small boat sailing scene (Kirkwall had 12 Merlin Rockets in class racing in the sixties), these days the remaining boats of this class spend a leisurely retirement in Westray.

The second race was held after a magnificent spread of sandwiches, scones, pizza, quiche, savouries and fancy cakes. By the start of the Allcomers Race the wind had died significantly and hopes of a second lap drifted off. What wind there was was very changeable, at times vanishing altogether. The flood tide had set in and was quite strong at the outer part of the course.

David Clouston's Temeraire finished the Allcomers race well ahead of the fleet but was beaten on handicap by Harcus Hutchison in Ella. David Sabiston's Aegir finished the race 2nd with Ella coming in 3rd. After applying the handicap Ella was first with Warspite second and Temeraire third.

In addition to the Laser and Snipe classes the regatta had a healthy fleet of indigenous Westray Skiffs and also attracted a good fleet of yachts (some of which came South from Shetland) and a few yoles. The whole spread of sail made a great spectacle across Pierowall bay.

After the Allcomers race there was a prize giving followed by another grand feast at the Pierowall Hotel. After suitable lubrication some of the competitors stumbled back to the ferry for the cruise back to Kirkwall. The food and hospitality at Westray regatta is always something special and this year was no exception.

Snipe

Laser

Merlin Rocket

Allcomers

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Stromness Regatta 2012

Stromness Regatta was held on Saturday 14th July 2012 with a fair North Westerly breeze which swung round to the West during the day. As expected the Snipes were the biggest fleet, with a few Yoles and mixed handicap boats joining the fray, 19 boats in total.

Snipe: 12 snipes took part on a large triangle/sausage course. Neil and Glen Foubister won the race sailing No Fear.

Mixed Centreboards: A small fleet of three boats in the mixed centreboards this year.

Two sail Yoles:

Two sail Yoles:

Allcomers: The Allcomers turned out to be another Snipe Class race with Michal Meszka's Laser in amongst the fleet. After several changes at the front of the fleet James Burgon and Gordon Deans sailing Bonxie won.

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Kirkwall Regatta 2012

David Sabiston's Alto Aegir had a successful weekend at Kirkwall Regatta, winning most of the silverware.

Pursuit Race (Friday 5th August): In the pusuit race all boats start at different times and race a number of laps to finish around the same time.

Mixed Centreboards:

Cats: It has been a quiet year for the cats, but three boats made the effort for this years Kirkwall Regatta.

Allcomers:

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Holm Regatta 2012

Snipe: 12 snipes took part on Saturday 18th August. Three short back to back races were held in the morning. Course 4 was sailed for the light South Easterly wind. The breeze was very light at times and very shifty. The course gave a beat from the start to mark 2 followed by short reach and run legs past marks 3, 6 and 4 to mark 5 where there was another short beat back to the finish. The racing was very close with different winners to each race. After adding the scores Malcolm Tipler's Go Quickly Red and Chris Moore's Hassfang finished with an equal eight points, the overall trophy was awarded to Go Quickly Red because of his win in the third race.

Mixed Centreboards: There was a wide range of sailing craft taking part in the Mixed Centreboard fleet, of particular note were the tiny Optimist sailed by Filip Meszka (the youngest competitor at the event) and the very slick looking asymmetric Laser 4000, a new addition to the Longhope fleet. It is very unusual to have a Laser 4000 competing against an Optimist. The Optimist is much slower, but has a handicap to match. If the Optimist races for one hour, the Laser 4000 has to have a time of less than 33 minutes 12 seconds to be ahead on corrected time. Three back to back races were held, the Optimist only competed in the first race, but managed a creditable second place. Ian Rushbrook's Laser Solitaire won every race.

Allcomers: After soup and sandwiches a short briefing was held before the afternoon racing. The Allcomers race consisted of three laps of the morning course. Andrew leslie's Moonstone got off with a good start and led the way for all three laps. Moonstone finished the race nearly five minutes ahead of Chris Moore's Hassfang. Malcolm Tipler's Go Quickly Red finished a rosy third.

The prizegiving and a barbeque were held after the racing.

Yoles and Skiffs: The yoles and skiffs always add colour and grace to the Holm Regatta, and for this year's Holm Regatta seven yoles took part, two of which were of the dipping Lug sailed variety. These boats had a single race of two laps in the morning and the same in the afternoon. From the Sloop rigged craft Ian Richardson and Willie Black sailed Helga to win both the mooring and afternoon races. Ann was triumphant in the dipping lug class winning both races.

Two sail Yoles:

Dipping Lugs:

Thanks: As always many folk were involved with the planning and execution of the Holm Regatta, various folk deserve special mention including: Willie Waters, Isobel Tipler and Jim MacDonald for the race management, all the people who helped with the raffle (Stuart Rosie, Mark Causer) and the food (Sylvia, Caroline, Bu, Cath), the stall (Amy, Graeme and Audrey), the safety boat crew.(Brendan and Bruce from HSC, Steve Davis from OSC as well as Andrew Clouston and Gary Fowles from SSC). Malcolm Gordon, Mark Causer, Charlie Siderfin as well as Neil Foubister deserve a mention for organising lots of things to make the event go smoothly. The visiting dinghies, yoles and skiffs should also be mentioned for making the event a great spectacle. There is a good chance some folk have been missed, sincere apologies if your name should be mentioned above.