Largs Regatta

Time again to enter for this not to be missed event starting 23rd August (unless you have OD alternatives). Whopping £30 late entry fee after Fri 15th Aug. 2 IRC classes, 2 CYCA, Sigma 33, Sportboat and one whitesail class plus the usual dinghy stuff.

Polaris and GSS Regatta

On returning from cruising I noticed a large amount of traffic on the forum related to the Polaris Regatta and its erstwhile IRC component. It seems to me that the GSS Regatta is not a 'new' event as such. It can be regarded as merely the moving of the IRC racing on that day to a different location ie at Rhu. Those who sail One Design keelboats or dinghies as well as IRC would always have had to make that choice and I rather think that those individuals are not especially numerous although I couldn't really comment on the Piper crews. HLSC does a really good job with the racing in the Holy Loch and it is well recognised that their bacon rolls are second to none. However it is debatable how much the IRC part of the regatta- ie that part organised by the CCC -really contributed to the undoubted success of Polaris. The IRC racing has been around and about. I remember the Murray Seafoods event without much affection and the best was when the event was in Rothesay with those mad mad saturday nights. It seems entirely reasonable to try another alternative venue especially as a good proportion of the IRC participants come from the East Patch. I would expect GTi Polaris to be no less successful than ever and hopefully the GSS event will stimulate enough interest to revive the IRC side of things a bit, even if one or two potential competitors have crew who have chosen to sail in the Holy Loch. I for one welcome the initiative of GSS in promoting this event.

Tobermory Race

Tobermory Race part 1 was apparently quite a lively affair. Those staying in the Clyde experienced gusts up to 40 kts off Tarbert - enough to blow out Grand Cru's mainsail. Sunrise, with small children on board, was first to finish the final very windy beat to Ardrishaig but being an older and heavier boat was probably beaten on handicap by Micky Finn IV which finished shortly afterwards and is seen here with the Captain having temporarily disappeared from view. Lingo and Freebird arrived very soon afterwards which was good going for such small yachts. Those taking the long route round the Mull had an interesting time also in very large seas. Tanit was the only one to catch the tide round and was reportedly doing a lot of very wet submarining with just the No3 headsail. Others struggled with the tide and some gave up and went to Gigha. The CCC commodore was absent (at Cork) but special mention should be made for Alan Cassells who gave up a day to drive to Ardrishaig in order to stand on the canal breakwater and take finishing times.

At Croabh, Ian Thomson was on hand to start Part 2 but as the Crinan canal had closed after the first locking down of race boats (necessitating the return to Ardrishaig of Sunrise et al) the turnout was rather poor. Micky Finn did her usual horizon job and the rest of us had an enjoyable and fast sail up the Sound of Luing and across the Firth of Lorne until the wind stopped entirely at Duart and the fleet parked up, as I am told it always does. After a bit of slapping about and as the rain was coming on we decided to chuck it and motor off to Tobermory. The rest struggled on and all finished inside the 10pm time limit although not all by very much. Below are Grand Cru and Sorr of Appin round about Fladda.

Loch Long Week. (20-25th July)

Won by an Aldeburgh crew with Mark Bradshaw and Jack Fordy of CSC in 2nd. 8 Clyde crews travelled south to Aldeburgh for the event. Read the full report here.

Troika Wins Commodore's Cup

Ok so it was Lochcarron Sailing Club Commodore's Cup but we haven't won much in the last few years so give us a break. As part of Troika's cruising exploits this year (and yes, cruiser racers without sprayhoods and furling genoas can go off cruising) we stopped off to visit our friends in Lochcarron and it would have been discourteous to refuse the invitation to take part in their Sunday afternoon jolly.

It was only a fun race with just 6 boats taking part but the Lochcarron yachties were as competitive minded as anywhere else. We were fortunate to be able to pressgang Aonghais Rowe into our crew of 3 from our visit to Plockton the previous day and in the light conditions we had very little difficulty in staying well ahead of the much slower rated local boats. It was a good natured and friendly experience with a glass of wine for all competitors on finishing but we are optimistic that the bizarre practice of broadcasting heilan dance music on the working VHF channel will not be taken up on the Clyde.

Lochcarron Sailing Club deserves a more serious mention as primarily a dinghy club which over the years has developed from a handful of enthusiasts with a bunch of clapped out Mirrors to an award winning club which is producing young sailors competing at national level and is able to boast a remarkable level of local participation in what is a relatively small village community. They have a splendid new clubhouse and the level of enthusiasm generally is something to which many clubs elsewhere could aspire. It's certainly a beautiful location when the tide is in.

What we did on our holidays

Chas has long wanted to get the chance to climb the Sgurr of Eigg and this year the conditions were right at the time we were passing. Eigg has certainly been tidied up a bit since we were last there although there are still some wrecked cars lying about. There is a remarkably well stocked store and a pleasant bar/cafe type establishment at the old pier. New buoys are in place to mark the approach to the new ferry pier but those of you who have up to date sailing directions will know all that. The path to the top of the Sgurr is well marked and the view from up there is well worth the effort although it was bit hazy when I was there. The guides suggest a couple of hours each way but I was up in just over an hour. The picture below shows the harbour and new pier /causeway as seen with zoom lens from the top of the Sgurr.

Indispensible Racing Gadget

We are not normally given to equipment recommendations here but shown below in action in Troika's galley is an excellent invention. It is a rectangular frying pan which has been designed to fit a boat cooker exactly. It is of thick aluminium with a good non stick and goes under the name of 'Boaties frying pan' We bought ours at Ardfern for £14.99 and would recommend it unreservedly. Racing gadget? Bacon rolls improve racing performance as everybody knows.

Crinan Canal

The Crinan Canal closure has certainly been a bit of a disaster for the West Coast generally. The word was that following temporary repairs the Crinan sealock was going to open on Saturday 2nd Aug which was the day we wanted to start our return passage. We arrived from Kerrera at about 10am to be told that divers were down and that they would give it a go when the tide was up at around 3pm. We had expected to see some heavy industrial plant there but there was only a van with a generator and compressor and a couple of divers in a RIB. It appeared to me (although I could be completely wrong) that the temporary repairs amounted to little more than placing strategic pieces of wood and bags of concrete on the damaged sill. Anyway at around 2.30 we were in the first bunch and got up all right and a lockful of yachts in the basin got down with a lot of canal staff doing anxious peering over the edge of the lock. Apparently only one other locking took place to allow a big British Waterways cheese to get his stinkboat up and then the lock was deemed closed for a month. I would guess that a month is somewhat optimistic if they are doing a full repair.

From a quick look at the WHYW results so far it would seem that the entry is only a little depleted due to the canal problems.

Tigh Solais

Not to be confused with the well known J109 this Tigh Solais is the new toilet/shower block at Tobermory. Just opened by HRH Princess Anne on 3rd July the building (Gaelic for Light House) contains excellent showers (£2 for 8mins) although the male toilet has only 2 dumping stations which might be under a bit of pressure when the WHYW fleet are in. Anyway it's a long overdue facility of which Tobermory can now be proud. We were slightly nonplussed about bertholders having to fork out an extra 20p for each visit but since the building is open to anyone - anchorers, campers etc I guess we just live with it grateful that it is there.

We were also in Kerrera and continue to be impressed with the developing facilities. The pontoons have been expanded usefully and the welcome and helpfulness of the staff could hardly be improved upon. Before leaving the subject of showers and toilets it is worth mentioning that the facilities at Crinan Boats have had a total makeover and are now very smart indeed. But take £2 for your shower.