La première sortie du nouveau First 30. C'est une plug pour Dumper et Sunbird

Beneteau are launching 2 new First 30s to carry out a summer of boat for boat testing under the control of Michel Desjoyeaux, with the aim of presenting the boat in the summer shows, including Southampton, together with fully worked up boat and tuning guides. All that aside the First 30 looks really exciting with a cloud of sail, square top mainsail, twin rudders and a chined hull aft for fast running. Beneteau have opened a First 30 web and blog site to follow development over the summer so click onto www.teamfirst30.com Sunbird will be pleased to help you with more detail so contact Chris Dodgshon Tel 01294 607074 or e mail chris.dodgshon@sunbirdyachts.eu

New Elan 350

Looks cool. Twin rudders and a prod. Twin wheels and German mainsheet on a 35 footer. Design by Rob Humphries as always.

CCC Carmen II Ailsa Craig Race & Arran Trophy

25th-27th June: This weekend sees something for everyone - whether you fancy an overnight trip round Ailsa Craig or a gentle meander around the Firth, this event is for you. You can even do both.

CCC now have a sponsor for this weekend - the crew of Carmen II have stepped forward in what is possibly unique to the Club where a boat is the race sponsor. The social has now moved and will be held in the newly refurbished Victoria Hotel. Complimentary drinks and nibbles will be available at the Victoria in the Balmoral suite from 18:00 till 19:30.

I'm sure that should generate some comment on the forum. Well done the Carmens anyway.

Forthcoming Events:

CCC Centenary Tobermory Race & Round The Mull 17-19th July.
A huge entry is promised with, for part 2, a mass ensign flying cruising section following the race starts from Ardfern.

West Higland Yachting Week - 24 entries already. Social prog looks good with the Sunday Oban action taking place in the Oban Marina boatshed on Kerrera

Duncan Hepplewhite and scottishsailing.com have been appointed as agents for the North Sails One Design Dept. For more information or a quote please contact Duncan on Mob 07817 704 637, Tel 01324 861 756

email duncan@scottishsailing.com

Chas has been footering about on Blogger devising an updated Serpent Yacht Club website. As you may know the Serpent Yacht Club is a strange but friendly entity which is open to those with some tenuous connection to health care or the NHS. Individuals who fit that demographic are invited to enquire about membership in order to enjoy the programme of low key racing and social musters.

Old Pulteney IRC Championship

It may not be a matter of national pride that Scotland's (arguably) most successful racing yacht is an elderly Beneteau cruiser but there can be no denying that when on form with a good breeze the FTSEes can hustle the old bus round the race course to very good effect and this they did at the Mudhook event with 4 bullets, discarding a 3rd and taking the overall trophy once again.

Neill Ross

Perhaps the Salamanders were looking upwards for divine inspiration during a weekend where their BDSS success was not repeated, IRC 2 being won in convincing style by Keith Lord's A35, Acrewed Interest from the Isle of Man.

Alan Henderson

Apologies to Fiona Holland for messing about with her press release from Saturday: -

It may be the largest yacht in IRC Class 1, but it is also one of the heavier ones, so stronger breeze than had been forecast was all good news for yacht Playing FTSE. On day one of the Old Pulteney IRC Scottish Championship at Largs yesterday, the veteran campaigner put her best foot forward and returned to the shore with three first places from three races for her efforts. A consistent north westerly of 15-18 knots gave the fleet plenty to get to grips with during the three races, with good courses set by the race officer.
Owner and skipper of the Beneteau 47.7 Jonathan Anderson said: "This really was just our weather. The lack of the forecasted light breeze was all good news for us. "We had three good starts - the pin end was always the place to be and we were then able to get away cleanly and, being the biggest boat, we had the pace to get away. "The crew work was good - we just go out and hope to make all the right moves and go as fast as we can. And it all worked out today."
Although Anderson and his crew did ultimately have it all their own way they were pushed hard by Brian Summers at the helm of Chris Bonar's BH36 Bateleur 97 - particularly in race two, a margin of only 17 seconds separated the pair on corrected time. Surprisingly, Tanit, winners of Class 2 at BDSS slumped to a second last overall.

Neill Ross

Elsewhere in the 30-strong fleet, Miles Stratton and crew on board the new Archambault 31 Imadjinn also enjoyed a good day in IRC3, dropping only one race on the way to two firsts and a second. The Rhu-based yacht was beaten to the pass in race one by John Robertson's Hops, a Davidson 36, despite Robertson and crew actually being across the line early at the gun, and having to restart. Hops' cause was then helped still further when Imadjinn's crew opted for the wrong side of a wind shift, allowing Hops to gain more of the all important ground. Stratton, however, did not make the same mistake twice and, despite being pushed hard by Robertson, the Imadjinn crew gelled well and got in to the groove to add two wins to their tally.

Neill Ross

Despite taking first place in race one, the Salamander crew was unable to hold off the advances of Keith Lord's A Crewed Interest. The Isle of Man yacht rallied to the challenge and picked up first places in the next two races giving her four points, with Corson managing to post only a further fourth and fifth and ultimately ending in 3rd place behind Sloop John T. Kevin Aiken's Elan 380 Animal and the Scutt/Jeffrey partnership of Carmen II finished 5th and 4th respectively.

Neill Ross

In IRC4, local yachtperson Mark Bradshaw with his Impala Mercenary was head to head with John Allen's X302 Antix - the Whitby yacht picked up first in race one with Mercenary posting a mid-fleet fourth, but Bradshaw fought back with two firsts in the second and third of the day and went on to win the series on equal points with Antix.

The final results are here

Neill Ross

Sonata Nationals at Helensburgh Sailing Club

All pics by Neill Ross

With headstays all a-sag this just has to be a start line of snotters out enjoying their Nationals on the East Patch. Helensburgh has been a Sonata place from way back when so it was good to see a healthy entry. From its initial design concept you might not have predicted the success that the wee tubs would go on to have but for one design cruiser racing on the cheap there is still nothing to touch it. The pic below is almost a photo-finish. You don't even see Pipers racing that close....

Peter Booth kindly sent in this account:

There were 2 races on Thursday at Helensburgh Sailing Club in lovely sunny weather although the breeze did die at the end. Both of these races were won by Dave Boatman sailing Blue Tack from Sunderland. On Friday Donald McLaren, the race officer (an ex Sonata man) managed to get in 4 excellent races in a good steady breeze from the west. The first of these was won by Peter Booth sailing Firebird from the local club while the second was taken by Steve Goacher from Windermere in Eric the Boat. Dave Boatman came back to get the 3rd race but Steve again took the 4th. Saturday's forecast was for light winds and it was doubtful if we would get any racing in but in the event there was a very good force 3 and two more round the buoys races were held with Steve winning both of these. Then Donald (RO) decided to hold a passage race as there was still plenty of time available and the wind was still good. This turned out to be a really great race. We started out by the sugar ship with a beat towards Rosneath point and then we sailed back and forth across the river rounding 13 marks between Greenock and Kilcreggan. The finish line was off HSC and after more than 2.5 hours of racing the two of them were never more than a few seconds apart and although Dave had led for almost all the race it was Steve who took the finish gun by just a few seconds. I know this sounds like it was a two horse race throughout but that wasn't the case. The racing was very close throughout the fleet and Jazz sailed by Neil Rosie from HSC was 3rd overall and Neil McLure in So 4th. There was no racing on Sunday as the wind decided enough was enough. Yes this was a great event both on and off the water with everyone enjoying the social events that we held.

Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series 2010 overall winners - Salamander XX and Team Corson

A long awaited and very well deserved win to the Salamanders. Hearty congratulations from Clydesailing and good to see the trophy being taken by a hard working Clyde yacht.

John Corson

John Corson

I'm sure everybody had a great time this year. On Troikka we certainly did. We might not have had the best set of results overall but in IRC3 we were in a pretty competitive class which included the overall winners and some other well known talent. The handicaps were so close it was almost 'one-design' . We were a put-together crew who had never before all sailed together but we enjoyed a lot of good racing, loads of banter and some top notch catering on board our mother-ship 'OOTB', Stewart Toy's Moody.

chas

After a shaky and flukey first day when only those with nerves of steel would take on the job of Race Officer, conditions brightened into a stunning sailing weekend and even the Brewin Dolphins came out to play with the IRC fleet on Sunday. The pic I'm afraid is the best I could manage with my slow to react camera but I can assure you that they were grinning.

troikka crew

Clydelink Portavadie -Tarbert shuttle

(Journey appx 7 minutes to the heart of Tarbert and Portavadie) Fare Single £5

Depart Portavadie 1845 Depart Tarbert 1900
Depart Partavadie 1945 Depart Tarbert 2000
Depart Portavadie 2145 Depart Tarbert 2200
Depart Portavadie 2245 Depart Tarbert 2300
Guaranteed service! We will carry all passengers until the pontoon is cleared. Service available after 2300 on demand (Fare single £10) call by 23.15 latest, risk it after 23.15.
PRIVATE Water Taxi service available at all another times call 07815 869 609 (Give as much notice as you can!!!).

CREW TRANSFERS Daily departures from Largs Yacht Haven – (Upon request. Call rib phone on 07815 869 609 for details). Always best to book in advance......................

RACE WATCHING Daily departures from Portavadie and Tarbert from £20 per adult – Call 07815 869 609 for full details and booking).

Andy Malcolm of Andrew Malcolm Yachting has been appointed agent for Sydney Yachts in the UK.

Andy says: "This is a big step for my company as we have never actively been involved in yacht sales. We do get involved in owners changing yachts but only on a consulting basis but we can now offer a serious offshore option. Sydney Yachts is a specialist company but with the recent tie up with Jason Kerr and a new range of IRC race boats and performance cruisers being launched this is a perfect time to join Sydney Yachts. Although the global downturn has slowed yacht sales the market place will return and we want to be fully sorted and in a position to capitalise when the growth starts again. With our ties to Sydney Yachts and Quantum Sails we are without any doubt in a very strong position to offer our UK clients a full on performance package for either racing or performance cruising. For more details look at www.sydneyyachts.com or contact us direct for more technical details."

Form an orderly queue please

Aground !

We saw this unhappy sight on Sunday afternoon just south of Colintraive. Don't know how it happened but perhaps someone didn't work out their tidal range when anchoring. The boat is a big Beneteau cruiser called Cristal.

Pre BDSS Tarbert visit.

Troikka was out on the Serpent YC Tarbert muster. On Sat the race was stopped at Garroch Head after a long beat where the trick was to pick your way through the holes. Why is Tanit sailing with a non overlapping headsail you might ask?

The ladies's race back to Kames looked like it wouldn't start and to begin with the sea kayaks were doing much better than the yachts but eventually a good little breeze filled in and we had an enjoyable sail. It was a good weekend to be afloat anyhow. The new walkway all the way round from the toilets to the Corner House is a useful development. We're not sure what is going to go in the large space which has been created by clearing the wee car park and the derelict tin shed.

CCC and Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series

I have received an email from a BDSS entrant informing me that the asterisk word which previously headed this short piece is somewhat unbecoming and that it is "not smart to swear". Obviously we all bear this in mind when sailing and so I have removed it and hope that any others who were affronted will recover soon. However the upshot of the discussion forum rantings and those of last weekend has indeed been a number of emails to the CCC resulting in notice being taken. PRO Nick Wright who really is doing his best was on Monday attempting to personally phone all those who emailed and when I spoke to him he stated that he would try to re-instate 5 IRC classes. He is having difficulty getting changes and info promulgated through the new professional website so we will just have to wait and see.

CCC have been messing around with the IRC class splits, reducing the number of IRC classes from 5 to 4 seemingly oblivious of the fact that this will completely destroy close racing on the water. If you also are unhappy about that it is essential that you notify the CCC as they do not waste their time browsing websites such as this. Just email hazel AT clyde .org

Kip Regatta - More pictures here

Imadjinn - overall winners. Surely better to pronounce it Imagine or I'm a Djinn rather than imma-gin?

Neill Ross

Class 1 winners - Zephyr

Neill Ross

Yachting Images

"Stratton takes the Overall at Savills Kip Regatta" - this is (more or less) the immediate press release from Duncan Chalmers:

The 21st Kip Regatta has been won by Skipper Miles Stratton and his team on the A31 "Imadjinn". Stratton had dominated the IRC Class 3 fleet with 2 x 1sts and a 2nd on the Saturday and a further 2nd on Sunday sealed the class win and the top prize. The 62 boat fleet had some tremendous sailing conditions particularly on Saturday with the Royal Western Yacht Club race management team electing to go for the full 3 races to take advantage of that.. Steve Cowie's new First 40 "Zephyr" took top slot in IRC Class 1 although pushed hard by Hamish Mackay sailing the Corby 37 "Impetous." On Sunday Zephyr skipper Ian Marshall held his cool in the lighter conditions and took another bullet whilst Mackay dropped back to discard a 6th. IRC Class 2 saw the closest overall finish with only half a point between winners the tanning Harrises in their Sydney 36 'Tanit' and John Corson's upgraded Corby 33 "Salamander". John Allen from Whitby YC, a previous overall winner of this regatta tried hard again in IRC Class4 with 3 straight wins on Saturday but even a poor result on Sunday still left him top of the class leader board ahead of Mark Bradshaw's Impala "Mercenary" and the Angus/Tear partnership in the SJ 30 Misjif. The Sigma 33 OD class seems to be going through a bit of a revival at the moment and 5 came to the start line this year and had some close racing throughout the weekend. Keith Hull ended up with the top slot in "Ziggy Stardust" ahead of newcomer to the fleet Alan Harper in "Leaky Roof II "

Yachting Images

On Troikka in Class2 we enjoyed some good if strenuous racing on Saturday. We had some new crew who were pretty much spinnaker novices (Moody owners actually;-) so that was a bit of an eye opener for them. At times boats of all sorts of classes running down on starboard made it seem a but like trying to walk across a motorway for those of us heading upwind on port but we survived, unlike the unfortunate Sunrise which was pranged and holed by the extremely Wicked Wookie Sonata in race 1. However with a bit of plywood and silicone affixed Sunrise was back out on Sunday. Hopefully she can have a proper repair without too much delay. This was the first Clyde round the cans open event to have a white sail class and with just 5 entries someone else can judge on the success of that. The Sportboat class as usual was a mixed bag with that well known sportboat ASBoat skippered by that fervent advocate of Sonars, Griogair Whyte taking the class. However Doug Paton with his Sore Arse mates were out working up his tidy looking new SB3 and the venerable Water Tiger with a listed DNS on Sunday took second.

Neill Ross

The results, transmitted by wireless by those indispensible Raynet enthusiasts and generated by the ever efficient Phil Walter results program, to all of whom we are as ever grateful, are here.

Lots more photos here

Many thanks to Ron Cowan of Yachting Images and Neill Ross for allowing these excellent shots to be displayed here.

I have even more photos which I'll try to put up later but tonight I'm out of time and need to go to bed.

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