| Clydesailing |
West
Highland Week 2005
|
The 26th Tennents West Highland Week started, after the ceilidh in a tent at Croabh,
with a very light wind beat to Oban. Unfortunately the wind such as it was pretty
much ran out at sheep island and the last bit was extremely frustrating. However
the fleet was buzzed continously by a helicopter filming the scene, for, we later
learned, Visit Scotland the organisation previously known as the Scottish Tourist
Board. I suspect this means that whatever they filmed will be lost and never seen
by anyone or at best used to promote golfing holidays in Perthshire. On arrival
in the environs of Oban we carried on to Dunstaffnage Marina where all who showed
up were either given a berth or rafted up one way or another with the usual friendly
and helpful service. Oban itself has failed to thrive in terms of yachting facilities
although some of the mooring buoys off the esplanade have been restored. We heard
that competitors had voted with their keels and that Oban Yachts on Kerrera was
half empty - something of a change from the days when Jon Fitzgerald had the place
rafted solid. Reports of the new proprietors were not, to put it politely, encouraging
and a major disincentive for the average partygoer was the absence of an affordable
ferry service after 10.30pm. Sitting in the sunshine in the outside bar of the
Wide Mouthed Frog at Dunstaffnage encouraged us to think of eating there. This
turned out to be a very expensive decision and we have no hesitation in stating
that £11.95 for a respectable but not extraordinary plate of fish and chips
is completely out of order. The food may well be quite decent but we found the
service haphazard, being conducted by persons who appeared to have an incomplete
grasp of the language and the prices quite silly. In mitigation the Frog does
stock real beer from Loch Fyne but it was too hot to drink much of the stuff.
We do quite like Dunstaffnage marina and look forward to the completion of the
new toilet block because the existing toilets and showers are minging and few
ladies seemed able to get a shower that was remotely hot.
The following day was, for the restricted sail classes, the jaunt down past Bach
Island with to-ing and fro-ing over to Mull then a meander up the Sound of Kerrera.
As it happened the wind was almost non existent and the race was stopped at the
first mark of the course just beyong Bach Island by which time most of the crews
had engaged in various forms of self-mutilation due to the extreme frustration.
There was a lot of bunching and fending off at the finish line and the whole race
was really a waste of time. One or two cunning crews attempted to work the tide
an arm's length from the shore but we had no time for that nonsense. However it
was extremely warm and sunny and we had the privilege of being shouted at by the
historic 'Sceptre' by cheekily nipping past their bows not quite as close as it
appeared from 60 feet back. Sceptre, we understand was the first 12 metre America's
Cup (unsuccessful) challenger and was built by Robertson's of Sandbank in 1957.
By by the time we had motored back north again a really pleasant sailing breeze
had appeared and the photo above shows Oyster of Ashton having just crossed the
finish line on the northern spinnaker course in what is clearly a respectable
amount of wind. In the evening Dunstaffnage offered the delights of an evening
themed on 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and it takes little imagination to conjure
up the scene involving eyepatches, plastic cutlasses and various unlikely extemporised
costumes. We just couldn't figure out what the very strange foreign band were
all about though.
Tuesday reversed the courses and we plain sail wimps had a sausage/ triangle race
on the northern course. The wind got up to 20knots plus with the Class 4 monoliths
rushing about in an intimidating fashion at the start line. At the end of the
second beat we decided to call it a day and wimped out back to Dunstaffnage. A
lot of people were of the view that the day races were too long and that the committee
would be much better running 2 races rather than a very long single affair which
can turn into a tedious procession. The photo above is Vaila, the BB10 which won
Class 3 overall and seen here on the Tob-Ob race.
Wednesday started with a light wind beat across the Firth of Lorne but as much
of the fleet approached the Duart area the wind began to pick up. Eventually many
boats including us were wiped out by a gust that certainly went well over 30 knots.
On Troika we had a lengthy struggle to find the jib and get it on barehead style
along with a reef in the main and by the time that was completed most of our competition
had pushed on without us. We pressed on, if not manfully given the girlies on
board in what seemed to average F5/F6. The venerable relic Ivanhoe lost its wooden
mast and Tanit, the Kip based Bashford 36 was later awarded the Endeavour Trophy
for going to their assistance. It was the kind of day where considerable damage
would usually be expected but beyond the occasional blown sail I heard of no other
incidents. On the other hand there was in my opinion too much close crossing of
the port-starboard variety which is not really seamanlike in rough conditions.
Our most memorable incident was with a certain new 25 footer which crossed us
on port causing us to effect a serious bear away to avoid collison. We assume
that the helmsman reckoned we just wouldn't risk hitting him or even protest (we
didn't) but we think that somone of that experience should display better judgement.
Anyway our gastronomic advice in Tobermory is to head for the chip van on the
fisherman's pier. Absolutely top class. The pizzas from the Island Bakery are
good too.
On Thursday there was mutiny on Troika as Anne who had been doing all the winch
grinding and a lot of the sail changing the previous day decided that her arms
were too sore and went for a massage in what I mistakenly assumed was the Tobermory
brothel. Missing out on such delights I went for a sail on Tulla, Dugald and Val
Glen's new Maxi 1100. The course was a very undemanding reachy affair up and down
the Sound and it wasn't a terribly interesting race apart from the third mark
which had drifted south to within a boat length of the navigation buoy. There
was a curious situation with boats queuing up to pass one by one through this
narrow gap while being swept up by the tide on to the buoy. Total chaos really
but they moved the mark back for the second round. Towards the end of the race
Mishnish (Maxi 1000)who were way down the pan, retired , protested the committee
and were awarded average points. Neat. The Maxi 1100 is a nice boat though. Later
we went to the balti hoose with the crew of Mojo. Adequate.
One minor rant we would like to insert here is the state of toilet/washing facilities
in Tobermory. Tobermory really, really needs a toilet/shower block as has been
in existence in Tarbert for many years. The public toilet on the esplanade is
revolting and is a disgrace to the town. The Harbour Authority seems to be getting
its act together and a shower block should be their next objective. The Mishnish
may be a great late night pub - and we liked the 'beer garden' - presumably installed
in advance of the long awaited smoking ban - but the showers are squalid and only
two of the three were working. Progress from last year was that the shower which
previously had a broken window plugged with a black bin bag was now non-functional
and the window had been boarded up. Even if you can get in they must be the shortest
running showers on the west coast. You have to work quickly to get the soap off
before the power runs out. Notwithstanding that the place really could do with
a good scrub and a bit of inward investment and it is hard to believe that it
does not have the cashflow to allow this. The showers in the Youth Hostel were
a better bet but the queues were immense.
The last day turned out to be a run down the Sound of Mull all the way to Oban.
There was a decent breeze all the way and it stiffened up as we approached the
Firth of Lorne.There was a lot of close racing with the spinnaker boats catching
the white sail efforts. It was a return to Oban in record time and everybody enjoyed
it thoroughly.It was certainly a whole lot less arduous than the trip up. We found
rounding the last mark with a crowd of enthusiastic spinnaker boats giving us
just a little water to be quite hair-raising. In the end class 4 overall was taken
by Dansos from Strangford Lough but the Sigma 38 'Fortitude' pulled a respectable
3rd behind the mighty Sceptre. The pic above is Shamal, Gordon Rae's Laser 28
with some additional highly experienced RGYC helmsmen on board. They finished
2nd in Class 3. Also a mention for Now Or Never, our near neighbours at Kip scoring
some very respectable scores in their first season in the Oceanis 36.
Later, the extended prizegiving was carried out with the usual efficiency but
the ceilidh band which came on thereafter was in our opinion not a little lacking
in joie de vivre. The disco after that played a succession of increasingly desperate
cheesy numbers succeeding in clearing the floor reasonably well. Perhaps we had
been spoiled by the wonderful band in the Mishnish the night before and we realise
that the aim is a family night that all can enjoy but we're not sure how many
people actually do enjoy the present format in that barn of a hall.
Also we were somewhat disappointed that the Tennents beer vouchers were only exchangeable
in a very few bars in Oban. This restricts their usefulness greatly. Maybe Tennents
are happy about this but while we are used to them being useless at Croabh and
at the prizegiving, not being able to use them in Tobermory was rubbish hence
we gave MacGochans a wide berth and headed to the Mishnish where the excellent
Deuchars IPA was on tap until it ran out to our considerable frustration. Anyway
the Tennent Caledonian trophy for the best family yacht was won by the Impala
'Mersonary' which had a crew of 8 although not all at the same time. Overall we
pretty much enjoyed the week but if we go back we will probably attempt the spinnaker
class as Class 4 with those massive yachts being sailed by sometimes quite numerous
crews is not really quite our thing.
Full results can be found on www.whyw.co.uk
