Sunny Dinghy Regatta

Published 10:47 on 24 Jun 2024

The annual CBC dinghy regatta was held in glorious conditions on the weekend of 22nd/23rd June.

Saturday was clear and breezy with a steady F4-5 from the SW with occasional stronger gusts which made for exciting sailing and quite a few capsizes.

In the first race, the fast handicap fleet shot off round the course but some of the competitors showed their inexperience of regatta racing (or inability to read the racing instructions) by sailing the course incorrectly and were disqualified.

But they quickly learned and the second and third races were more successful with some great racing, although two boats had to retire with gear failure.

The slow handicap fleet was more spread out with a mixture of experienced and less experienced crews, and again one boat had to retire.

The wind conditions ensured that it was a hard day at the office for the racers, so all crews returned to Cramond tired but exhilarated.

Sunday was a near-perfect sailing day with bright sunshine, and a gentler SW F3-4 wind. The racing was much closer, and the fast fleet in particular enjoyed close starts and exciting racing.

The slow fleet was also much closer on Sunday, although one capsize resulted in the boat completing the course floating worryingly low in the water while the 11-year-old crew bailed furiously. She was later awarded a special prize for best bailer.

The fast handicap trophy was won by Ewan Christison in his ILCA 7, with Francis Scott second in another ILCA 7, and Alan Mackenzie and Paul Rogers third in their RS400.

The slow handicap fleet was won by Keith Driver in his ILCA 6, with Lawrie Elliott second in his RS Aero 5. Istvan Csajagy in his GP14 just pipped Alex MacAulay in a Wayfarer for third place.

The full race results can be viewed here.

Many thanks to Race Officer Andy Walker and his team on the committee boat for running a very successful event and for all the highly diligent safety boat crews who were kept particularly busy on the Saturday.