2024 MYA Scottish District IOM Championship 1 hosted by Aberdeen Model Yacht Club at Forfar Loch
by John Owens 21 Oct 17:49 NZDT
19 October 2024
Thirteen skippers and six race team members travelled from all over Scotland with representatives from Aberdeen, Buchanness and Tayside in the north-east, Kinghorn and Levenhall each side of the Firth of Forth, and Ayr Bay, Greenock and Paisley on the "west coast" as well as a very welcome visitor from England. Eight different IOM designs were present with construction types including nine wooden planked hulls, three fibreglass and a 3D printed boat.
During scrutineering and registration, everyone enjoyed the excellent bacon rolls, tea and coffee provided by the Forfar Sailing and Watersports Club volunteers.
On a sunny day, the forecast was for a light SW/WSW breeze slightly building through the day at times coming from a more SW direction. During the skipper's briefing by RO John Owens the wind slightly increased and ARO Steve Taylor, ably assisted by Scott Graham the Boatman, set a windward-leeward course comprising a start line, a long beat to the weather mark passed to starboard, across to a spreader mark with a downwind run to the leeward mark (not a gate). The course was completed by twice around the weather mark and the third beat up to the finish line.
For the first race, the wind was SW and 8-12 knots and all skippers selected their A rigs. Stuart Teasdale won the first race closely followed by Richard Ennos with his home design and built wooden-hulled Equus. For Race#2 the wind had shifted to a more WSW direction requiring a slight change of the windward mark. The race was won by Brian "Tich" Summers with his home design and built wooden-hulled Buzz III. Notably, Tich also designed and made his own sails. Second was Gordon Allison sailing his 3D printed Alioth. For Race#3 the wind was a little more westerly requiring minor tweaks to the course. It was won by Stuart Teasdale followed by Colin McGinnis in his modified Buzz IIIC design.
Throughput the races, there were lifts, headers, gusts, lulls and as well as the occasional wind hole to contend with which kept all the skippers on their toes. This continued throughout the day.
By late morning the wind had settled to about 7 knots from the west and a leeward gate was set providing the fleet more racing options. In perfect sailing conditions for A rig IOM racing more boats came to the fore, with eight different skippers taking a first place during the day showing the strength of the fleet. Races#4 and 5 saw wins by Malcolm Worsley and Ian Dundas respectively. Race#6 was won by Gordon Allison with Ian Dundas second. Following this race, there was a well-earned lunch break.
Superb catering was provided by Forfar Sailing and Watersports Club with homemade hot soup, a selection of filled rolls with loads of hot drinks. (The RO had a difficult time convincing skippers and fellow race team members to be ready for Race#7!).
During Race#7 the wind picked-up and the gusts were near the top end of the A rig which made for some great racing. This race was won by Ian Dundas followed by Gordon Allison. The wind conditions continued for Race#8 which seemed to suit Colin McGinnis and his Buzz IIIC who was closely followed by Malcom Worsley.
Race#9 was won by Tich Summers who had had several top three results in the morning. Races#10 and 11 were sailed in mid-A rig conditions and were won by Richard Ennos and Simon Thomson (Corbie 5). At this stage a break was taken for coffee and excellent homemade cakes. This was a relief for most participants given the intensity of racing and having to look south into the low winter sun reflecting off the water. It was then back on the water for the final three back-to-back races. During these the wind was gradually fading. Tich won Race#12, Stuart Teasdale Race#13 and Tich Race#14.
Throughout the day there were tussles with excellent racing between Malcolm Stewart, Ted Johnston, Bob Wilson, David Smith and Stephen Menhinick. The wind had held up well and the fleet had experienced a range of testing racing conditions (including the frustration of collecting the dreaded weed on fins). Brian Crawford as Finishing Line Judge, was often challenged by how close the racing was with boats finishing within inches of each other. It was not all plain sailing for some with a number of race retirements to repair various gear failures both in the morning and in the afternoon.
By the end of the event fourteen races were completed with the last race finishing at 16:30hr following a great day's racing conducted in a very friendly but competitive atmosphere. Prior to the announcement of the results, RO John Owens thanked the Forfar Sailing and Watersports Club volunteers for their very warm welcome and amazing catering. This was met with a very enthusiastic applause by all participants.
Tich was a convincing winner of the 2024 MYA Scottish District Championship with Gordon Allison second and Ian Dundas third. Tich thanked the race team for an extremely well-run event and Forfar Sailing and Water Sports Club for again opening up their full facilities and providing exceptional catering throughout the day.
All-in-all, great weather, great food, a fun day, a challenging day - well worth the trip!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Skipper | Sail No | Boat Design | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Brian Summers | 07 | Buzz III | Tayside RSC | 3 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 32 |
| 2 | Gordon Allison | 62 | Alioth | Ayr Bay RYC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 46 |
| 3 | Ian Dundas | 38 | Corbie 6 | Aberdeen MYC | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 49 |
| 4 | Malcolm Worsley | 86 | Buzz II | Tayside RSC | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 52 |
| 5 | Colin McGinnis | 45 | Buzz IIIC | Tayside RSC | 8 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 55 |
| 6 | Simon Thomson | 101 | Corbie 5 | Greenock MY&PBC | 9 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 58 |
| 7 | Stuart Teasdale | 54 | BritPop! | Kinghorn RSC | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 14 | 59 |
| 8 | Richard Ennos | 84 | Equus | Levenhall RYC | 2 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 79 |
| 9 | Malcolm Stewart | 129 | BritPop! | Gosport MYBC | 10 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 86 |
| 10 | Ted Johnston | 66 | BritPop! | Paisley MYC | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 11 | 88 |
| 11 | Bob Wilson | 63 | Buzz III | Tayside RSC | 11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 111 |
| 12 | David Smith | 89 | Corbie 4 | Paisley MYC | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 126 |
| 13 | Stephen Menhinick | 09 | Buzz III | Tayside RSC | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 141 |