Stromness Regatta 2017
There was an excellent turnout of twenty-three boats to compete in Stromness Regatta on Saturday, 15 July. Two races were held back to back with separate starts for different classes within each race. The forecast was for wind within an acceptable range for dinghies to venture beyond the confines of the harbour and it was good to see all the boats head out to flex their sails and test their concentration on the long legs after their race starts. The flood tide gave some interesting problems for skippers as they tried to round mark 3 against the flow.
David Bowdler kindly took photos of the event which can be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/82419618@N06/sets/72157683645805383/
and some video of the Yoles racing which can be found at:
https://youtu.be/-fRfNZ8HMLU
Race 1
In Race 1 there were separate starts for Yachts, Yoles, Snipes/Mixed Centreboards and Catamarans. Perhaps a little perversely, at the start of the first race just after the departure of the Hamnavoe ferry, the wind died away almost completely and it took some for the Yachts and Yoles to make their way through the start line and out of the harbour area. The wind did begin to pick after that and the other classes were able to move out more quickly.
Yachts (Arthur Porteous Yachting Cup)
1 Panache (J Clouston, B Inkster, C Pirie) - Elapsed 73m 12.73s, Corrected 69.99m
2 Harmony (H Hutchison, H Finnie, K Groundwater) - Elapsed 78m 33.60s, Corrected 74.75m
Yoles (Corrigal Cup)
1 Solwen (I Richardson, L Venables, 1 other) - Elapsed 84m 46.34s, Corrected 88m 53.34s
2 Helga (C Butterfield, J Butterfield, 1 other) - Elapsed 87m 49.96s, Corrected 91m 56.96s
3 Lily (A Kirkpatrick, 2 others) - Elapsed 90m 43.06s, Corrected 94m 50.06s
4 Waterwitch (R Daniels, M McLaughlin, C Warlow) - Elapsed 93m 50.51s, Corrected 97m 57.51s
5 Mohican (A Budge, L Johnstone, 1 other) - Elapsed 120m 29.53s, Corrected 124m 36.53s
6 Gremsa (M Davidson, J Anderson, W Sutherland) - Elapsed 127m 27.93s, Corrected 127m 53.93s
Snipes (John Hourston Trophy) (All Snipes so no times shown)
1 Hassfang (C Moore, B Jones)
2 Skeldro (M Taylor, L Burgon)
3 Go Quickly Red (M Tipler, M Smoczyk)
4 Boreas (I Johnstone, J Young)
5 Bonxie (J Burgon, M Bishop)
6 Fiddlesticks (N Foubister, E Thomson)
7 Scooby (D Hall, E Rodrigues)
8 No Fear (G Foubister, J Drever)
9 Nemo (A Miller, J Brown)
10 Tystie (A Mottershead, A King)
Mixed Centreboards (The Sponess Tankard)
1 Laser Enron (M Holbrook) - Elapsed 62m 59.92s, Corrected 56.43m
Catamarans (George Sutherland Cup (Orkney Herring))
1 Spindrift (L Thomson, G Waterston) - Elapsed 47m 28.89s, Corrected 66.59m
2 Willi Flippit (C Rendall, S Johnson) - Elapsed 50m 20.90s, Corrected 68.04m
3 Awesome (I Rushbrook, J Rushbrook) - Elapsed 50m 55.40s, Corrected 68.82m
4 Plum Crazy (R Flett, A Flett) - Elapsed 51m 23.34s, Corrected 69.44m
Race 2
In Race 2 there were starts for Yachts, Yoles, Allcomer Mixed Centreboards and Catamarans. The rain had by then set in so it was a rather wet afternoon sail but most at least seemed to return in good spirits.
Yachts (SSC Yachts Trophy Allcomers Handicap)
1 Harmony - Elapsed 82m 05.87s, Corrected 78.11m
2 Panache - Elapsed 85m 35.99s, Corrected 81.84m
Yoles (Yawls Challenge Cup)
1 Solwen - Elapsed 57m 30.66s, Corrected 60m 25.66s
2 Lily - Elapsed 62m 57.71s, Corrected 65m 52.71s
3 Helga - Elapsed 66m 42.60s, Corrected 69m 37.60s
4 Mohican - Elapsed 74m 38.64s, Corrected 77m 33.64s
DNF Waterwitch
DNS Gremsa
Allcomer Mixed Centreboards (Jackie Robertson Cup)
1 Laser Enron - Elapsed 71m 43.30s, Corrected 65.38m
2 Snipe Fiddlesticks - Elapsed 72m 45.66s, Corrected 66.45m
3 Snipe Go Quickly Red - Elapsed 73m 53.48s, Corrected 67.48m
4 Snipe Bonxie - Elapsed 75m 03.50s, Corrected 68.55m
5 Snipe Hassfang - Elapsed 76m 19.17s, Corrected 69.70m
6 Snipe Skeldro - Elapsed 76m 22.22s, Corrected 69.74m
7 Snipe Boreas - Elapsed 76m 53.89s, Corrected 70.23m
8 Snipe Scooby - Elapsed 79m 58.66s, Corrected 73.04m
9 Snipe Nemo - Elapsed 83m 18.05s, Corrected 76.07m
10 Snipe Tystie - Elapsed 83m 21.70s, Corrected 76.13m
DNF Snipe No Fear
The Davo Harcus Quaich for the first Snipe in the Allcomers Race was won by Fiddlesticks.
Catamarans (The Glass Cup (The Long Partnership))
1 Awesome - Elapsed 55m 59.52s, Corrected 75.66m
2 Willli Flippit - Elapsed 56m 43.02s, Corrected 76.64m
3 Spindrift - Elapsed 56m 00.95s, Corrected 78.56m
4 Plum Crazy - Elapsed 60m 27.57s, Corrected 81.70m
Combined
The Blue Riband for the best combined race results in the Yoles was won by Solwen.
The Robertson Cup for the best combined race results for a Junior sailor went to No Fear skipper Glen Foubister.
After racing the event moved to Stromness Golf Club for refreshments and the trophy presentation. The trophies this year were presented by Anna Taylor, Attendant to the Stromness Shopping Week Queen.
These events cannot take place without the help of many people and Stromness SC Commodore thanked those who had provided the spread and helped with the refreshments, the starting team and the crews of the safety boats and the Stromness RNLI boat. During the second race, Waterwitch had unfortunately taken on water over the gunnels and capsized. Special thanks go to the safety boat crews who rescued the Waterwitch crew and took them ashore or stood by the stricken Yole and to the RNLI team who came out to tow the upturned boat into Stromness harbour as it would otherwise have been a danger to shipping.