Regatta 2023

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Holm Regatta 2023

The annual Holm Regatta was held on Saturday 22 July. Early in the morning the wind was very light from the North, but it stabilised and settled in a North East direction. Later in the day the wind filled in from the East. Conditions for sailing were very good with enough breeze to get round the course without any dramas. Cats, Yoles, Skiffs, Snipes and Lasers turned out for the racing. In the morning the dinghies and cats had two back to back races. Lunch of hot soup and sandwiches was followed by the Allcomers race.

The course sailed was started from the pier with a fetch over to mark 2, then a run to mark 3, across to mark 4 and a beat back to the finish. During the first race the wind direction veered to the East. The course was changed for the Allcomers race to have two laps: a beat to 1 then across to 3, then 5 and back to the start gate.

Many people were involved in the event and a lot of effort made a successful regatta. Thanks to race management team (Willie Watters, Margaret Hinkley, Islabel Tipler, Duncan McNair) the safety boat crew (Kirkwall, John Tulloch and Andrew Gibb, Stromness Willie MacKay and Ewan Sinclair, Holm Andy Whyte and Daniel Kemp) and the shore support folk who helped with the lunch, the raffle and registration (Ruby Foubister, Jim MacDonald, Lesley Spence and Susan Shearer). Many thanks also to Highland Park Distillery for sponsoring the event with many bottles of whisky given out as prizes.

One feature of the 2023 Holm Regatta was the new club safety boat. Over the past two years the club has made a big fundraising effort to buy a new safety boat. Most of the fundraising was organised by Graeme Bartlett with help from many other club members. The new boat was on show at the regatta, although it wasn’t in use on the day.

Skiffs and Yoles

The sight of the traditional Yoles and Skiffs added to the spectacle of the Holm Regatta. Bella (Gordon Rendall) won the morning race. Mohican (Angus Budge) won the second race.

Catamarans

The Catamarans had two short races in the morning where a buoy was laid off into the bay. In the afternoon the cats had three laps round the course.

Mixed Centreboards

The mixed centreboard class was made up of three lasers, two sailing with the radial rig (Kavan Kynoch and Joshua Brown) and one with the bigger standard rig (Andrew Leslie). All these boats were showing off new sails from the recent Island Games event held in Guernsey. In the first race there was close racing between all three boats, Pato took a favourable shift on the beat and finished first. Kammi Kassie got 2 place and Warspite took 3 place. In the second race Warspite managed to get ahead and was first across the line with Pato close behind. On handicap Pato again took the win with Warspite in 2 place and Kammi Kassie 3 place.

There was a good turn out of Snipes with close racing among the thirteen boats. Il Mostro (John Orr and Sid Milton) won the first race with Mandarino (Mark Taylor and Stephen Shorter) a close second. In the second race Mandarino won giving the overall win to Mandarino. 3 place went to Teebro (Mairi Fleet and Sasha Woolham).

A triangular course was used for the Allcomers race with two laps. The start was quite congested but a few boats managed to get away into clear air. Warspite, (Laser standard rig) got away with a relatively clean start, managed to get away from the fleet and led the way round to take the win. Il Mostro took 2 place with Mandarino in 3 place. The two Laser Radials did fairly well in the race with Pato finishing in 4 place and Kammy Kassie in 5 place.

Stromness Regatta: 15 July

There were some worries about Stromness Regatta not going ahead due to a poor weather forecast. On the day there were strong winds and heavy rain in the morning but conditions improved later on to give fine sailing conditions. Later on the sky cleared to give fine racing conditions in bright sunshine. The event was sponsored by Highland Park Distillery.

The Yoles and Snipes raced in the harbour with the cats out in the Bay of Ireland.

Corrigal Cup for Yoles was won by Helga sailed by Caroline and John Butterfield.

The Yoles Challenge Cup was also won by Helga.

Snipes

Il Mostro was the winner of the first Snipe Vintage Trophy.

The Dave Harcus Quaich was won by Mandarino, Mark Taylor and Lewis Burgon.

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Westray Regatta 2023

Fine weather for Westray Regatta

Yachts: Morning Race

Snipes

Close racing in the Snipe fleet. Il Mostro finished the course with a small lead over Perla Vela but was disqualified after an incident with Perla Vela after a mark rounding. Perla Vela took the trophy.

Allcomers

There was very close racing between Perla Vela and Il Mostro at the front of the fleet. As it turned out Perla Vela was disqualified due to a port/starboard incident which gave the win to Il Mostro.

Catamarans: Morning Race

Lug Sailed Yoles

Yoles and Skiffs

Yachts: Afternoon Race

Yoles and Skiffs Afternoon Race

Catamarans: Afternoon Race

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Kirkwall Regatta 2023

Light wind at Kirkwall Regatta

Light and fluky conditions were on order for the 2023 Kirkwall Regatta.

Yachts: Morning Race

Snipe

Just two boats in the Snipe Class race. These boats had a north start to the Hatston Pier (mark 4), Greenfield (mark 3), Lifeboat Buoy and through the finish line heading north. The course was planned for two laps but was shortened to a single lap due to lack of puff. Il Mostro took a convincing win.

Other Boats

Two boats took part in the other boats race with the same start and course as the Snipe Class Race.

Donald McInnes Challenge Cup: Mixed Centreboards

Four boats in the Mixed Centreboards race. These boats had a southerly start then round Weyland (mark 2), Crowness (mark 3), Lifeboat buoy and finish going north.

Catamarans: Morning Race

Catamarans: Afternoon Race

The Catamarans had two laps round the course.

Allcomers

Four boats in the Mixed Centreboards race. The course had a south start, across to Weyland (mark 2), Greenfield (mark 3), Lifeboat buoy and then a finish heading north across the line.

Yachts: Afternoon Race

The yachts had a southerly start, across to 2 then Yacht West, Yacht East and finish heading south across the line.

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Kemp Cup 2023

The annual Kemp Cup Regatta was held on Saturday 9 September. The Kemp Cup Regatta is the last regatta in the Orkney Sailing season and often features big courses and blustery winds, this year did not disappoint. When the boats started to prepare at Hatston Slip there wasn’t much wind but conditions improved during the day, in the morning the breeze was from the south then after lunch the wind veered to the west and freshened.

Thanks are due to all the folk who made the event a success. The event was organised by Orkney Sailing Club Committee, in particular Kazia Watson. Three safety boats crews helped out including George Thorpe and Johnny Robertson (Hunter 2, Stromness Sailing Club), Simon Kemp and Davie Harrold and Tamsin Bailey (Ruby, Holm Sailing Club), Bob Moar and Thomas Hugon (Hornet, Orkney Sailing Club). The race management team included Willie Watters, Margaret Hinkley and Isobel Tipler and Duncan McNair, Killian Kynoch also helped with the timekeeping. The prizewinner photo was taken by Rachel Roberts.

The Yachts set off first in the morning for the Centenary Cup, with four boats competing. Their course had a south start round the Lifeboat buoy then Yacht East, Scargun, Thieve’s Holm and finish heading south. Catherine J2 (Brian Kynoch) finished the race with a good lead but after handicap was applied the win went to XPDNC (Robbie Bruce). Panache (Jimmy Clouston) took 2nd place and Tsarina (Louis Pottinger) from Westray took 3rd place. Spinnakers were hoisted on the run down to Yacht East making a spectacular sight.

The course for the Dinghies and Cats in the morning was a figure of eight round the Lifeboat buoy, across to Greenfield (mark 3) then to Weyland (Mark 2) and then Crowness (Mark 4) and then finally through the finish with two laps. There was a general recall after the first start with a few dinghies over the line, so the dinghies waited for the catamarans to get off before getting another start.

Race 1 Dinghies: In the first race Mandarino got off to a great start but were over the line and had to go back. They made up some time but didn’t manage to catch up with Warspite who won the race.

Race 2: The second race was for the big Kemp Cup trophy; a traditional long distance course was selected; round the Lifeboat buoy then across to the Thieve’s Holm mark then round Scargun and back to the start, the second lap was round the lifeboat buoy, Greenfield (mark 3), Crowness (Mark 4) and back. The conditions were fairly choppy out at Thieve’s Holm, several boats retired from the race. Mandarino got ahead on the beat from Thieve’s Holm to Scargun and controlled the race from then on. Warspite gained a bit on the downwind legs but capsized at one stage which didn't help.

The Catamarans raced for the Errol Bruce Cup in the afternoon. The cats got up to a tremendous pace heading towards Thieve’s Holm, reaching speeds of 18 knots. Katoosh (Erlend Tait and Kazia Watson) took the lead and kept it all the way round the course. Erlend Tait has been part of the Orkney catamaran sailing scene for many years, way back in the 70s he was winning in a boat called Gemini.

After the racing a prize giving was held in the Girnel with hot soup and sandwiches. Prizes included bottles of gin from the event sponsors Kirkjuvagr Gin. Trophies were presented by Kazia Watson. As well as silverware from the days racing there was also a presentation of trophies from the summer points racing. Brian Kynoch also presented a bottle of sparkling wine to Andrew Leslie for his support of the Orkney Island Games Sailing Team.

Results are given below:

At the prize giving trophies were presented for winners of the summer points series:

Catamarans

Dinghies

The photo shows Kemp Cup prize winners: from left John Wallace, Robbie Bruce (XPDNC, Yachts Maxwell Cup), Erlend Tait and Kazia Watson (Katoosh, Catamaran Errol Bruce Cup), Mark Taylor and Ewan Sinclair (Mandarino, Snipe, Kemp Cup), Andrew Leslie (Warspite, Laser, Tennents Cup), Callum Rendall (Willy Flipit, Catamarans Trophy).