Regatta 1964

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Holm Regatta 1964

27 Boats in Holm Regatta

A total of 27 boats took part in Holm Regatta held on Monday, July 27. White horses in the bay early in the day made the officials wonder iuf it would be possible to continue with the programme.

But by 1:30 the wind had moderated somewhat and the OK was given for the first race, which was for Snipes. The wind was south-west, and the course was a reach to the No. 1 Barrier, a beat to Glimps Holm, a reach to the Ness and a run home, twice round.

Kiwi (C. G. Mathers) was first round the first buoy, closely followed by Erma (J. Foubister) and Kontiki (N Johnston), but the course chosen by Kontiki proved the right one, for by the time he reached No. 2 buoy he had established a long lead, which he maintained to the end, crossing teh linefirst, with Fleetwing (F. Johnston) and Valhalla (H. McKenzie) second and third respectively.

The next race was for Rockets, and for this thgere were four biats forward- First Attempt (D. Grieve), Corona (J. Laird), Freya (R. Drever) and Rock 'n' Roll (P. J. Shearer).

First Attempt got off to a good start and maintained his lead right to the end.

There were four Enterprises for the next race, and by this time the wind had dropped considerably. First over the line was Selkie (K. M. Swanson), closely followed by Plane Jane (P. Lees), Abracadabra (J. Mitchell) and Debora (J. Pierce).

While the first three races were in progress, the Catamarans were set off on their first race, and they, with their superior speed, gradually overhauled and passed the Enterprises.

First was Rip-Tide (R. Croy), followed by Venture (R. Taylor), then Vega (W. Dunnet), Spindrift (M. Thomson), followed by Nomad (T. Linklater), Gemini (J. Tait) and Teal (B. Scott).

The centre-board race which followed was for Snipes, Rockets and Enterprises, and again the wind had dropped. A keen tussle developed between Kontiki, Selkie and Valhalla with Selkie crossing the line first, closely followed by Kontiki and Valhalla.

Snipes:

Rockets:

First Catamaran Race:

Second Catamaran Race:

Enterprise Race:

Centre-Board Race:

All-Comers Race:

Before tea in the Communitty Centre tthe second Catamaran race was sailed and this time the winner was Spindrift (J. Thomson) with Venture second, Gemini (J. Tait) third and Rip Tide (R. Croy) fourth.

Prizes were given for places in each of the Catamaran races, with a cup to the skipper with the highest aggregate of points from both races.

After tea the wind had dropped still further, and these light breezes favoured the Enterprises. For the Allcomers there were 20 boats. This time the course was reversed. The Enterprises gradually drew away from the rest of the field, with only one Rocket (Rock 'n' Roll) up with the leaders.

During the afternoon, teas on sale in the Community Centre, and crews and officials were entertained to high tea. Tributes were paid to Mrs. D. Laughton and her helpers by Commodore A. Flett in his opening remarks at the prize-giving in the Community Centre later in the evening.He ssaid how pleassed he was to see so many visiting tachtsmen present, and he paid tribute to all who had heldped to make the day such a success, not forgetting the crews of the safety boats, with special mention of Messrs Gordon Muir and James Seatter, who had kept a watchful eye on every one of the weekly points races. He had much pleasure in calling on Mrs. Russell Croy to present the prizes.

Following the prize giving Mr. K. Swanson spoke on behalf of the Pentland Firth Sailing Club and Mr Ron Drever for the Orkney Sailing Clubsaid how much they appreciated the fine day's racing.

A dance followed to the music of Eddie Peace's Band

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Kirkwall Regatta 1964

Put off twice- Kirkwall regatta had a fine day

Orkney Sailing Club, after two postponements- on Saturday and Monday nights respectively- eventually got a number of races sailed off on Tuesday evening of last week, under ideal weather conditions.

These included the Rocket Class, Snipe Class, Enterprise classand two Catamaran races, as well as the centreboard dinghy class, which also included a team race.

Unfortunately, with the exception of one Enterprise boat, all the visitors from across the Firth had to leave at the week-end, thus greatly reducing the number of boats left to compete in the regatta.

The wind was westerly, giving a run to Greenfield, a beat to Crowness, and a reach to the home buoy, the boats completing the course twice, with the exception of the centreboard class, which had to be confined to one round owing to the late hour and approaching darkness. Rockets

Four boats took part in the Rocket class, in which Rock 'n' Roll proved a good winner, followed by First Attempt, Freya and Corona.

Rockets:

Catamarans

The next race was for Catamarans in which six boats took part. In this class a close finish was witnessed between Venture and Rip Tide, the former proving the winner by a matter of 20 seconds. Spindrift came next, followed by Nomad, Teal and Gemini in that order.

Snipes

Nine entries were forward in this class- eight from Holm and one from Kirkwall. The Enterprise also completed the course in this race in order to make her eligible for the Enterprise Cup. Viking was the winner, after a dour struggle with Valhalla. Flkeetwing came in a good third, with the others well spread out over the course.

Enterprises

The Enterprise boat completed the course in the following time:

Catamarans

The race for the Scollay Cup, which was competed for by the Catamarans, followed the Snipe race, Spindrift was the winner, followed by Venture, Rip Tide, Gemini and Teal, with Nomad retiring.

Centreboard Dinghies

Fourteen boats took part in this race- nine Snipes, four Rockets and an Enterprise boat. This proved the most spectacular race of the evening, as the boats sped past the point of the pier on their way to the Greenfield mark, Silkie (Enterprise) held the lead for a time, but was eventually overtaken and passed by Rock 'n' Roll on the beat to Crowness, as well aas by Freya. Rock 'n' Roll proved a good winner, but Silkie overtook Freya after rounding the Crowness mark to finish 34 seconds ahead to take second place. Owing to the late hour and approaching darkneyy the boats were called in on conclusion of the first round.

Regatta Programme Owing to unsuitable weather on Wednesday and Friday evenings last week, it was ultimately decided that no further races in the Regatta programme for Rockets and Snipes would be taken part in.

The club take this opportunity to say how much they appreciate the cooperation of the members of the Holm Club who made two unnecesary journeys in order to take part in the races which, unfortunately had to be cancelled Team Race Results

Croy Cup

On Monday evening six Catamarans took part in a long-distance race for the Croy Cup.

The course set gave a beat to Scargun Buoy and a reach to the home buoy. It was intended that the boats were also to complete the points course but on account of a late start and a light wind, the race was eventually confined to one round of the long course, after which the boats were called in.

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Westray Sailing Club Regatta 1964

The Westray Sailing Club Regatta was held on August 4. Fog marred the event for spectators, but a fresh south-westerly breeze provided fine full-sail conditions for the competitors. We were delighted with the presence of three boats from Sanday which travelled on the m.v. Orcadia, arriving in fine time for the commencement of the racing. The visiting boats were Barbara (W Ward); Bella (P. Harcus) and Ruby (H. Leslie).

Everyone was delighted at the end of the day's racing to learn that the Class II trophy had been won by Bella, skippered by Peter Harcus.

The club held a dance in the Community Centre after the Regatta, at which the trophies were presented to the winners by the Vice-Commodore Mr. J. Mowat.

Class I:

Class II:

Class III:

Lugsail, under 12 ft:

Allcomers (12 entrants):

Rowing (Boys):

The Class I trophy, having been won by the Curlew (J. Mowat) for three successive times, now becomes the property of Mr. J. Mowat.

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St. Margaret's Hope Regatta 1964

32 boats and ideal day at The 'Hope

St. Margaret's Hope regatta was held on Wednesday, July 29, under the auspices of the South Ronaldsay and Burray Sailing Club. The weather, which was anything but promising on Tuesday, cleared up remarkably by Wednesday morning, with one exception in the early forenoon- lack of wind. By the time sailing commenced, however, shortly after 2pm, the wind came away nicely, making sailing conditions ideal for the remainder of the day, increasing slightly for the allcomers race.

Thirty-two boats altogether took part in the races throughout the day, which was witnessed by a large number of spectators on the pier, as well as by many others from points of vantage along the main road.

The regatta was held up for a time by some of the boats which were sailing round from Holm, owing to lack of wind. Two motor boats, however, eventually towed the boats to the 'Hope, after which racing commenced under the able supervision of Dr. Hooker, commodore, and his committee, assisted by a few members of Orkney Sailing Club.

The first race was for Rockets, in which five boats took part- First Attempt (D. Grieve), Freya (R. Drever), Corona (J. Laird), Rock 'n Roll (D. Grant) and Tyste (D. Kemp). The course set gave a run to the Knockhall buoy, a reach to the Hunda mark and a beat home to the pier.

Rockets:

The next race was for the Enterprise class, eight of which were forward from the Pentland Firth Yachting Club, which along with two other entries from visitors in the Snipe class greatly added to the interest of the day's proceedings.

The boats went around the same course ass the Rockets, and after a keenly contested race Gnome proved to be the winner by 18 seconds over Silkie, who was followed 19 seconds later, to secure third place, by the Janet Storm.

Enterprises:

Five Catamarans were the next to show their paces, two of which, Rip Tide and Gemini, were well behind at the start, crossing after the other three were well away. Notwithstanding this, however, Rip Tide and Gemini gradually reduced the leeway to finish first and third respectively.

Catamarans:

The next race was for 22 feet class boats and under, in which there were two entries- Falcon (J. Rosie, Stroma) and Pansy (D. Kirkpatrick), the former, a much smaller boat, receiving a two-minute handicap, which made him the winner by a matter of 20 seconds.

22 foot Results:

Next came the Snipe class with an entry of 12 boats, in which many changes took place during the course of the race. Kiwi from the Pentland Firth Club eventually proved the winner, with Valhalla second, almost a minute behind, followed by Tern 9 seconds later to secure third place.

Snipes:

This race was followed by a second race for the Catamarans, the times of the boats in both races being added together to declare the winner of the Cats cup:

Catamarans:

Catamarans Overall:

The centreboard dinghy race followed, the course being altered owing to a change of wind, giving a reach to the Hunda mark, a beat to the Burray Pier mark, and a run and a short reach to the finishing line. This race, with an entry of 23 competitors, and the allcomers race, were the most spectacular races of the day. The boats with their variously coloured sails and hulls presented a very pretty picture as they raced away over the start line for the Hunda mark buoy.

Many alterations took place during the beat to the Burray Pier mark, Kiwi winning her second race of the day, followed 31 seconds later by Corona, with Gnome securing third place, finishing 13 seconds later.

Allcomers:

The allcomers race, confined to single hull boats completed the day's proceedings. Twenty six boats took part, and the race, with the exception of two entries from the 22 ft class and under, was almost a complete repetition of the previous race. The wind increased considerably during this race, making the first boat home almost 3 minutes faster than the last race.

Allcomers:

On the completion of the racing the crews and officials retired to the Cromarty Hall, where the needs of the 'inner man' was amply provided for by an able body of ladies which left nothing to be desired.

Later in the evening the prizes were presented in the Cromarty Hall, after which a very enjoyable dance concludeed the day's proceedings, and ended yet another very successful regatta day.

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Sanday Regatta 1964

Sanday's annual regatta was held on Thursday July 16, in ideal conditions. Three boats came from Westray and two from Eday, and one Westray boat, Emu, almost captured the Allcomers Reace, being less than 60 seconds behind the winner.

Class I:

Class II:

Class III:

Allcomers:

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Errol Bruce Cup 1964

The race for the Errol Bruce Cup was sailed for by six catamarans in Kirkwall BVay on Friday night. The wind was north-easterly, giving a beat to the Greenfield mark, a reach to Scargun, and a broad reach to the home buoy, after which tthey completed the usual points course.

With a nice full-sail breeze the boats completed the course in good time. On the beat to the Greenfield mark, on the first leg of the course, Nomad had the misfortune to break her mainsail halyard, after which she had too retire, running home under her jib.

Rip Tide was first round the home buoy after completing the long course, followed closely by spindrift. On the beat to Greenfield in the second round, however, Spindrift went into the lead before rounding the mark, and slightly increased it by the time she reached Crowness, to finish first by the narrow margin of 38 seconds. Next came Venture, almost 3 minutes later, followed by Gemini 7 seconds afterwards.

Catamarans: