Race Day 1

The worlds have begun!

Here in Scotland we are set. The class can't say that we didn't warn them about the weather, the forecast is looking distinctly Scottish with 8 knots gusting 36 for the week with a slight chance of water from the sky! Anything could happen.

The first race began with a spicy start line, people battling to be in the best position. Yquem shot of in the first beat with Spirit close behind. Anne Sophie had a fantastic first leg coming round the top mark in front of the rest of the Neptune class.

Saskia showed her local knowlegde as she showed her speed and picking the gusts right to claim the third whilst the moderns were out in front to claim a first with Yquem and 2nd with Spirit.

Second race was a game of guessing the gusts and wind conditions. The spectators from the shore commented on how flat the boats were in the lulls and then how much of the hull you could see in the gust! Impossible sail choices for the beat! Here we saw yequem and spirit once again battling for the lead and Severn and Fulmar battling at the back of the fleet, showing no matter where you are in the race it's competitive!

Again race 2 saw Yquem take 1st, Spirit in 2nd and  Starling Burgess in 3rd.

With a questionable forecast tomorrow anything could happen, the only sure thing is.... Take a jacket!

Race Day 2

Come to Scotland we said....it's always sunny and a nice steady breeze! Except in August it seems! It appears we ordered a little bit too much on the wind front!

As we all headed down in the morning for the start of day 2 there was a lot of slightly concerned faces as they rigged up there small Genoas and got out their most waterproof jackets. We all started by having a nice coffee until Starling Burgess decided that the wind was no match for them so we all had to follow suit into the chaos!

Race three began in a steady 18kts of wind with some slightly stronger than that gusts.... The first beat saw Yequem having a great start and creeping away up into a strong bullet by the windward mark. Battling it out behind was Spirit, Vision and Starling Burgess all rounding the mark together with some excellent spinnaker hoists showing superb control in the high winds from Starling Burgess. Spirit took an unusual tactic for the spreader mark by jamming their genoa round the winch with a lovely riding turn, definitely not causing the crew any extra stress and making it very easy for the helm to turn I'm sure!

Meanwhile Falcon was spotting some other locals to the Clyde. Whilst the foredeck and kite trim were battling away with the spinnaker, the helm and main trim were having a lovely time surfing down the waves with some dolphins 'within touching distance' off the stern! Beautiful! But also slightly distracting and causing them to swing down a wave, very nearly into a broach, from then on the helm was banned from watching the local wildlife! Starling Burgess also commented on surfing down the waves with dolphins by their side! Hopefully they'll come back and visit us again tomorrow!

The 2nd beat felt the wind continue to build throughout. We had a nice chance to check everyone's keels in the gusts with an impressive angle being achieved with some boats!

A 2nd kite run saw 3 boats deciding the big winds were a bit too spicy for kites, which might have been the best decision as Spirit's kite managed to almost cross the finish line before completely blowing out just managing to take 2nd place. Vision showed how impressive the Neptune class boats can be and came roaring through into 3rd, the Italians showing some impressive skill and keeping pressure on the moderns!

Sadly with the building forecast the 4th race was cancelled and everyone headed back to the bar to dry off with some free beer courtesy of Speyside Brewery and some well needed shelter in the beer tent! Tonight the seafood extravaganza is on to start off the evening celebrations...once everyone has managed to dry off!

Race Day 3

Will the wind ever stop? Apparently it only gets stronger!

One race today, quickly squeezed in before the true storm began.

The first race began with local boats Saskia and Spirit beginning slightly early...and having to come back around to chase the rest of the fleet up the leg. In the first leg the Italians in Vision had a cracker of a beat, beating the moderns round the top mark! Followed closely by Yequem.

Sadly the high winds finally took its toll on some boats with Severn's jib halyard making it (almost) all the way up to the top mark before snapping and dropping their genoa unfortunately causing them to retire. Meanwhile Starling Burgess were very committed to the highland games night, donating their wooden mast to be used for the caber tossing! Helen tried to go spear fishing with their spinnaker pole sticking it a metre under water before it finally gave up. Let's just say it was a good day to be a sail maker and not a day to own a wooden boat!

On the 2nd run very few kites were seen, including the guys on falcon who chose well to not hoist and overtook Vision who had a very close broach during the gybe. Quite a number of the fleet watching this decided that tacking on the downwind was actually the safer option! I think everyone was a bit jealous of the Njord of Cowes ability to reef their main although they commented on the fact that the jib trimmer was at points wincing their jib in whilst the entire winch and handle was under the water!

The results by the end threw some spanners in the works with 4 boats not finishing. Well done to Yequem II on their first, Carron II on taking a 2nd and Falcon taking 3rd

Tonight we brace the very highland weather for some highland games followed by a whisky tasting sponsored generously by Benromach Distillery. With even more wind forecast tomorrows racing is cancelled so the whisky will be a plenty!

Race Day 5

The fleet headed out for our final days racing. Once again some stormy showers came through but the fleet were greeted in the morning by many rainbows all pointing to our piper piping away. The first race was a lovely 15 kts of breeze with sunshine (at times) and surrounded by rainbows. The Neptune class had all to play for with the top 3 boats on tied points and 2 races to get in today. The first race began with a spicy pin end of the line, pushing a couple of boats over. With Saskia being OCS Vision powered up to the top mark rounding in 2nd closely following Spirit who extended their bullet down the run. The battle of the moderns began as Yequem tried to catch Spirit on the 2nd lap to add another bullet to their record but but couldn't quite get there taking the 2nd with Vision taking the 3rd. A lovely squall came powering through for the finish which caused the back of the fleet to have a pretty spicy end to their race.

At the start of the 2nd race today it was still very close in the results and it showed with how hard the fleet were pushing the boats. You know it's been a good worlds competition when the results still come down to the final race, especially the Neptune fleet! The start was clear but the gusts and quick course change for the 2nd beat, to avoid the Submarine in the channel, caused the tactitions a bit of a headache! The first windward mark had a bit of a pile up with 5 boats sitting themselves at the mark, 2 missing the rounding, one taking penalty turns and a bit of a protest battle! The bowman on Severn, one of the German boats who was not used to wearing thick Welly boots for cold sailing lost his grip on the downwind and took a quick dunk in the Clyde before managing to drag himself back onto the boat for a slightly damp 2nd lap! Some big shifts and frustrating gusts saw a speedy Neptune fleet with Vision taking a first and Carron II followed by the modern Spirit in 3rd.

With some protests in books we all are waiting in anticipation to see the results! What we have seen already are plenty of teams donning their team kilts in preparation for tonight's dinner and ceilidh! The trophies are ready, the pipes are here and the haggis is waiting to be served!!