Summer Regatta at East Lothian Yacht Club
by Lindsay Roberts 13 Jun 2009 00:45 AEST
6-7 June 2009
East Lothian Yacht Club held its 2009 Summer Regatta last weekend (6th and 7th June). The event attracted 151 competitors from clubs across the UK, the highest turnouts for an event of its type in Scotland this year. Classes of dinghy ranged from Optimists and Toppers, through to Musto Skiffs and 49ers, with everything in-between.
Gusts reaching force 6, combined with extremely heavy swells provided exceptionally challenging conditions for both competitors and organisers on Saturday with only the Topper fleet managing to complete two races. All other classes were unfortunately forced to return to shore after Race 1. Thankfully, however, the weather was far more favourable on Sunday. A steady force 4-5, and glorious sunshine throughout the day provided some superb racing conditions for the competitors and some fantastic racing took place.
The Regatta incorporated the Scottish Championships for several of the classes including Lasers and RS 200 with Mark Powell from Royal Forth Yacht Club taking the title in the Laser class, and Robbie Burns with Lady Victoria Smith from Largs Sailing Club coming in first in the RS 200s. Local successes came in the form of Jane and Eric Robertson who picked up first place in the Laser 2000 Scottish Traveller event, Jim Sinclair and Tom Watson taking first place in the RS 400 fleet, and Gavin Homer taking coming 3rd in the Musto Skiff, all from ELYC.
ELYC would like to thank all the competitors who took part in the weekend’s racing, and look forward to welcoming them back to the club for future events. ELYC would also like to thank all the volunteers both on and off the water who made the event possible. The club is run solely by volunteers and successful events such as this couldn’t happen without their tireless enthusiasm and continued support.
Full results are on the club website
ELYC will be hosting the Musto Skiffs National Championship from the 18th to the 21st of June and the Solo Nationals from the 1st to the 7th of August and are anticipating more great racing.