West Highland Yachting Week - Day 5

Popcorn on day 5 of West Highland Yachting Week © Ron Cowan / www.yachtingimages.co.uk

Strike 3 on day 5 of West Highland Yachting Week © Ron Cowan / www.yachtingimages.co.uk

A good breeze and favourable tide made for good racing on the final day of West Highland Yachting Week sailing from Tobermory to Oban in the Tunnock's sponsored race concluding the points series for the regatta. Those boats that worked the tidal conditions and windshifts best on the long beat to a shortened course off Lismore Light saw best results. Although winning the final race in Class 1 the Jeffrey/Scutt duo on Carmen II finished second overall in class to an impressive racing performance from Jack Aitken's First 36.7 Animal.

Previous class winner Sunrise of the Chalmers family battled Class 2 to the end pushing Damon Lindsay's Dufour 40 Ionara in second overall with Sunrise scooping the series. Eight-year-old Tom Morrison took the helm of Synergie for part of the race which finished a creditable seventh.

In Class 4 Valhalla of Ashton and the Sigma 33 of Mark Bradshaw were locked till the final day with Bradshaw winning the class by one point. In Class 5, one of the most fiercely contested, Oban boat Shadowfax, overall class and series last year, had to be content with second in class to Sea-Pie of Cultra, the Sigma 33 of Jeremy Coleman.

Argyll Fleet Class 6 was won by Gordon Callander's Rustler 36 Reever on 10 points with Sorr of Appin just one point behind after finishing second and third in the final day's racing.

Delinquent on day 5 of West Highland Yachting Week - photo © Ron Cowan / www.yachtingimages.co.uk

Class 7 also saw to the wire racing with the Moody 336s vying all week for podium positions. Today's win went to John Corson's Salamander XXII but after missing day's racing round the cans off Tobermory, he dropped back to let Craig Anderson's Cool Bandit and Stuart Hamilton's Piecemaker tie on points for the series.

And in Class 8 new name, Jane Waterman, the Nicholson 35 of Andrew Wallce took the win from Murray Caldwell's Oystercatcher. However Popcorn, the Contessa 25 of Angus Fyffe from Glencoe Boat Club who finished third, had done enough to lift the points series with 12 points.

The final prizegiving is held at Dunstaffnage Marina where the overall Peter Cocks Trophy will be awarded to the best boat of the regatta.

Points Series Results:

Class 1
1 Animal
2 Carmen II
3 Sea Reiver

Class 2
1 Sunrise
2 Ionara
3 Spirit of May

Class 4
1 Busy Beaver
2 Valhalla of Ashton
3 Sigmatic

Class 5
1 Sea-Pie of Cultra
2 Shadowfax
3 Vaila

Class 6
1 Reever
2 Sorr of Appin
3 Suilven

Class 7
1 Cool Bandit 2
2 Piecemaker
3 Ce Na Ri

Class 8
1 Popcorn
2 Oystercatcher
3 Jane Waterman

Full results on www.whyw.co.uk

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