707 Edinburgh Cup at Port Edgar Yacht Club

707 Edinburgh Cup winners Neil Mclure and Richard Higgins from 'Blue Funk' © Andrew Lawrie

That great feeling when you are ahead - 707 Edinburgh Cup at Port Edgar © Andrew Lawrie

Cobwebs and sunshine at 707 Edinburgh Cup

This one day, no discards, 5 race format event was even more popular this year with 17 boats hitting the line at Port Edgar Yacht Club. It is not a competition for the faint-hearted as it is an opportunity to blow away the cobwebs of winter being the first sail of the year for many of the five-crew teams. So trying not to make a mistake, but going for a good place in every race is a real challenge.

In light winds and out of nowhere came Jetstream with Bill Hamilton and Justin Venton putting together a well-drilled crew to rocket ahead with a first in race one. A third and another first followed so this was obviously not a fluke. They were going to hard to catch. Alas a dispute on race 3 dropped them to an 8th equivalent on arbitration, so the competition was still very open.

Blue Funk applied a first in race 2 to other very consistent results to be in real contention for the Cup, and were always towards the front of the fleet.

Royal Findhorn boat Tallulah, with a role change from previous years, put Scottish champion of champions, Stuart Urquhart, on helm for the first time in a 707. A first in race 2 was a good indication of the new capability although, previous helm Phil Hermiston, was obviously keeping a close eye on things.

Murray MacDonald of Autism on the Water was out racing for the first time on his newly acquired boat thanks to the generosity of sponsors Dave Sturrock Yachting, Pritchard Property Consultants, The Foggy Pear Craft Company and the 707 Class Association 'Deserving Team' initiative. As this was his first event in the new boat, he recruited a team of west coast 'rockstars' (his words) to aid him round the rather busy race course. The crew were Scottish Laser champion Steven Forteith along with Neil Manderson, Nicolas Le Clanche and Mark Taylor who are all sailing friends from many years. The team were nearly flawless finishing a tidy 7th overall which included a 2nd. The grin never left Murray's face all day! "It was a magical day" he said.

Race 4 saw a win for Tallulah which meant that a number of boats could have won the event based on their result in the last race, and if others made a hash of it. This event keeps everyone on their toes.

New boat Pocket Battleship driven by the Angus family got a very credible 5th in race 2 and we hope the young racing crew will continue to move up the fleet. I don't think it will be long following their racing pedigree.

Racing Demon is another boat new to the fleet raced by Adam Wallace and Mags Normand with an experienced and focussed team. An overall mid-fleet was a decent result knowing how competitive it is, but their boat handling seems excellent, and I'm sure they will only get better. It is great to see another young crew.

One design is King – are you up for it?

This is one-design racing at its best with boats with poor starts being left wallowing mid-fleet, and first beats being key. So, tacticians were under pressure to find clear lanes and helms determined to round marks cleanly. Of course with 16 boats breathing down your neck only meters away this was a real challenge and saw a number interesting 'get out of jail' manoeuvres tried, and many fail.

In the final race both Jetstream and Tallulah only needed to finish better than 8th to win, but neither managed as they got 12th and 13th. Seaword made an appearance at the front last at and won the race but not the event. The consistent results of Blue Funk won the day, with real credit due to Neil Mclure and team for keeping level heads and racking up steady results, apart from a 9th in this last race.. oh how not having a discard causes heart-stopping moments. The first five boats were separated by just three points – now this is exciting competition. Second and third were decided on count-back, as were fourth and fifth.

For the 707 Fleet it was a great event to start the season and many boats are proving the capabilities already. With new boats appearing on the scene the competition will only get stronger. Is this now the most competitive keelboat racing in Scotland? Probably.

Overall Results: