HD Sails Enterprise Scottish Bluebell Circuit Event 1 at the Loch Earn First Fling

Enterprises at the Loch Earn First Fling © Megan Campbell & Nicol Halcrow

Enterprises at the Loch Earn First Fling © Megan Campbell & Nicol Halcrow

The weekend of the 26th and 27th April saw the first weekend of the 2025 Scottish Bluebell traveller circuit at Loch Earn Sailing Club.

The first event attracted nine Enterprises for two days of close racing. A great attendance for an event that for a number of years has attracted much lower turnouts (and with a number of the regulars unable to make it).

The 2 days saw very different conditions, with the first day being the highlight of the light wind masters; and the second day seeing much stronger conditions for those who still have not shed the winter weight! As always with Loch Earns early season event - it was cold - but the welcoming club house with Log burn kept us all warm when not on the water (and there was no snow or hail this year!).

On Saturday, the fleet were set afloat in a light F1-2, on a Windward-Leeward course. The fleet had a clean start, with Dan Swaffield and Duncan Willoughby (sailing Charles Morrish's "Simply Red" 23089) immediately showing great pace in the lighter conditions and reaching the windward mark in 1st place, followed by Gerry Goodfellow and Roger Willoughby; and in 3rd Place Callum Gibb and Alex Campbell. Downwind and up the second beat, the positions at the front were unchanged, with Swaffield and Willoughby extending there lead and finishing the race with a comfortable gap from the rest of the pack. A notable mention to Mike Lewis and Ian Stark, who finished the race in 4th place and over the weekend showed great pace across all conditions, constantly putting pressure on the front pack.

In Race 2, Swaffield and Willoughby again put on an impressive show, identifying the better pressure in the middle of the course and showing a clean set of heels and in the light winds producing an impressive lead on the rest of the fleet. In 2nd place was Gibb and Campbell, and in 3rd Place was Ellie Greive and Jess Barron - their first time racing in an enterprise together and showing the skills they both have from racing competitively in other classes (Good luck to them both this year at the RS Feva nationals!).

After having to sit out Race 2 due to Crew injury, Goodfellow was back on the water for Race 3 with an alternative crew of Fiona Grieve. With the wind having swung slightly, the race committee elected for a slightly more complicated course heading up towards the caravan park on the far shore, before again heading back to a leeward mark beyond the clubhouse. A close (but clean) start for the whole fleet, with Swaffield and Willoughby eventually coming out on top again after a close tacking duel up the first beat with Goodfellow and Grieve. The new course offered some confusion to the course - with a number of boats missing the first mark (a mark halfway up the first beat). Unfortunately, for Gibb and Campbell, the realisation of missing the mark came too late and with the reducing wind pressure they realised returning to round the mark was going to put them some distance behind the fleet and therefore retired from the race. After a single round, the race committee choose to shorten the course as the wind pressure was dropping. A final tense beat for Swaffield and Willoughby as they saw the fleet close on them in reducing pressure - however, they held their nerve to close out a perfect set of bullets at the end of day 1. Very impressive sailing by the pair!

With the wind dyeing an AP over A was raised by the race committee, signalling no further racing for the day. The fleet happily returned to shore after a fun day on the water for some delicious home baking and refreshments. In the evening Loch Earn SC put on a lovely relaxed evening, with a BBQ for all staying overnight and an opportunity to catch up with friends not seen over the winter.

Overnight victors Dan Swaffield and Duncan Willoughby looked to be sat in an unsailable lead, with a close grouping of results for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place between Gibb, Goodfellow and Lewis (with the prior both sitting with a DNS/DNF to count). Close racing was also present in the rest of the fleet, with a mixture of results shared across the three races and overall scores overnight being tight between John Cameron, Mhari Ogilvie, Eleanor Grieve and Sam Innes (all having a top 4 result from the 3 races).

Sunday morning dawned with a flat calm loch apart from the ripples coming off the passing jet-ski's. Those staying at the far end of the Loch (at Lochearnhead) reported nice breeze, but it had not ventured down to the club end of the loch - giving insufficient breeze for racing to commence at the scheduled start time. The race committee and loch earn locals strongly assured the fleet that a breeze would come in and based on the forecast direction would have a "kick" to it when it did arrive. Despite not fully believing it, the fleet prepared to launch if and when the AP did come down - and sure enough the locals were right. 30 minutes after the scheduled start time - the wind set in from West and built to a fresh F3 for the start of Race 1.

In Race 4, the still stabilising wind gave for a challenging race for all, with the top end of the course having a fairly stable (for loch earn) and strong wind; and the bottom of the course by the Leeward mark having significant holes and areas of light pressure. Rounding the windward mark first was Gibb, Grieve (Jnr and Snr now sailing together) and Goodfellow in 2nd and 3rd place. After a fast reach across the loch, the fleet had a nervous sail to the Leeward mark watching the proceeding fleet of Tasars rafted in a hole and going nowhere slowly. A significant number of place changes occurred as the fleet sailed down the run, with Grieve and Goodfellow both closing the gap on Gibb, followed by Ogilvie and Lewis making large gains sailing down the North shore in stronger pressure. As they rounded the Leeward mark Goodfellow rounded first having got a lucky puff as they approached the mark, but this was short lived as the rest of the fleet caught the same gust and made better gains coming back up wind. As the fleet re-entered the pressure and crossed the finish line the order was Gibb, Goodfellow, Grieve(s) and Ogilvie.

In Race 5, the course was moved further to the west, moving the leeward mark out of the region of lower pressure. The fleet again had a clear start from the clubhouse - S start line, with an initial beat up to E. In a now strengthening breeze, Gibb again showed great speed and height, rounding the windward mark in first place in his newly renovated enterprise powered by a suit of HD sails. A close rounding occurred in 2nd and 3rd place, with Goodfellow "shooting" the mark and just completing the rounding but Swaffield underestimating the gap and struggling to give sufficient space and ending up taking a swim trying to stay clear. With Goodfellow taking a penalty for touching the mark as they exited, Gibb was given an extended lead which he maintained for the rest of the race. In the strengthening winds the lighter crews of Swaffield / Willoughby, Grieve(s) and Lewis / Stark, who had thrived on Day 1 were finding it a lot more challenging to keep the boats flat and having to work hard to keep upright.

As the wind built to a strong F4/5 for the final race of the day the fleet numbers started to diminish with a few swims in the cold loch earn water having had some return to shore to warm up. Race 6 commenced with only 5 of the original 9 boats. After the first round, the positions sat with Goodfellow in 1st, Gibb in 2nd, Swaffield in 3rd and Lewis in 4th and Ogilvie in 5th. Up the 2nd beat, Goodfellow extended a lead on Gibb, with Gibb making inroads downwind until a breakage of his fly away pole slowed his progress downwind. Gibb managed to complete the downwind legs with the damaged pole, maintaining his position of 2nd (the final results being decided by the placing of 2nd and 3rd between Swaffield and Gibb). Sadly for Ogilvie a breakage with the boats rudder resulted in a retirement from the race (and a new nickname of the Mhari Celeste).

With the sixth race concluding after the 3pm time limit for race starts the seventh race was not sailed and the fleet returned to shore to warm up and again enjoy the hospitality put on by the sailing club.

With discard taken into account and ties resolved the final results of the weekend had John Cameron and Carol Marshall in 5th; Michael Lewis and Ian Stark in 4th; Dan Swaffield and Duncan Willoughby (10 points) in 3rd; Gerry Goodfellow and Roger Willoughby (9 points) in 2nd and Callum Gibb and Alex Campbell (9 points) winning the event overall.

The visitors thanked Loch Earn Sailing club for a brilliant weekend of close sailing and for such great hospitality. We look forward to returning in 2026! The fleet also thank Andy Davis and HD Sails for the sponsorship of the Bluebell Scottish Circuit for 2025. The next event is Newburgh Sailing Club on 24th-25th May 2025.

Overall Results: