Enterprise Scottish Bluebell Series at Forfar Sailing Club

Enterprise Scottish Bluebell Series concludes at Forfar © Titch Summers

The final round of the 2025 Scottish Enterprise Bluebell series was once again warmly welcomed by Forfar SC in varied and shifty conditions. Thirteen visitors joined one local boat for an interesting and competitive weekend's sailing.

Arriving to SSW F4 winds, gusting F6, provided some challenging and unpredictable racing conditions throughout Saturdays three races. The gusts and wind direction, combined with the loch orientation and surrounding topography made some very fluky moments with no true beat. All to play for in the Bluebell Enterprise Series, with three boats still in contention for first place.

Race 1

In the expectation the wind would start to move to come more from the west, for race 1 the race officer had set a course with the fleet heading through the island / spit and to the west end of the loch off the line. Several boats congregated at the clubhouse end of the line in an attempt to avoid the hole in the breeze under the tree line on the far shore, but arriving early having to tack round quickly, allowing Morven/Euan and Oli/Luke to get a strong start off the line. Morven & Crew Euan picked up clear wind and opened up a healthy lead from start to finish.

There were numerous changes behind throughout the race with Paul & Crew Emma coming through to second on the second lap and building a clear gap from the fleet, holding 2nd position to finish. Charles & Crew Dan along with Ian & Crew Fi were closing on Callum & Crew Claire in third coming into the final mark but made a wrong call going up the short section of beat and sailing into light airs allowing Gerry/Roger and Oli/Luke to move through to 4th and 5th, with Charles/Dan finishing in 6th.

Race 2

After a brief break ashore to enjoy the hospitality of Forfar loch sailing club (homemade soup, rolls and home baking - all included in the entry fee!) the fleet returned to the water. This time race officer, Sally, had reversed the course in an attempt to give a windward start and a beat up to the east end of the loch.

A competitive start to the second race, with the individual recall flag (X flag) hoisted see Callum & Claire returning to the line having accepted they were over - but were they the only ones?

Nicol & Eilidh (first time crewing an Enterprise) were first round the first mark, having gone for a start at further down the line, judging the right position perfectly to avoid the hole under the trees, but giving a clean line into the windward mark. A large fleet congregated at the windward mark with Charles & Dan rounding in second, followed closely behind by Ian & Fi and Gerry & Roger. Gerry & Roger took the lead at the 2nd mark, but by the 3rd mark Charles & Dan had moved into the lead.

By the second lap, their lead had shrunk due to finding holes in the wind whilst others found gusts. Gerry & Roger found a fortuitous patch of pressure and retook the lead as the two boats exited the gap between the island / spit. Through lap three they built a comfortable lead and held first place through to the finish.

The following 6 or 7 boats moved around like snakes and ladders with Oli & Luke getting caught in a weed bed and Keith/Duncan, who finished on the water 3rd being over the line, meaning the top three boats were Gerry & Roger, Morven & Euan and Charles & Dan. Ian & Fi (typically seen in a national 12) put in another great performance - fighting out for a top 5 place, sadly also to be declared OCS and scoring 15 points.

Enterprise Scottish Bluebell Series concludes at Forfar - photo © Titch Summers

Race 3

In Race 3 the fleet were well spread along the line, trading off a clear line into the first mark without tacking, against clearer air away from the tree line on the bank. This time the fleet had a clean start, with the boats in the middle of the loch initially seeing a benefit. However as the wind eased it was the boats close to the clubhouse that saw a band of pressure giving them better speed and height into mark 1. Gerry & Roger rounded first, closely followed by Euan & Morven.

By the end of lap 2 Gerry & Roger had built a comfortable lead, however the pressure was clearly mounting and as they turned to go back downwind a poor gybe stopped the boat in a hole as the closing fleet closed the gap. Getting the boat moving again, they managed to hold on to first place - with Morven & Euan and Keith & Duncan now hot on their tails.

As they came back around B mark inside the bay of the clubhouse there was a sigh of relief as "S" flag was raised, but all three boats knew the podium spots were still all to play for. As they rounded the gap and came back upwind the dropping wind had all three helms hunting for any gust that would propel them to the line quickest - with all three boats finishing within a handful of seconds - Gerry & Roger holding the lead from Keith & Duncan and closely behind Morven & Euan.

At the end of day 1 - the top two boats sat on 6 points: Morven & Euan (1-2-3) and Gerry & Roger (4-1-1). The mix of OCS results and shifty conditions meant many in the fleet had a mixed bag of results - with Oli & Luke and Paul & Emma showing nice consistent results that could easily see them being in contest for the silverware on Day 2.

Saturday evening saw Forfar Sailing Club put on a fantastic social that they are renowned for. A hot meal followed by a Raffle and Ceilidh was put on, with a cheap bar seeing some sore heads on Sunday!

Race 4

Sunday was forecast to be a repeat of the previous year, with no sailable wind, however after Saturday nights 'Wind Dance' at the Ceilidh, entrants were pleasantly surprised to arrive to a more dominant F1/F2 westerly wind along with some a wonderful spread of breakfast rolls and hot drinks. The wind direction allowed Sally, the race officer for the weekend, to set a favourable course with a good first beat.

A competitive start saw a close pack on the beat with Morven/Euan first to the windward mark, closely followed by Charles & Dan, Gerry & Roger and Oli & Luke. Nearing the end of the first lap, onto the second beat, saw Morven & Euan and Charles & Dan keep to the right of loch, with Gerry & Roger and Oli & Luke sailing more centrally. As they progressed up the beat, positions changed back and forth - with Morven & Euan falling back having picked up weed along the shore.

At the top of the beat Oli & Luke read several shifts well and were well clear by the windward mark, with Charles & Dan second, whilst Gerry & Roger and Morven & Euan battling for third (and through some weed). The final race of the season saw Oli & Luke claim their first bluebell race first place, nearly a leg clear of Charles & Dan in second.

The race for overall winner of the event was still being fought out between Gerry & Roger and Morven & Euan with Roger encouraging Gerry to Luff Morven up and resulting in a set of turns. These were quickly mitigated by Morven/Euan lightning speed downwind putting them back into 3rd place as they rounded the leeward mark. The results looked clear as they entered the final beat, but with Gerry & Roger splitting from Morven & Euan up the final beat they closed the gap. In the final 200yds Gerry 7 Roger took the lead and put a covering tack on Morven/Euan to ensure taking 3rd place.

With the wind continuing to drop AP was hoisted and the fleet returned to shore for lunch and the race officers decision - which eventually concluded no more racing for the day!

Gerry Goodfellow and Roger Willoughby, event and series winners - Enterprise Scottish Bluebell Series concludes at Forfar - photo © Erwin Oosterhoorn

Congratulations to Gerry & Roger on winning the event, the Forfar Enterprise Cup, Morven & Euan took second place and Oli & Luke took third (in a 3 way tie on points being split by their 1st place win). Congratulations to Mhairi for winning the Scottish female enterprise helm (over 18) for a second year running and to Morven Dunn for winning the Scottish Junior Enterprise Helm.

With Forfar being the final event of the Scottish Bluebell Enterprise series, the final results were calculated with Gerry & Roger (Fi and Innes) winning the Scottish Bluebell Series for 2025. In second place was Charles & Dan (Luke & Duncan) and third place was Callum & Claire (Alex, Ben, Sarah, Duncan) - who took home the moonshadow trophy. The winning three all finishing within 2 points of each other and the series seeing 5 different event winners across 7 events!

Mhairi Ogilvie, Bluebell Series Ladies Helm Award - Enterprise Scottish Bluebell Series concludes at Forfar - photo © Erwin Oosterhoorn

The Bluebell Enterprise series would like to offer a big thanks to Forfar Loch sailing club, their race officers, safety crews and galley staff who provided a well organised event, wonderful hospitality, and another memorable end of season ceilidh.

Further thanks to the seasons and event sponsors HD Sails, Coast to Cost Rigging and coast 2 coast massage therapy. We hope to see you all on the water for the 2026 Series.

The Bluebell AGM will be heard on Saturday 22nd November 2025 following which more details on the 2026 calendar will be confirmed.

To be kept updated on all things Enterprise, including regional and national events, tips and tricks and classified adverts join the Community Whatsapp group.

Morven Dunn, Junior Helm Award - Enterprise Scottish Bluebell Series concludes at Forfar - photo © Erwin Oosterhoorn

Event Results:

Callum Gibb, Moonshadow Award - Enterprise Scottish Bluebell Series concludes at Forfar - photo © Erwin Oosterhoorn