Sailability Scotland SCIO Traveller Series T4 - Duncan's Regatta - at Bardowie Loch

Sailability Scotland SCIO Traveller Series T4 - Duncan's Regatta - at Bardowie Loch © Val Mellon

Duncan's Regatta took place at Bardowie Loch (home of Clyde Cruising Club's Dinghy Section) during the weekend 27--28 June. Duncan's Regatta is so called because this Challenger event has been generously sponsored by Duncan Yacht Chandlers in Glasgow for many years.

The Scottish Hansa Championships were taking place at the same time, making for a very friendly and sociable weekend.

The sailors arrived on Friday afternoon and, after preparing their boats, both fleets joined the club members for an evening BBQ.

Rory McKinna did an amazing job of organising the event. There were three separate fleets racing on the tiny piece of water: the Challengers, the Hansa 303 singles and the Hansa 303 doubles. It all ran like clockwork.

Someone must have upset the Bardowie wind gods on Saturday. The wind came from all directions and could go from zero to F4 (or more) in the space of ten seconds. It did this not just once, but all day long. This made for very interesting sailing, albeit with a rather one-sided beat, and plenty of place changes in each of the day's five short races.

Sailability Scotland SCIO Traveller Series T4 - Duncan's Regatta - at Bardowie Loch - photo © Val Mellon

As might be expected, under these tricky conditions, experience paid dividends. Duncan Greenhalgh (280) comfortably took the five bullets, despite a gust propelling him OCS before one race. After returning he was faced with the task of overtaking the whole fleet.

In another race a vicious shift put half the fleet in irons and they were frustrated to see the other half, led by Lynn Steward (238), racing ahead towards the windward mark. Lynn held her lead for the first lap but dropped back as the race continued.

Apart from the first race when Alan Gillman (212) forgot to go through the gate, the battle for second, third and fourth places was between Alan, Stephen Laycock (3) and Lynn. Zoe McPartlin (234) and local sailor Dorothy Bennett (241) fought over fifth and sixth place.

After five races the fleet returned to shore to find that Angela McKinna had been very busy. On Saturday evening she served a bean lasagne, a cheese-less cottage pie and sticky toffee pudding (though not all on the same plate!).When Rory eventually arrived home wanting the leftovers he found there were none!

Sunday dawned with what appeared to be a steady southwesterly F3 occasionally touching F4. However, appearances can be deceptive and this was Bardowie! The reality was that the wind was anything but steady with gusts up to F5 along with some huge shifts. It made for some interesting sailing.

Sailability Scotland SCIO Traveller Series T4 - Duncan's Regatta - at Bardowie Loch - photo © Val Mellon

After Saturday's rather one-sided beat, it was a true beat from the start if only you could work it out! In the first race of the day, Duncan got a flyer from the start line and by using a shift had a huge lead by the windward mark. He continued to extend to the finish. Behind, after many places changes, it settled on Alan second and Stephen third.

The final two races followed a similar pattern. In the last race Alan thought there were only two laps and headed home early for another DNF. Lynn and Dorothy took advantage of his mistake to get their best results of second and third respectively.

After a total of eight race the Challenger sailors returned to shore to start packing up their boats, to enjoy afternoon tea (Angela again!) and to wait for the Hansa fleets to finish their final two races.

Duncan rather ran away with the event win. Once Alan had discarded his two DNFs, he was a clear second. Stephen had a close battle with Lynn and took third by just two points. Under the difficult conditions, Dorothy's greater experience gave her the edge over Zoe.

Rory presided over the joint prize-giving. All the competitors were awarded Tunnock Tea Cakes in recognition of Sir Boyd Tunnock of Tunnock Biscuits' sponsorship of the event through subsidising the entry fees. First, second and third in each fleet also received a bottle of Bardowie Flavoured Gin.

Prize winners in Sailability Scotland SCIO Traveller Series T4 - Duncan's Regatta - at Bardowie Loch - photo © Val Mellon

Thanks were given to all the club volunteers on and off the water with each taking a box of Tunnock Tea Cakes. The Race Officer did an excellent job, especially considering the conditions. He was given a well-deserved bottle of malt. Angela and Rory were presented with flowers and chocolates from Sailability Scotland.

Thanks also to Duncan Yacht Chandlers for continuing to sponsor "their" Challenger regatta - sponsorship that dates back to at least 2001!

Finally, a slightly depleted group of sailors and volunteers retired to the Tickled Trout pub in Bearsden for a meal and postmortem on exhilarating weekend's sailing.

Overall Results: