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Articles: Typhoon International Scottish National Championships

Added by Cats_in_Scotland on Jul 14, 2003 - 11:39 AM

Royal Findhorn Yacht Club 12th & 13th July 2003.




The promise of good weather encouraged twenty catamarans to travel North to Findhorn for the Typhoon National Championships. The fleet consisted of Hurricanes, Hobie 16’s, Stealth’s, a Tornado, Spitfire & Dart 15 including a number of new faces. Considering travelling times of up to seven hours for some, an excellent turnout for the most Northerly catamaran racing event in the UK.




After battling the tide race at the narrows to get to the race area in the Moray Firth, three races were sailed on the Saturday on a Windward Leeward course in winds building from Force two to a strong five by the end of play.
Race one was dominated by the Kent brothers with the Tornado of Eddie Bisset and Jackie Miles just taking line honours but losing on handicap to the Kents and the Browning’s Spitfire in second.

Race Two saw the top two places reversed with the Spitfire winning and the Kents second. Although the conditions did not suit their handicap, there was close racing amongst the Hobies with places regularly changing.

In race three the wind was up. A port flyer by Alastair Dickson and Maggie King on their Hobie 16 paid off seeing them reach the windward mark seconds behind the Tornado and in front of a large fleet of Hurricanes. A spectacular capsize by David Harcourt and Malcolm Craig in their 5.9 Sport ended their excellent start to the race. Hamish Ramsay and Stuart Buchanan came to form in the breeze, taking second place behind the Kents, leaving David and Ian Kent as overnight leaders with two firsts in the bank.

A ten am start meant that sailing was over by two pm, so the bar till swelled in the scorching sunshine.

A few sore heads on Sunday morning, and racing got underway in a force two on flat water and bright sunshine. After waiting for the wind to settle, race four got underway. The breeze suited the Spitfire of Chris and Valeri Browning, who after arriving seventh at the windward mark arrived at the leeward mark in third, before climbing ahead of the Tornado, and Hurricane of Hamish and Stuart. The spinnaker helped them to line honours, and going into the last race on equal points and all to play for, with the Kents.

The wind dropped a little and the Spitfire suffered upwind, but managed to hold on to the tail end of the lead Hurricanes to clinch first place and the Championship. A wind shift suited the two spinnaker boats affording them the chance to reach the leeward mark without gibing. A string of bad luck saw the Kents fall to third overall with the Tornado of Eddie & Jackie in second. The battle of the Hobies was won by Alastair and Maggie after close racing with Kami Marshall and Helen Scott.

Thanks go to Royal Findhorn Yacht Club for excellent race management and organisation, and Typhoon International for prizes and their continued support.

1st Spitfire C. Browning V. Browning 5 points
2nd Tornado E. Bisset J. Miles 11
3rd Hurr 5.9 D. Kent I. Kent 12
4th Hurr 5.9 H. Ramsay S. Buchanan 12
5th Hurr 5.9 R. Selman G. Adam 23
 
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