St.Mary's Loch

[DavidD]

Event 6 of this years race series takes NEWS into border country and to St. Mary's Loch Sailing Club. Situated midday between Moffat on the west and Selkirk on the east its probably one of the most scenic venues on the calendar with good camping / campervan / caravan facilities adjacent to the clubhouse and right by the waters edge. First class hospitality is a given with a hot & cold buffet supper on Saturday evening and a ploughmans lunch on the Sunday included within the registration fee. A pub within a 100 metres is an added bonus and the surrounding area provides interesting walks for the non-sailor.

All this takes place over the weekend of 31st August / 1st September.

[DavidD]

Great turnout at St. Mary's with 34 registered sailors including a good percentage of Techno & T15 sailors. In fact all the international classes were evident with a entries in the Formula, RS:X and Raceboard classes in addition to Techno. Good to see a number of parents taking part and some weren't far behind their more experienced sibblings. Saturday saw the best of the sunshine but conditions were tricky with wind shifts and some severe gusts testing competitors physical as well as sailing abilities. It really was amazing to see the size of some of the Techno sailors handling sails from 5.8m to 7.8m in such demanding conditions. With 3 races completed a fun race back to the clubhouse from the course area brought matters to a close on Saturday.
Sunday was more overcast and a few degrees cooler. The gusts had also ramped up their severity with some recorded at between 25-30mph which brought more than a few duckings to even the most experienced racer - the 5 minute countdown sequence before the start of each race seemed to herald the most savage gusts making starting a testing experience.
The legendary St. Mary's hospitality was evident on the Saturday night with a welcome hot & cold buffet,followed by a retreat to the Tibbie Shiels Inn for a nightcap. All in all a great weekend and congrats to overall winner and northeast sailor Tom Dryden. Indeed the northeast contingent did rather well taking the first two positions with Scottish sailor Andy Kerr taking 3rd. Next event Kielder Water Sailing Club 21/22nd September.