2 May 2024
Six boats took part in the Thursday evening points racing in Kirkwall Bay on 2 May, the first of the Thursday evening points races for 2024. Conditions were very light giving a gentle start to the series. The yachts had one race, with a triangular course starting North, out to Yacht West, then across to Yacht East, then round mark 4 and finish heading South. Simon Butcher’s Enigma won the race, being the first across the line and also ahead on handicap. Gary Milne’s Phoenix finished in second followed by XPDNC (Robbie Bruce). Samurai (Barbara Leslie) started but gave up when conditions became too calm. For the dinghies two of the new local Lasers (ILCA) took part in two races. The first race was across to Weyland (mark 2) then Greenfield (mark 3) and then finish heading South. Auk (Kyle Harcus) won by finishing the race, while Turf for Sail retired. Due to the light conditions in the second race the boats had a short race with a South start, round the Lifeboat Buoy and then back to the start (finishing heading South). Auk won once again, with Turf for Sail (Jack Moodie) second.
Many thanks to Brian Kynoch who manned the safety boat and Margaret Hinckley and Willie Watters foir the race management.
Results with times, elapsed and corrected:
Yachts: Race 1, 1 Enigma (Simon Butcher) 2:00:10, 1:43:42, 2 Phoenix (Gary Milne) 2:01:34, 1:48:04, 3 XPDNC (Robbie Bruce) 2:01:52, 1:52:29, Samurai (Barbara Leslie), retired.
Dinghies: Race 1, 1 Auk (Kyle Harcus) 58:15, 52:52
Race 2, 1 Auk 6:06, 5:32, 2 Turf for Sail (Jack Moodie) 6:20, 5:45
9 May 2024
Seven boats took to the water on Thursday 9 May for the Thursday evening points racing in Kirkwall Bay, mainly Lasers but also Colin Pirie’s Solo ‘This Is It’. Three races were held in a light south easterly breeze. The course had a south start, round the Lifeboat Buoy and then Weyland (2), Hatston (4) and finish going south, forming a triangle. In Race 1 This Is It took the win with Enron not far behind in 2 place. Auk (Kyle Harcus) finished third. In the second race This Is It finished first across the line but the win went to Kammy Kassie (Kavan Kynoch, Radial) after handicap was applied. Second place went to This Is It and Enron took 3 place. The third race had a shorter course with a south start, round the lifeboat buoy and then across to Weyland (2) and finish heading south. The win went to Turf for Sail who finished well ahead of the others. 2 place went to This Is It, 3 place was Kammy Kassie.
Many thanks to Margaret Hinkley and Willie Watters who managed the races and to Brian Kynoch for manning the safety boat.
Race 1, 1 This Is It (Colin Pirie, Solo, 20:21, 17:49), 2 Enron (Kazia Watson, Radial 20:51, 18:04), 3 Auk (Kyle Harcus, Laser STD 20:58, 19:02), 4 Turf for Sail (Jack. Moodie, Laser STD 21:12, 19:14), 5 Kammy Kassie (Kavan Kynoch, Radial 23:34, 20:25), 6 Copinsay (Mansie Gee, Radial 25:57, 22:29), 7 Haadirgaan (Mairi Fleet, Laser STD 25:05, 22:46)
Race 2, 1 Kammy Kassie (19:24, 16:49), 2 This Is It (19:17, 16:53), 3 Enron (20:17, 17:35), 4 Auk (19:25, 17:37), 5 Turf for Sail (21:02, 19:05), 6 Copinsay (23:22, 20:15), 7 Haadirgaan (22:55, 20:48)
Race 3, 1 Turf for Sail (15:40, 14:13), 2 This Is It (17:02, 14:55), 3 Kammy Kassie (17:25, 15:05), 4 Auk (16:54, 15:20), 5 Copinsay (19:34, 16:57), 6 Haadhirgaan (19:10, 17:24), 7 Enron (20:58, 18:10)
16 May 2024
Five boats and four races on Thursday 16 May as the Summer Points Racing Series continues. A moderate south south easterly breeze gave fine conditions for the single handers taking part. Four boats took part in the first race, a triangle round marks 1, 2 and back to the finish. The first race was won by Kyle Harcus sailing ‘Auk’, a standard rigged laser, finishing well ahead of the other boats. Colin Pirie came in second sailing ‘This Is It’, 3 place went to Haadhirgan (Mairi Fleet).
The second race had the same course and Auk took the win again. 2 place went to Jack Moodie in ‘Turf for Sail’. ‘This Is It’ and Haadhirgaan had. a very close finish with This Is It taking 3 place.
In the third race the course was extended to give a longer triangle by adding mark 4 to the circuit. ‘Alexandro’, a visitor from Spain took out the club boat ‘Salamander’ with a radial rig and took a convincing win. 2 place went to Auk with This Is It finishing in 3 place. Haadhirgaan capsized and retired. Turf For Sail retired due to a technical issue.
For race 4 the longer course was chosen once again, and Salamander gave another impressive performance. Auk was first to finish the race, but Salamander was close behind and took the win after the handicap was applied. 3 place went to This Is It.
Race 1: 1 Auk (Kyle Harcus, 16:37, 15.05), 2 This Is It (Colin Pirie, 18:13, 15:57), 3 Haadhirgan (Mairi Fleet, 19:44, 17:06), 4 Turf For Sail (Jack Moodie, 19:54, 18:03)
Race 2: 1 Auk (15:37, 14:10), 2 Turf For Sail (16:41, 15:08), 3 Haadhirgan (18:14, 15:48), 4 This Is It (18:10, 15:55)
Race 3: 1 Salamander (Alexandro, 22:27, 19:27), 2 Auk (22:29, 20:24), 3 This Is It (24:45, 21:41), Turf For Sail RTD, Haadhirgan RTD.
Race 4: 1 Salamander (20:39, 17:54), 2 Auk (20:19, 18:26), 3 This Is It (22:07, 19:22), 4 Turf For Sail (22:20, 20:16), 5 Haadhirgan (29:56, 25:56)
30 May 2024
The last week of May saw plenty of sailing activity in Orkney.
Holm:
The racing in Holm was cancelled on Tuesday 28 May due to too much breeze, but on Wednesday Holm had lots of boats afloat for fun sailing. Lasers, Toppers, a 505 and a Tasar all took to the sea in very light sailing conditions. Many thanks to the volunteers who organised the event including Bob MacKenzie in the safety boat and Craig Bruce who prepared the boats.
Activities:
Back in Kirkwall the KGS school activities went ahead with Wayfarers and Picos. Six KGS students took part, gaining RYA qualifications for a three day course (Tuesday to Thursday). The weather was superb, if a little gusty at times, and gave the youngsters a great taste of sailing. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make the course a success, instructors and safety boat drivers.
Points Racing:
There were three starts for the Thursday evening points racing held in Kirkwall Bay on 30 May. Nine boats took part, five Lasers, two Hobie Catamarans and two Yachts. The sailing conditions kept the competitors on their toes with a fresh north north west breeze.
The yachts were first to set off with two races. The yachts course was out to Scargun Shoal navigation mark leaving the Crowness mark to port, and then round Thieve’s Holm mark and Weyland before crossing the line heading north. Enigma (Simon Butcher) won on the water and after handicap.
Race 1: 1 Enigma (Simon Butcher, 55:50, 48:11), 2 Phoenix (Gary Milne, 59:37, 53:00)
Race 2: 1 Enigma (53:01, 45:45), 2 Phoenix (55:19, 49:11)
The Cats had three races, with a different course, starting north round Crowness (mark 4), then Greenfield (mark 3), Weyland (mark 2) and Ayre (mark 1) and back. In the fresh conditions the cats showed a good turn of speed. Awesome (Ian Rushbrook) won the first two races, Willy Flippit won race 3. The cats added a bit of colour to the racing, the first day of catamaran racing of 2024.
The Dinghies had three races round a course starting North, round the Crowness (mark 4), then across to Weyland (mark 2), then round the Ayre (mark 1) and to the finish giving a large triangle. The first race was won by Auk (Kyle Harcus) with Warspite (Andrew Leslie) in 2 place followed by Kammy Kassie (Kavan Kynoch) in 3 place. In Race 2 Warspite won with Auk 2 across the line closely followed by Kammy Kassie. After application of handicap Kammy Kassie took 2 place with Auk in 3 place. In race 3 the win once again went to Warspite with 2 place going to Auk and 3 place going to Kammy Kassie.
Race 1: 1 Auk (Kyle Harcus, 16:13, 14:43), 2 Warspite (Andrew Leslie, 16:15, 14:45), 3 Kammy Kassie (Kavan Kynoch, 17:20, 15:01), 4 Copinsay (Mansie Gee, 20:33, 17:49), Turf For Sail (Jack Moodie) Retired.
Race 2: 1 Warspite (16:03, 14:34), 2 Kammy Kassie (17:08, 14:51), 3 Auk (16:29, 14:57), 4 Copinsay (23:35, 20:26)
Race 3: 1 Warspite (15:55, 14:27), 2 Auk (16:11, 14:41), 3 Kammy Kassie (16:58, 14:42), 4 Copinsay (23:46, 20:36).
Many thanks to John Tulloch and Colin Pirrie for manning the safety boat, and to the star team of Willie Watters and Margaret Hinckley who managed the races.
Laser Training:
On Sunday 2 June there was a rules talk by John Orr and Robbie Bruce covering the basics of the Racing Rules of Sailing and interpretations. This talk was aimed at sailors hoping to compete in the 2025 Island Games. A team of four sailors will be put forward for the 2025 Island Games event, sailing Laser Radial (ILCA6) and Laser Standard (ILCA7) one design race boats.
20 June 2024
The racing on Thursday evening in Kirkwall Bay was dominated by the Laser class, although the yachts and cats also had some racing. The dinghies had three races with eight boats taking part; one Solo, five Laser Radials (ILCA6) and two standard rigged Lasers (ILCA7). The two Cats had three races and the Yachts had two races.
Many thanks to the safety boat crew Brian Kynoch and Bob Moar and to the race officers Willie Watters and Margaret Hinckley.
Dinghies: The three races were all run on the same course with a start heading south, round the lifeboat buoy then across to Greenfiled (mark 3) then Crowness (mark 4) and finish across the line. In the first race Salamander and Auk, the two big rigged Lasers finished the course in the lead (Salamander and Auk) but after handicap was applied the win went to Kammy Kassie (Kavan Kynoch). 2 place went to Salamander (David Clouston) and 3 went to the Solo This Is It (Colin Pirrie). In race 2 Auk was first across the line was once again got knobbled on handicap, the win went to Lullaby (John Orr), Kammi Kassie finished in 2 place and 3 place went to Auk. Salamander was first across the line for Race 3, with Auk close behind but after handicap the win went to Lullaby with Salamander finishing in 2 place and 3 place going to Enron.
Although conditions were quite light the close racing among all the boats made for exciting racing.
Race 1: 1 Kammi Kassie (Kavan Kynoch, 24:10, 20:56), 2 Salamander (David Clouston, 23:23, 21:13), 3 This Is It (Colin Pirrie, 24:39, 21:35), 4 Enron (Kazia Watson, 24:57, 21:37), 5 Auk (Kyle Harcus, 23:55, 21:42), 6 Lullaby (John Orr, 25:43, 22:17), 7 Copinsay (Mansie Gee, 26:17, 22:46), 8 Haadirgan (Mairi Fleet, 26:44, 23:09)
Race 2: 1 Lullaby (20:41, 17:55), 2 Kammi Kassie (20:53, 18:05), 3 Auk (20:29, 18:35), 4 Enron (21:38, 18:44), 5 Haadirgan (21:39, 18:45), 6 Salamander (20:59, 19:02), 7 Copinsay (22:09, 19:11), 8 This Is It (23:11, 20:18)
Race 3: 1 Lullaby (18:52, 16:20), 2 Salamander (18:02, 16:21), 3 Enron (19:18, 16:43), 4 Auk (18:32, 16:49), 5 Kammi Kassie (21:12, 18:22), 6 Copinsay (22:08, 19:10), 7 This Is It (22:06, 19:21), 8 Haadirgan (25:19, 21:56)
Catamarans:
The Catamarans had three races for the two boats. The cats did the same course as the dinghies. Willy Flipit took the win in all three races. Plum Crazy finished in 2 place.
Yachts:
The two yachts had two races on a longer course, course 18 which was started heading south. The boats rounded the lifeboat buoy then headed across to Weyland (mark 2) and then Yacht East, Crow Ness (Mark 4) and then finish heading south. Both races were won by Harmony (Harcus Hutchison) with Phoenix (Gary Milne) finishing a close 2 place.
Race 1: 1 Harmony (Harcus Hutchison, 34:09, 28:06), 2 Phoenix (Gary Milne, 35:10, 31:16)
Race 2: 1 Harmony (26:19, 21:40), 2 Phoenix (29:20, 26:05).
27 June 2024
The blowy conditions on Thursday 27 June resulted in a depleted fleet for the dinghies. Three Laser radials (ILCA6), two cats and three yachts took part in the Thursday evening points racing. Thanks to Andy Warman and Brian Kynoch who manned the safety boat and to Willie Watters and Margaret Hinckley who managed the races in a very organised manner.
Dinghies: The three dinghies had three races, although in the first race Lullaby (John Orr) had some steering gear problems at the start of the first race and subsequently retired, and in race 3 Enron (Kazia Watson) capsized and retired, leaving Kammy Kassie (Kavan Kynoch) the only boat to finish all three races. The course started heading south, round the lifeboat mark then off to Weyland (2), Greenfield (3), Carness (4) and back to the finish. In races 2 and 3 the course was changed to leave out the Greenfield mark.
Race 1: 1 Kammy Kassie (Kavan Kynoch, 20:11, 17:29), 2 Enron (Kazia Watson, 21:25, 18:33)
Race 2: 1 Lullaby (14:47, 12:48), 2 Kammy Kassie (14:59, 12:59), 3 Enron (15:24, 13:20)
Race 3: 1 Kammy Kassie (15:17, 13:14), 2 Lullaby (15:38, 13:32)
Yachts:
The yachts had two races, all starting south and round the lifeboat buoy. The first race put Weyland to port and then a run up to Scagun Shoal, Yacht West, Yacht East, and finish heading south. For Race 2 the course was shortened to: Weyland, Yacht East, back to Weyland, Yacht East, Crowness and then finish heading south. Phoenix (Gary Milne) had a reef in the main and some of her jib rolled up. The other boats carried full sail in the first race. Harmony (Harky Hutchison) dominated the racing, winning both races in good style.
Race 1: 1 Harmony (Harcus Hutchison, 46:41, 38:25), 2 Enigma (Simon Butcher, 51:55, 44:48), 3 Phoenix (Gary Milne 54:12, 48:11)
Race 2: 1 Harmony (38:49, 33:07), 2 Enigma (42:21, 36:30), 3 Phoenix (50:07, 43:39)
Catamarans:
With the cats Willy Flipit (Callum Rendall) won three races against Plum Crazy (Richard Flett) with course starting south, lifeboat buoy, Greenfield (3), Carness (4) and back to the finish line.
4 July 2024
Lullaby wins two out of three in Kirkwall
Yachts:
No Yachts racing this Thursday
Eight boats took part in the three dinghy races with the course being starting south, round the Lifeboat buoy, then across to Greenfield (3) then Crowness (4) and finish. This gave a good beat from Greenfield to Crowness with some rapid reaching on other legs. In race 1 Auk (Kyle Harcus) was first across the line but Lullaby was close behind and took the win on handicap. 2 place went to Kammy Kassie (Kavan Kynoch) and then Auk had to make do with 3 place.
In race 2 Auk got a good start and was the first to finish the race well ahead of all the other boats. This time Auk took the win with 2 place to Lullaby and Kammy Kassie a few seconds behind in 3 place. In race 3 Auk was again first across the line but after handicap he was placed 3. Lullaby took the win with Enron close behind in 2 place.
Race 1: 1 Lullaby (Radial, John Orr, 21:32, 18:39), 2 Kammy Kassie (Radial, Kavan Kynoch, 22:06, 19:09), 3 Auk (Standard, Kyle Harcus, 21:10, 19:12), 4 This Is It (Solo, Colin Pirrie, 23:25, 20:30), 5 Copinsay (Radial, Mansie Gee, 24:37, 21:19), 6 Da Bot (Laser, Craig Bruce, 23:34, 21:23), 7 Turf For Sale (Radial, Jack Moodie, 24:54, 21:34), 8 Enron (Radial, Kazia Watson, 24:59, 21:38).
Race 2: 1 Auk (20:45, 18:49), , 2 Lullaby (22:11, 19:13), 3 Kammy Kassie (22:16, 19:17), 4 Turf For Sail (22:40, 19:38), 5 Enron (22:43, 19:41), 6 Copinsay (23:07, 20:01), 7 Da Bot (23:23, 21:13), This Is It RET
Race 3: 1 Lullaby (23:21, 20:14), 2 Enron (23:51, 20:40), 3 Auk (22:49, 20:42), 4 Kammy Kassie (24:00, 20:47), 5 Turf for Sale (24:13, 20:59), 6 Copinsay (24:26, 21:10), 7 Da Bot (24:21, 22:05)
Catamarans:
Three catamarans had three races. The course chosen was a south start followed by Greenfield (2), Crowness (4) Weyland (2) and back to the finish, crossing the line heading south. Willy Flipit (Callum Rendall) won the first race with 2 place going to Awesome (Ian Rushbrook) and 3 place to Plum Crazy (Richard Flett). The second race had the same results. In race 3 the win went to Awesome with Willy Flipit finishing 2 place and Plum Crazy finishing 3 place.
Frostbite Series: Orkney Sailing Club
22 September
The Orkney Sailing Club Frostbite series got off to a great start on Sunday 22 September. Six boats took part, One Solo, one ILCA6 (Laser Radial) and four ILCA7 (Laser Standard). The wind was quite light and shifty from the south east. In the first race the start was heading South leaving the Lifeboat buoy to port and then round mark 2 (Weyland) and then 4 (Carness) to port and back to the finish. Lullaby (John Orr, ILCA7) got off to a good start and led the way to take the win. Warspite (Andrew Leslie, ILCA7) finished in 2 place. 3 place went to Do Bot (Craig Bruce ILCA7). In race 2 the course was reversed to give a better beat between mark 4 and 2. In this race Warspite took the win with Lullaby close behind. 3 place went to Turf for Sale (Jack Moodie). In race 3 Warspite got a good start and led round the course. 2 place went to Turf for Sale with 3 place going to Lullaby.
Many thanks to Bob Moar who managed the safety boat and to Willie Watters and Margaret Hinkley for the race management.
The Frostbite series will continue for four weeks.
Race 1: 1 Lullaby (John Orr, 25:16, 22:55), 2 Warspite (Andrew Leslie, 25:41, 23:18), 3 Da Bot (Craig Bruce, 26:15, 23:49), 4 Turf For Sale (Jack Moodie, 26:17, 23:51), 5 This Is It (Colin Pirie, 27:57, 24:28), 6 Enron (Kazia Watson 32:15, 27:56)
Race 2: 1 Warspite (23:07, 20:58), 2 Lullaby (23:26, 21:15), 3 Turf For Sale (25:28, 23:06), 4 This Is It (26:35, 23:28), 5 Enron (27:24, 23:44), 6 Da Bot (27:19, 24:47)
Race 3: 1 Warspite (20:49, 18:53), 2 Turf For Sale (22:12, 20:08), 3 Lullaby (22:28, 20:23), 4 Enron (24:09, 20:55), 5 Da Bot (23:18, 21:08), 6 This Is It (24:15, 21:14)
29 September
The Frostbite series continued on Sunday 29 September in light and shifty conditions. The course was upwind to 1 (Ayre mark), then across to 2 (Weyland), 4 (Crowness) and finish. The racing was fairly close but Lullaby (John Orr) managed to take the win in all three races. Many thanks to Brian Kynoch for running the safety boat and to Margaret Hinckley and Willie Watters for doing the race management.
Race 4: 1 Lullaby (John Orr, ILCA7, 21:26, 19:26), 2 Aak (Kyle Harcus, ILCA7, 22:19, 20:15), 3 Da Bot (Craig Bruce, ILCA7, 22:58, 20:50), 4 Turf For Sale (Jack Moodie, ILCA7, 23:28, 21:17), 5 This Is It (Colin Pirie, Solo, 24:20, 21:18)
Race 5: 1 Lullaby (23:35, 21:24), 2 Aak (24:00, 21:46), 3 Da Bot (24:40, 22:23), 4 This Is It (25:56, 22:42), 5 Turf For Sale (25:02, 22:42)
Race 6: 1 Lullaby (25:36, 23:13), 2 Da Bot (25:43, 23:20), 3 This Is It (26:40, 23:21), 4 Aak (27:00, 24:30), 5 Turf For Sale (24:79, 24:47)
13 October
Three races were held on Sunday 13 October, the final day for the Orkney Sailing Club Frostbite Series. The fine weather attracted a good fleet of 10 boats, mostly the ILCA7 (Laser) class with a couple of ILCA6 (Laser Radial) and a solitary Solo. For the first race there was a steady northerly breeze which eased and became very light and shifty by the time of the last race. The first two races went round a triangular course starting north, round 4 (Crowness), then 2 (Weyland) and then 1 (Ayre) and back to finish. Due to the light conditions the final race was shortened to start north, round 4 and then round the Lifeboat buoy and finish.
In the first race the race start had a general recall twice due to boats being over the line. When the race got started Warspite (Andrew Leslie) got off at a good pace and led the way round the course. Aak (Kyle Harcus) finished in 2 place with Lullaby (John Orr) in 3 place. In the second race Lullaby managed to take the lead on the second leg and took the win with Warspite in 2 place and Da Bot (Mark Taylor) in 3 place. In the third race Lullaby once again took the win having gone close to the shore on the upwind leg, Copinsay (Ian Rushbrook) finished in 2 pace with Warspite in 3 place.
Many thanks to Willie Watters, Robbie Bruce and Margaret Hinckley for doing the timekeeping and to Brian Kynoch for manning the safety boat.
Race 7: 1 Warspite (Andrew Leslie, ILCA7, 21:41, 19:40), 2 Aak (Kyle Harcus, ILCA7, 23:10, 21:01), 3 Lullaby (John Orr, ILCA7, 23:38, 21:26), 4 Libertine II (Ewan Sinclair, ILCA6, 24:51, 21:32), 5 Felix (Conor Gilmour, ILCA7, 24:04, 21:50), 6 Copinsay (Ian Rushbrook, ILCA7, 24:05, 21:51), 7 Turf for Sale (Jack Moodie, ILCA7, 24:43, 22:25), 8 Enron (Kazia Watson, ILCA6, 25:58, 22:30), 9 Da Bot (Mark Taylor, ILCA7, 25:05, 22:45), 10 This Is It (Colin Pirie, Solo, 26:37, 23:18)
Race 8: 1 Lullaby (26:55, 24:25), 2 Warspite (27:03, 24:32), 3 Da Bot (27:38, 25:04), 4 This Is It (31:41, 27:44), 5 Copinsay (30:49, 27:57), 6 Turf For Sale (31:19, 28:25), 7 Aak (32:33, 29:32), 8 Libertine II (35:40, 30:54), 9 Felix (34:41, 31:28), 10 Enron (36:31, 31:38)
Race 9: 1 Lullaby (24:33, 22:16), 2 Copinsay (25:25, 23:03), 3 Warspite (26:06, 23:41), 4 This Is It (27:57, 24:28), 5 Libertine II (28:31, 24:42), 6 Turf For Sale (27:54, 25:19), 7 Aak (28:21, 25:43), 8 Enron (29:54, 25:54), 9 Da Bot (30:38, 27:47), 10 Felix (31:42, 28:45)
Orkney Laser Sailing 