Forrest pair’s experience wins the day
LERWICK Boating Club’s 106th annual regatta got under way last Friday in a light north-easterly breeze.
The experienced pair of Darren and Paul Forrest won all three Mirror races sailing O’hoy with Jack Howarth and Kyle Siegel in Cruister second in each race.
The first of the three yacht races also took place on Friday night. In a dying wind Movinon (Jim Tait) crossed the line first with White Magic (Dougie Wiseman) second and Cheapo (Fred Gibson) third. The positions remained the same after the handicaps were calculated.
The first race on Saturday, for the Young Cup, saw a very good turnout of 12 Shetland models take to the water.They started off in a light south-east wind. The increasingly tricky conditions allowed some boats to make big gains and saw Skirmish (Johnny Simpson) finish first, Solus (Brydon Leask) second followed by a very close finish between three boats with Comet (Laurence Irvine) just snatching third.
In the veteran boat section Streaker (Ian Bray) picked up the Gray Cup from Skalva (Adrian Wishart) with Skudra (Ian amson) third.
The yachts had an additional trophy to sail for with the welcome reappearance of the Fraser Trophy, which was won by White Magic, with Movinon second and Flora (Robert Wishart) third.
The morning dipping lug races, for the Queen’s Tankard and the Accutrac Trophy were won by Brakkin Wind (David Thompson) with Marauder (Stuart Williamson) second in both.
The Gifford Cup for Shetland Models was won by Comet after a good final beat followed by Skirmish and Armeria (Tammie Williamson) who had a good upwind leg to take third. In the veteran’s race Streaker was again successful winning the Jaytee Decanter from Skudra.
After a good fill of mince and tatties at the club the sailors reappeared to find the wind had freshened. The Royal Western Salver for yachts was won by Movinon from White Magic and Flora third.
The LBC Challenge Trophy for Shetland Models saw some high speeds being reached across the harbour. A third convincing win resulted for the Whalsay men with Comet first, Solus second and Verve (Scott Nicolson) third.
The final race of the afternoon saw Bluebell (Andrew Tait) joining the dipping lugs for the Vaisala Trophy. Brakkin Wind had a good lead until she capsized, righting her to win by 14 seconds from Marauder, with Bluebell third.
Performance trophies were also won by Comet, Streaker, Movinon and Brakkin Wind.
Sunday afternoon racing commenced with the Kveldsro Cup for dinghies, which was won by Willum Mouatt in White Lightning with Air Apparent (Brian Wishart) second and Tidal Fire (Scott Nisolson) third.
The final dinghy race of the day saw the Thistle Trophy going to White Lightning, from Tidal Fire second and Black Magic (John Manson) third.
Sunday afternoon also saw the penultimate points scoring rowing regatta of the year. The course was Holm of Cruister to the Lerwick Boating Club pier.
Weather conditions were ideal for rowing early on in the afternoon, but the rain steadily increased as the day wore on, which forced the large number of spectators inside, where they were able to enjoy the food and refreshments which were on offer and view the close finishes to many of the races.
The first race of the day was the under-16 girls, with an entry of four boats. Lerwick won in a time of 6:12, Yell were second in 6:27 with Nesting third in 6:34 and Vidlin fourth in 7:43.
The under-16 boys had five entries, and again Lerwick won in a time of 5:52. Vidlin were close behind in 5:54 and Burra third in 6:46.
As usual, the biggest turnout of the afternoon was for the open women’s race. Nine boats competed, with Lerwick taking a hat trick of wins in a time of 5:50. Aith were a close second in 5:57 and Burra took third in 5:59.
Conditions were starting to deteriorate as the men’s race got underway. This was another very close race with only three seconds separating the first three boats. Burra just managed to hold off Yell (second) and Lerwick (third), winning in a time of 5:24.
Unfortunately the under-21 women’s race was delayed as there was a requirement to hold a protest meeting relating to the open women’s race, before the respective teams left for the day. It is worth noting that even the most experienced rowers acknowledge how difficult coxing is and often crews are struggling to find willing volunteers. It is perhaps something that SYRA needs to consider for next year.
In another close race, only nine seconds separated the first five boats. This time Yell came out on top in a time of 5:59, from Aith and Nesting, both given the time of 6:01.
In the under-21 men’s race Lerwick won in a time of 5:24, with Nesting second in 5:32 and Bigton third in 5:51.
The last two races of the afternoon were the veterans. The women raced first, and Lerwick scored their fifth home win of the afternoon, with a time of 5:59. Aith were second in 6:01 and Burra third in 6:06.
As the continual rain finally forced the jazz musicians to admit defeat and abandon the marquee on the pier, the veteran men headed to the start line. Just as in Skeld two weeks ago this was another very close finish and saw Aith passing Lerwick in the dying stages to win by one second in a time of 5:28. Trondra held off the challenge from Burra to finish third in 5:31.
That completed the sailing and rowing races with the prize-giving taking place afterwards in the clubhouse.
A spokesman said Lerwick Boating Club wished to thank all those who gave up their time to assist in making their regatta weekend so successful, including all the guard boat crews, starters/timekeepers, video recording people, those who laid buoys, all those involved in preparing and serving food, the volunteer bar staff and the DJ/jazz musicians for the entertainment.
A final thank you must go to all those who took part in the races, without whom it would not be possible to have a regatta.
