On a day when the IRC and the CYCA Scottish Series fleet raced around Inch Island in Loch Fyne, the overnight leader in IRC 1, John Stamp’s Corby 33 Jacob VII (CCC) lost out to the J109 Ben Shelley’s Mocking J from Fairlie Yacht Club who now leads the 13 strong fleet by just 3 points into the final day tomorrow (27th) when he presumably hopes he can discard the retiral in Race 7. Shelley won last year’s overall RC35 Scottish championships.
In CYCA, the best result is for the CYCA Restricted visitor from across the North Channel in Strangford Lough Yacht Club, Stevie Andrews. His Hanse 371 (who managed to get the number 3701), Dark and Scary, counted five first places to make his mark in that 13-boat class.
Other impressive results can be seen in the Hunter 707 division where Eddie Batchelor’s Tsunami has a string of firsts living up to the boat’s name.
But leading less comfortably is Alan Dunnet’s Swan 36 Valhalla of Ashton (CCC), which holds a lead of just one point from Rory Chalmers’ Mustang 30 Sleipnir. Dunnet must also be hoping to use the retirement as a discard.
A spinnaker run at the 2024 Scottish Series Photo: Marc Turner
The Etchells have produced a solid leader in Bounce Back (Stephen Rarity) from Gourock whose five firsts give a secure position at the top of the fleet. James Miller’s Mayrise still leads the One Design Sigma 33 Class with the Belfast Lough entry, Squawk (Paul Prentice) hovering in the middle of the fleet.
Tomorrow is the final day of the Jura-sponsored four-day Scottish Series, and the wind is forecast to be light. The weather is dreich in Scottish terms.
