Cruiser Long Distance race

Published 08:59 on 18 Aug 2025

The re-arranged cruiser Long Distance race was sailed on Saturday 16th August.

The course started at Inchmickery then meandered around the Firth of Forth via East Gunnet cardinal mark (north of Leith docks ), Herwit Wreck buoy (SE of Inchkeith), Forth Ports No 4 Channel mark (NE of Inchkeith) and Pallas Rock buoy (west of Inchkeith), finishing back at Inchmickery.

The wind was light but steady all day, just north of easterly, F2 occasionally F3 later in the race.

At the start, Mark Lewis and Chris McLean in Talisker, and Chris Callender with Hugh Balderstone in Scherzo took a long port tack and sailed south towards Leith. Paul Steen in Seeaway and Alastair Johnson in Pegasus II took a different approach, tacked onto starboard and sailed north, then tacked onto port at the layline.

As the boats converged around Inchkeith, they all reported seeing several dolphins in the area, with some very close to Talisker and Pegasus II. It seems these marine mammals are becoming more common in the Forth.

Seeaway reached Herwit mark first, and Pegasus II followed. Paul increased his lead on the leg to No 4 Channel mark, while Alastair dithered over which was the right mark. Seeaway rounded No 4 mark first, eased out his sails and turned west round the north side of Inchmickery before heading to Pallas buoy. Pegasus II followed, and behind him was the blue hull of Talisker.

The run to the finish at Inchmickery saw a little increase in wind to F3. At the finish, Seeaway crossed the line 20 minutes ahead of Pegasus II, followed by Talisker with Scherzo not far behind. The corrected times on handicap were much closer, with Seeaway winning the trophy, and Scherzo just minutes ahead of Pegasus II.