Dinghy Regatta and Wanderer Scottish Championships
Published 13:33 on 19 Jun 2026
The Cramond Boat Club Summer Dinghy Regatta, incorporating the Scottish Open Wanderer Championships, took place on the weekend of 13th-14th June.
Or rather, they took place on the Sunday. For the second year running, the weather gods decided to prevent sailing entirely on the Saturday with gusts up to 35 knots.
However, the wind relented on Sunday in fact, vanished almost completely so the boats slowly drifted out to the start area off the Dalmeny coast. Race Officer Andy Walker and his team initially set a north-easterly windward leg but decided to wait for the wind to re-appear before starting racing. As no racing had taken place on Saturday, Andy planned to run a series of short races if the weather allowed.
After a short delay, the wind started to build from the east, so the start sequence began after a quick re-lay of the course. The Wanderers set off first, and local helm Leonie Griffin with crew Ian Urquhart made the most of the light winds to take an early lead, which she held to the end of the short race. Last year's champions, Scott Livingstone and Claire France from Upper Forth Boat Club, were less comfortable in the light conditions and came in second, some way back.
The second race was longer and produced closer racing. Leonie and Ian in Jennifer managed to hold off Alasdair Simpson and Chris Stanger to record another win, with Scott and Claire in Bonnie taking third.
The wind was gradually increasing, which seemed to suit Scott and Claire better. They reminded everyone why they were last year's champions with a storming performance in the third race, taking first, with Leonie and Ian in second and Alasdair and Chris just behind.
The multiple short races allowed all the crews to improve their starts and tactics, resulting in much closer racing in the fourth race. After a battle all round the course, Bonnie held on to win with Jennifer second.
As the wind continued to increase, the Race Officer decided there was just enough time to run a short fifth race. By now, Scott and Claire had found their groove, and they took their third win in a row followed by Leonie and Ian, with Alasdair and Chris in third.
So Scott and Claire in Bonnie retained their Scottish Open Wanderer Championships title, with CBC's Leonie and Ian second in Jennifer, and Alasdair and Chris from Arnside Sailing Club taking third overall.
The handicap fleet was a mixture of seasoned sailors and some raw newcomers. In the first race, Alan Mackenzie in his RS400 with new club trainee Anisa Chowdhury crewing, got a poor start but made up time in the light conditions to cross the line first, with CBC Commodore Lawrie Elliott finishing second in his RS Aero 7, and Andy Carr third in his Musto skiff.
In the second race, Lawrie's RS Aero 7 Salty Horse took line honours with Andy's Musto Skiff Wild Thing just behind. New club member Adam James with Steven van Stiphout took a very creditable third place in their GP14 Port Nawak. Unfortunately, Alan's enthusiasm to finish as close as possible to the starboard end of the line caused him to nudge the committee boat's port quarter, resulting in a DNF.
Alan and Anisa fared better in the third race as the wind increased, finishing just ahead of Lawrie's RS Aero 7 with Port Nawak in third. By this time, Andy was finding the conditions difficult to handle in his Musto Skiff and retired after a couple of capsizes.
As with the Wanderers, the quality of the racing in the handicap fleet improved as the less experienced crews got to grips with the race starts, and the fourth race produced the closest start and the most competitive racing with the RS Aero 7 taking line honours ahead of Alan's RS400, with Howie and Jennie Stansfield finishing third in their 2000 Seaspray, just ahead of Port Nawak.
In the fifth, short race, the RS400 finished first, ahead of Salty Horse and Seaspray. Bringing up the rear, Andy unfortunately capsized his Skiff again on the final leg but valiantly tea-bagged onwards to cross the finish line in style.
In the final results, Lawrie Elliott in his RS Aero 7 Salty Horse deservedly took first place in the regatta and collected the Pechtoot Trophy, having shown his skill by winning all 5 races on handicap. Adam James and Steven van Stiphout showed admirable consistency in their GP14 Port Nawak to finish second on handicap, with Alan Mackenzie and Anisa Chowdhury third in the RS400.
Many thanks are due to Andy Walker and his race team for managing to efficiently run so many races after the wash-out on Sunday. Thanks also to the safety boat crews and to the CBC Sailing Secretary Chris Callender for planning the regatta in association with the Wanderer Class Owners Association.
