Evening Cruiser Race

Published 10:29 on 30 Aug 2025

Three boats took part in the fifth evening keelboat race on Friday 29 August.

There was a bit of confusion over the start time by someone who read the time wrong! (No need to mention the committee member's name here.) But all was ok in the end.

The wind was mostly westerly varying around F3 and the skippers agreed on a course of D M C Z Y.

All three boats hoisted full sail before the start, but a squall coming over during the start sequence convinced Alastair Johnson, who was singlehanded in Pegasus II, to put in a reef. At the start Seeaway and Exile got ahead as the squall passed, so Alastair shook out the reef. Paul Steen and Andy Walker had a bit of a luffing match on the way to D as Pegasus II was close behind.

The order at D was Exisle, Seeaway and Pegasus II in third.

The leg to M was now a dead run and the wind increased slightly, so all 3 men goose-winged their sails. Seeaway had to gybe to make M. Andy rounded first, followed by Paul and Alastair.

All three hardened up onto port tack, but it was Paul who tacked first. It was a great beat, with a low sun in the west hampering visibility a little and it was difficult to locate C exactly. All the boats overstood a little, knowing how gusty and shifty it could be as they neared the south shore of the Forth.

As the fleet approached C, Alastair had moved up into second place. But Paul was close behind, and was ready to pounce if there was an opportunity.

The three boats sailed past Z and Y as they headed to the finish, and all of them were hit by large gusts during these legs.

At the finish Exisle crossed first, with Pegasus II next and Seeaway very close behind.