WoW! Record turnout for Women's Race at Cramond!
Published 01:14 on 11 Sep 2026
This year saw a record number of 7 dinghies crewed by 9 women and girls participate in Cramond Boat Club's annual Women's Race Day, doubtless largely thanks to the recent introduction to racing afternoon run as part of our new Women on the Water programme. Remarkable too was having all-female crews even in the double-handers, although happily the menfolk did man the safety boats for us!
An exciting afternoon's racing was enjoyed by all, especially as for once we were blessed by a steady F2 wind, with the sun even deigning to put in an appearance. Primed by our race coaching afternoon (see www.cramondboatclub.org.uk/article/wow-cbc-women-venture-forth-for-fourth-time), hotly contested start lines saw a lot of jostling for position, followed by some closely fought tussles during the three shortish races set by Race Officer Campbell Calder around triangular and windward/leeward courses.
Capitalizing on her storming start, line honours in the first race went to Bronagh Gillespie in the Laser ILCA7 Rasle ahead of Kay McBurney and Kasia Jakubiak in the GP14 Mythril Simmit, closely followed by Leonie Griffin and Yvonne Carr in Wanderer Jennifer. Meanwhile Michaelyn Thomas-Coxon in the other ILCA7 was only marginally out of contention. Although only one minute separated the first three boats on corrected time, Bronagh led by a clear enough margin to hold on to first place. Engaged in their own separate battle of the Picos at the rear of the fleet, gutsy youngsters Tünde and Cerys were up against old hand Annmarie MacRury. This cluster similarly chalked up corrected times separated by less than 2 minutes.
While Bronagh again managed to claim line honours in the second race, applying corrected times saw a reshuffling of race 1 results with Rasle and Jennifer swapping positions. Leonie and Yvonne now rose to first place, while the Mythril Simmit crew pocketed another second and Rasle came third.
With everything still to play for, the start line for the third and final race was even more congested. Following a poor start in the wind shadow of Jennifer, the GP14 was subsequently unable to make up for lost ground. The windward/leeward course also seemed to favour the Wanderer so Leonie managed to stay ahead of Bronagh and the rest of the pack, succeeding in both crossing the line first and winning on corrected time. Meanwhile teenager Tünde, who had been steadily climbing up the rankings in each race, scored an impressive third place.
A solid performance notching up two firsts and a third across the three races handed overall victory once again to reigning champion Leonie and her crew Yvonne. The detailed results can all be found here.
The WoWsers' collective thanks are extended to RO Campbell as well as to Lawrie and Francis in the safety boat for ensuring the afternoon ran like the proverbial clockwork. Many thanks also go to the Smits on the BBQ shore party who served up delicious burgers on the terrace afterwards.
