Monthly Archives: September 2021

Endurance race 2021

Forfar Sailing Club – Sunday 5 September

After last week’s successful cadet ‘fun’ regatta with many of the children participating and filling the loch with screams of laughter, last Sunday the Sailing club held their annual endurance race.
The race has not been held for the last year due to Covid and this year was also restricted compared to previous years. This year’s race, as previous, was sailed in groups taking part. There were 3 types of boats on the water, a Wanderer, a Solo and a Laser. The Wanderer was sailed by a team of three, swapping one in and out of the 2-man boat, as was the Laser team although this boat is sailed solo. The Solo was manned by a team of 2.

The wind was not more than a breeze at the start, coming from the West. The course was set to go to the end of the Loch (E, D) over the island to the other side and back down towards town. There, about halfway after the clubhouse spot, the third mark was to be rounded (Z). From here it was back and do the same again. The start was at 13:30, for a 3-hour race. The Wanderer had a great start, followed by the Laser, with the Solo on the opposite side of the water. The Wanderer was the first to round the top mark, flying to the other side and back down before the Laser made it past the mark, later followed by the Solo.

With the wind changing from a decent breeze to hardly any at all, on different places on the Loch, this meant that the Laser and Solo managed to make up time and starting to get closer to the Wanderer. (Due to the handicap system, the Wanderer could ‘lose’ up to almost 6 minutes before they were overtaken by the Laser and Solo. Again, the Solo needs to be almost a minute in front of the Laser to win.)

With the first swap over, the Laser looked to have trouble getting back up to speed, the Solo and Wanderer were all getting closer. The Solo managed to pass the Laser and closed the gap on the Wanderer who was swapping position on the down leg. A quick swap for the Solo team and back in pursuit.

During the next hour, the Solo managed to maintain his first position on the water, not sure what the handicap would give them, and pass the Wanderer. The Laser was also able to overtake the Wanderer but could not make back enough time to get close to the Solo.

After almost 3 hours of sailing the Solo managed to get over the finish line, followed by the Laser and Wanderer. After the calculations where the handicaps were applied this year winners were known. Not much of a surprise, as it was clear from the difference in finishing times, the Solo team are the 2021 winners of the Endurance race.

Team members:
Wanderer: Bill, Conor and Kirsty
Laser: Helen, Jamie and Becci
Solo: Dave and Erwin

Erwin and David holding the trophy (a board with a barometer surrounded with a boat steering wheel 'helm')
David and Erwin after the race as the new endurance race winners.