Scottish Blaze Championships at Port Edgar, Edinburgh

The Scottish Blaze Championships were run over the week-end of 30th and 31st of July at Port Edgar Yacht Club, Edinburgh. We were on the Forth with the bridges producing an amazing backdrop for the event. The atmosphere from the start was more tense than normal and this set the scene for the Championship in what was to be a hotly contested series.

On Saturday the day started dull and overcast with the wind settling in force three from the North East. Competitors were on the water early, some taking the opportunity to do some fine tuning on the water before the racing started. The course covered the width of the River Forth allowing for good reaches and a long run. The sea had short steep waves sometimes confused. Peter Collings got off to a good start and managed to win the first two races by powering up the first beats. But Mervyn Wright and Bill Soudan were never far away. In race three Bill Soudan managed to take break through taking first place and this was the start of a series of results that would result in Bill winning the title. On Sunday the winds were light North Westerly force two but it was sunny and warm. Races four and five were dominated by Bill Soudan taking first place in both. The races were very tactical with no room for error but Bill Soudan did enough to take the Scottish Championship title in his distinctive Black Blaze 721 called “Wicked”.

Further back in the fleet there were also battles going on for third place but Mervyn from Helensburgh managed to hold off Niall MacHugh and Peter Sykes.

At the prizegiving Bill Soudan commented that on Sunday morning as he went onto the water he did not know whether it would be possible to win the Championship with Peter Collings two points ahead after Saturdays racing. However he was absolutely delighted to have found himself standing on the podium with the Trophy and thanked his fellow competitors for taking part in what was top class racing. Bill also thanked Port Edgar Yacht Club for hosting the event on behalf of the Blaze Class Association. More information on the Blaze Class can be found at:
www.blaze-sailing.org.uk

Results: 1st Bill Soudan (721), 2nd Peter Colings (639), 3rd Mervyn Wright (521),
4th Niall MacHugh (661), 5th Peter Sykes (623), 6th Steve Knowles (578),
7th Mathew Downey (641)

Photograph courtesy of Tim Hodges Photography www.timhodges.co.uk shows Bill Soudan in action, sailing Blaze 721
Pic 1

Photo of Blazes 521 Mervyn Wright and 623 Peter Sykes by Kenneth Bellini of PEYC
Pic2