Setting Lochaber a "Blaze", this was event number two of the 2005 Scottish Blaze Travellers Series hosted by Lochaber Sailing Club, Fort William on the 21/22^nd of May. The weekend was shared with the up and coming hotshots of the Scottish Topper Fleet many of whom competed at Carnac last year in the World Topper Championships.

Lochaber Sailing Club at Fort William is on the shores of Loch Linnhe, which is a sea loch on the West Coast of Scotland. Ben Nevis towers above and dominates the surrounding landscape. An area of much history and beauty you could not help feeling privileged to be able to sail in such a beautiful awe inspiring place. The weather forecast for the weekend was a bit mixed but that’s not unusual for Scotland and we just take what we get! As it turned out despite the odd blustery shower on the Saturday there was the occasional sunny interval and the Sunday passed as being pretty reasonable despite the odd rain shower.

Arriving on the Saturday morning from Nairn outside Inverness I was pleasantly surprised to find another four Blaze getting ready for the water. This included hot shots Peter Collings from the Forth and Mervyn Wright from the Clyde. The weekend was looking good! Angus Forsyth had come from Dalgety Bay and Tony Shepherd is a local at Lochaber. So the scene was set and what a great weekend it turned out to be.

Saturday, race one, Bill Soudan (721) was over the line and had to restart. This allowed Peter (639) and Mervyn (521) to power away. Bill had his work cut out to catch up but could not get close enough before the finish gun. Mervyns’s heavier weight gave him the advantage over Peter in the windy conditions and Mervyn took the race. Race two; the wind had dropped slightly which favoured Peter and Bill. Bill managed to get a clean start and proved hard to beat and finished 1^st. Race three, Peter was up to speed and managed to pull off a 1^st place despite Bill and Mervyn chasing him down the final reach in a hail of spray in the windy conditions. Angus (617) and Tony (678) improved as the day went on and as it turned out the racing was much closer on the Sunday. After the Saturday racing there was an exchange of information on rig settings and techniques and it was worthwhile as Sundays racing was much closer. On the Saturday evening the sailing club lay on a barbecue, which was really good, and the midges stayed away, I think because of the barbecue smoke! Later there was some après sail at the Corpach Hotel.

Sunday, It was sunny but there was no wind. Mervyn got the bacon rolls while we waited for some inspiration and some wind. Right on time for the scheduled start a sea breeze arrived. Race four and Bill managed to find himself over the line again. Peter and Mervyn disappeared into the distance as Bill restarted and ended up chasing Tony and Angus who were starting to find some form with there new rig settings. Eventually Bill managed to pass Angus and then Tony but could not catch Mervyn and Peter. Peter fought of Mervyn to take the 1^st place. Race five everyone got a good start and racing was very close for the first lap. The tide was coming in and advantage was to be gained by staying close to the shore on the up-wind leg. Bill won through to take 1^st. Race six and it was either Peter or Bill that would win on points. It was every thing to play for between the two. Bill managed to get in front of Peter and stayed there until the last leg when the leading boats Bill, Peter and Tony sailed into a hole in the wind and became becalmed. When the wind returned it went through 180 degrees and Peter managed to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the shift. Bill chased Peter to the finish but could not catch him and so had to be content with 2^nd place. Congratulations went to Peter Collings for his 1^st Place overall at Lochaber in what was a hard fought battle.

Scottish Blaze would like to thank Lochaber Yacht Club for their great food, race management and hospitality.

 

The final Overall results were:

1^st, Peter Collings (639), Port Edgar Yacht Club

2^nd Bill Soudan (721), Royal Findhorn Yacht Club

3^rd Mervyn Wright (521), Helensburgh Sailing Club

4^th Tony Shepherd (678) Lochaber Yacht Club

5^th Angus Forsyth (617) Dalgety Bay Sailing Club

For more information on the Blaze Class please see our website at: