#isora – After the weekend's cross channel offshore race to Pwllheli, the North Wales J109 yacht Sgrech is in a commanding position for ISORA's Wolf's Head Trophy overall but Dublin Bay's Joker 2 (John Maybury) can still steal the silver by good results in the remaining races that are usually well supported writes ISORA's Peter Ryan. RESULTS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD BELOW AS EXCEL FILE.
The light weather forced the retiral of four boats from the fleet of 12 starters. Some boats retired within sight of the finish line.
The weather forecast for the race was deadly accurate with south westerly 8-10 knots at the start rising to southerly 16-19 knots and falling again in the evening to south easterly 4- 6 knots.
The upwind start crowded many of the boats at the Committee boat end of the line where NYC Vice Commodore, Larry Power, sent the fleet of 12 boats off toward the Muglins. The course for the race was: Start – Muglins (S) – Moulditch Buoy (P) – Finish in Pwllheli. The course allowed boats to pass either side of Bardsey Island and St Tudwal's Island on route to Pwllheli.
Lula Belle got the best clear start from the pin end and raced towards the Muglins while most of the fleet at the other end of the line shadowed each other from the little wind that was there. Lula Belle's early lead soon disappeared as the fleet left Dublin Bay and sailed into a hole in Killiney Bay.
This was not the last hole to be found by the fleet. Killiney Bay caused problems for most of the boats who got trapped with no wind and a strong foul tide. Again, Lula Belle, made a spectacular break from Killiney Bay by sailing deeper into the hole and coming out the other side with a stronger different wind than the remainder of the fleet. Only four boats managed to get away early from Killiney Bay while the rest of the fleet were stranded.
The four boats proceeded towards Moulditch – Lula Belle followed by Sgrech, Joker 2 and Adelie. After Moulditch the leg to Pwllheli was a tight white sail reach. No distance was gained or lost between the four boats as they crossed the Irish Sea. Lula Belle held it lead until the wind dropped as they approach St. Tudwals. Sgrech overtook Lula Belle for the lead heading into Abersoch Bay.
The last section of race to the finish was a light air run. Sgrech managed to pull away from both Lula Belle and Joker 2 to take 1st place Overall and Class 1. Lula Bell held off Joker 2 to take 2nd Overall and 1st in Class 2.
Lancastrian took 1st place in the Silver Fleet to extend his overall lead in this division. For full results see the attached links. The finish in Pwllheli was provided by Gerry Williams, past Commodore of Pwllheli Sailing Club.
The present results puts Sgrech in a commanding position for the Wolf's Trophy overall championship. However, Joker 2 can still steal the silver by good results in the remaining races that are usually well supported.
The next race is the M2 Day Race on the 1st September with a 10.00 start.
The course will be set to ensure that all boats are back in Dun Laoghaire at 19.00 latest.
