Many events have been organised this season to celebrate the 50th birthday of Oliver Lee’s National Squib two-man keelboat. One of those events was the open Welsh Championship raced at South Caernarfonshire Yacht Club, over the weekend of 15th to 18th June. (Which is the traditional date for the National Squib Championships).
"In the first of three energy-sapping races, there was a tight start line with a favourable tide followed by a one mile beat as part of a triangular course in 20 knots of wind"
Boats were launched at Pwllheli on Friday in preparation for the first championship race on Saturday. At 10.00 Saturday, the wind and sea conditions were such that racing was postponed for two hours, which gave the competitors an opportunity to update their knowledge of the Racing Rules of Sailing, with a session on the floor of the clubhouse led by David Battye - in each case, the boat under David’s right foot was the boat who did not have an obligation to keep clear.
Back to the racing; In the first of three energy-sapping races, there was a tight start line with a favourable tide followed by a one mile beat as part of a triangular course in 20 knots of wind. The weather was overcast with some hazy sun. Peter Wallace in Toy for the Boys took 5th. place, Colm Dunne in Fifty Shades 15th with Michael Kearney in Jumini one place behind. Vincent Delany in Periquin suffered a broken rudder before the start.
The barbecue planned for Saturday evening was cancelled due to high wind.
There were three further races on Sunday, with the wind increasing to 27 kts.
The final Irish placings:
Toy for the Boys, individual races: 5, 6, 6, 5, 11, 10 and 8th overall
Periquin, individual races: 22, 13, 13, 11, 15, 14 and 13th overall
Fifty Shades, individual races: 15, 16, 22, 22, 10, 13 and 15th overall
Jumini, individual races: 16, 17, 14, 17, 16, 15 and 16th overall
There is no doubt that the conditions with limited visibility and irregular one meter high waves and strong winds were challenging for the lighter crews. The local boats are probably more used to these conditions. Ric O Shea, the winner is the only one of the top boats using Batt Sails, while second to sixth places used Hyde Sails. The local boats from Abersoch have incorporated the electric pumps permitted under the rules to keep their boats dry, which was undoubtedly was a major advantage compared with the boats with 30kg of bilge water slopping around.
At the prizegiving dinner, Brian Holland thanked the four Irish boats and the Yorkshire visitors for travelling so far. For full results see below:
