LAST weekend, the Piper Class from Holy Loch Sailing Club continued its celebration of 60 years on the water by gathering at the Royal Gourock Yacht Club to contest the Annual Championship event. Saturday provided ideal steady westerly winds and, despite some technical difficulty in the electronic starting equipment, race officer Bill Aitchison provided an excellent variety of three different courses during the day.
All the big guns were in attendance for the event, including past winner Dougie Campbell, with fellow syndicate members Iain Guthrie and Peter Boyd from the host club showing off their latest resurrection, Chanter, to good effect. Resplendent in a unique set of black coloured sails, she won two of the first three races to secure the Manuel Salver, presented to the class by Kirsty Manuel of Ballochyle for the first day’s competition. Runners-up with a first and second place was Holy Loch boat Tom Piper which has enjoyed such a successful season, sailed by Duncan Munro, Stuart Brown and Ali Gordon, while fellow travellers from Sandbank, Tamarind (Andy Love), Billie (Iain Hurrel) and Staypuff (Robert Towart) also excelled.
Sunday dawned calm and dry and, with a premium on the lack of wind strength, a delicate touch on the helm and sails was the order of the day. As so often happens, a good start inspires confidence and following their success on Saturday, Dougie Campbell’s Chanter started the second day well with a second place behind Andy Love’s Tamarind, ably supported by Macy’s Law and Grant Findlay. Indeed, Tamarind performed well throughout the regatta to take third place overall and runner-up on Sunday, while Tom Piper mounted a stirring comeback after a third place in the morning to win the final two races, the last by inches at the finishing line, thus securing a stunning Championship victory.
At the prize-giving reception following the Regatta, class captain Iain Hurrel (who had himself finished in fourth place), thanked all those who had worked so hard to ensure the success and smooth running of the event, principally Bill Aitchison, class secretary Rowena Donaldson and the staff of the Royal Gourock Yacht Club for all their enthusiasm and hard work through the weekend.
Overall Results: 1, – Tom Piper (Duncan Munro, Stuart Brown, Ali Gordon); 2, – Chanter (Dougie Campbell, Iain Guthrie, Peter Boyd); 3, – Tamarind (Andy Love, Macy Law, Grant Findlay); 4, – Billie (Iain Hurrel, Findlay Hurrel, Sam Law, Graeme Murray).
