The Richard Mille Fife Regatta bid au revoir to fantastic host port Rothesay. With the “parade of sail” up the east Kyle, through the stunning Burnt Island narrows, the fleet mustered by Kames village for a 1230 start of “The Loch Fyne Race”.
In a light westerly wind, Class 1, under full sail, navigated the west Kyle of Bute searching for the best wind on this narrow high sided stretch of water. ‘Mariella’ and ‘The Lady Anne’ both started strongly. The winds headed the fleet in Inchmarnock Sound. A match race ensued – ‘Mariquita’ leading ‘Moonbeam IV’, covering her every tack. So focused were they on each other, ‘The Lady Anne’ could sail freely, tacked early to hug the south edge of Inchmarnock Island, and snuck round the two leaders with grace. She held her lead to the shortened finish line, awarding her the race win on corrected time. ‘Mariella’ still leads overall, previously unbeaten, having to accept third place today.
Class 2 fought hard for the perfect committee boat start. ‘The Truant’ and ‘Viola’ pushed hard, but ‘Sonata’, pushing hardest, was deemed over the line early, thus suffering a time penalty. The race progressed, and it was ‘Falcon’ who took the lead into Inchmarnock Sound. She held on to finish first on the water and on corrected time, on a shortened course. ‘Viola’ and ‘Sonata’ finished closely behind. ‘Falcon’ now leads on six points, with ‘Mikado’ on seven, ‘Sonata’ on eight.
In Class 3, the light beat down the west Kyle favoured the bermudan rigged boats, with ‘Lotus’ just piping ‘Intombi’ at the line after a close fought battle, with ‘St Patrick’ creeping up the mainland shore to claim third. ‘Ayrshire Lass’ put her big topsail to good use to finish first among the gaff rigged racers. ‘Lotus’ remains unbeaten in Class 3.
Link to “Battle of the gaffers” Results
Link to “Battle of the bermudan rigs” Results
