Sailing: Cove club plays host to Loch Long championships

The event was hosted by Cove Sailing Club and supported by a number of generous sponsors, including local businesses and private individuals connected with the class.

The fleet comprised eight local boats, one from Campbeltown and four boats who made the 470 mile trip north from Aldeburgh in Suffolk.

They were competing for the Clyde Cup, a trophy which dates back to the early 1950s, and the fleet contained three former winners of the coveted trophy.

The 10-race series was successfully completed and the race officer team of Kevin Rickerby, John Bray and Eddie Ramsay set a range of great round-the-cans races in fabulous conditions.

The majority of the races were sailed in a south-westerly wind of 10-18 knots and the competitors were treated to a mixture of short and long races, taking in beats over to Levan and Strone, as well as shorter circuits within Loch Long.

This made for good tight racing and five different race winners emerged at the end of the week.

The final race on the last day saw a change of wind direction round to the east which allowed a fantastic race to be sailed in glorious sunshine round into Kilcreggan Bay.

The Clyde Cup was won by the father and son team of Alan and Robbie DeVenny of Cove in Electra (109).

Electra consistently got good starts and went on to record four firsts and three seconds on their scorecard as well as a third and a fourth. This equated to an impressive low score of just 13 points for the regatta once discards were factored in.

It was a year for family sailing, and the runner up was Cove’s Alan Harper, crewed by daughter Rachel, in Capricorn (66) with a race win to their name and all counting results in the top four to record a score of 20 points.

The Harper team just edged out Moonshine (102), helmed by Annie Burden and crewed by Simon Jackson.

Moonshine had been having a great week, scoring three firsts and a second early on to challenge Electra, but a few higher scores towards the end of the week saw them settle for third, just a couple of points behind Capricorn.

Duncan Farquhar, with the help of Andy Glendinning and Fiona Holland as crew, powered Sula (84) to a fine race victory and into fourth place overall.

Rounding out the top five was young helm Zoe Robinson on Sabre (104) with the help of crew Robin Jarvis and Kirsty Robertson.

The top visiting boat was Hussar (110), securing the Traveller’s Trophy and a fine race win, while special mention goes to Jonathan Evans, Leeanda Hoyland and Eric Robertson in Tantrum (139), who received the Vanduara trophy for the most improved boat during the regatta.

Jimmy’s Cup for Endeavour was awarded to Tanith Miller in Thistle (123), who showed great determination around the race course after she lost her skipper to a non-regatta related concussion at the start of the event.

The week was rounded off with a prizegiving and buffet at Cove Sailing Club, and association commodore John McNeilage thanked all those involved in putting on such a successful regatta.

He said: “A real spirit of camaraderie builds up between people who spend a splendid week racing each other all day and attending social events most evenings. The prize-giving at Cove Sailing Club was like one big family party.”

The championships will next year be held on the River Alde, and will be hosted by Aldeburgh Yacht Club.

Report by Leeanne DeVenny; photos by Carol Anne Calder and Atholl Fitzgerald and reproduced with permission.