MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Championship at Buchanness Radio Yacht Club

MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Championship at Peterhead Forehill Reservoir (Buchanness MYC) © Bill Odger

The 2023 MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Championship took place at Peterhead Forehill Reservoir on Saturday 10th June 2023 hosted by Buchanness MYC. This is the 'Jewel in the Crown' of Scottish events as all boats are homebuilt to a very high level of craftsmanship. Owners and designers of these beautiful and highly competitive boats take great pride in them.

At 09.45 hrs Brian Crawford (ARO) welcomed the 11 skippers some of whom had travelled a considerable distance to the event in Peterhead. Six Scottish clubs were represented in the competition: Aberdeen, Greenock, Tayside, Levenhall, Paisley and Buchanness. In addition, Roger Errington from Killingworth MYC (North Tyneside), who had enjoyed taking part in the "Woodies" so much last year, came back to Scotland this year. Everyone was greeted with sunshine and a fresh SSE wind - perfect conditions for racing.

MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Championship at Peterhead Forehill Reservoir (Buchanness MYC) - photo © Bill Odger

Following the Skippers' briefing by Ali Law (PRO), racing started at 10.00 hrs. A windward-leeward course was set with a starboard rounding of the windward and spreader marks located at the south end of the reservoir and a gate at the northern end. After some experiments all skippers decided to use their No1 rigs.

In the morning the wind was mostly mid-top No1 rig. The first four race wins were equally shared between Richard Rowan (Alternative) and Ian Dundas (Corbie 6). In the next four races, both Ian Dundas and Steve Taylor (Corbie 5) shared the wins with a pair each. During these eight races, Brian Summers (Buzz 3) was consistently scoring 2nd and 3rd places except for two races where he retired with minor gear failures and John Owens (Corbie 1) had three 3rd places.

It soon became evident that the choice of which gate mark to round greatly influenced upwind success. By lunchtime, Ian Dundas had settled into the lead despite still recovering from a nasty bout of Covid.

MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Championship at Peterhead Forehill Reservoir (Buchanness MYC) - photo © Bill Odger

However, in the afternoon the wind slightly shifted requiring a minor course adjustment and increased to a more consistent top of No1 rig. This was significant as the gusts often pressed the boats hard downwind. Consequently, boats sometimes suffered pitch-poling on the downwind leg which increased the drama! As a consequence, two boats decided to change down to the No2 rig.

During the afternoon session when eight races were sailed, Ian Dundas scored five top three positions and Brian Summers scored four 2nd places. However, Steve Taylor scored six wins and eased into the lead. Richard Rowan was still delivering some useful results as were Richard Ennos (Rhyme) and Roger Errington (SR5c). Well done to Alan McKechnie (Corbie 1), David Smith (Corbie 4) and Bill Reid (Corbie 5) for their stalwart participation which will increase their experience with the top sailors.

MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Championship at Peterhead Forehill Reservoir (Buchanness MYC) - photo © Bill Odger

Throughout the day, the race team maintained a steady pace of races and breaks culminating in a total of 16 races being completed. Under the testing wind conditions, gear failures were incurred by several boats - some of which could be discarded, others not. Special mention should be made of boatman Bill Odger who was extremely helpful to skippers trying to repair boats and also retrieving boats that went walkabout.

The overall event winner was Steve Taylor, second was Ian Dundas and third was Brian Summers. At the prize-giving Steve Taylor was presented with the Quaich as the 2023 MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Champion. He thanked the race team for the extremely well-run event and fellow competitors for their sportsmanship and good humour which made for a truly competitive but highly enjoyable event.

An additional prize for the furthest travelled participant was presented to Pam Errington who had accompanied Roger to the event from the North of England.

MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Championship at Peterhead Forehill Reservoir (Buchanness MYC) - photo © Bill Odger

Overall Results:

MYA Scottish District Wooden Hull IOM Championship at Peterhead Forehill Reservoir (Buchanness MYC) - photo © Bill Odger