Sailing: Club Championship climax at Prestwick

Oct 10 2008 by Mike Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

THE final event of the Club Championship series, the Founders, was sailed at Prestwick.

A good turnout of 17 boats arrived to enjoy light breezes with plenty of late season sunshine.

David Sinclair and Alistair McLaughlin in the fast Musto Skiffs were the only ones going quickly enough to get round three laps of the course, and Sinclair built a good lead to win the race, with McLaughlin second and Neil Beveridge in an RS300 third.

Winner of the Founders’ Series over the season was defending champion John Wilson, who had built a sufficient lead in previous races to take the series without having to sail in the last race.

A race in the Late Series was then sailed, and this time Alistair McLaughlin had the better of David Sinclair to win, with Neil Beveridge taking second, and Sinclair third.

Sinclair leads the series so far in the Fast Fleet.

In the Slow Fleet, Norman Day in his GP14 took the race from Colin Baillie in a Magno, with David McCardel third in his Supernova. Day leads the Slow Fleet in the series so far.

This was Race five of the Late Series, and two races were sailed in this series on the previous race day on September 28.

In the Fast fleet, positions were consistent despite the ups and downs of the breeze, with Stuart Glover in a Finn winning both, followed by David Sinclair in a Musto Skiff and Alan Sinclair in an RS600.

There was more variety in the Slow Fleet, with Norman Day in his GP14 winning the first race from Radial sailors Joni Tan and David Clow.

However the Radial sailors had the better of the contest in the second race with Tan winning from Clow, with Day third.

Results: Founders Race 8: 1. David Sinclair, Musto Skiff; 2. Alistair Mclaughlin, Musto Skiff; 3. Neil Beveridge, RS300.

Founders Series overall: 1. John Wilson, RS300; 2. Neil Beveridge, RS300; 3. Stuart Glover, Finn.

Late Series, Race 5 Fast Fleet: 1. Alistair McLaughlin, Musto Skiff; 2. Neil Beveridge, RS300; 3. David Sinclair, Musto Skiff. Slow Fleet: 1. Norman Day, GP14; 2. Colin Baillie, Magno; 3. David McCardel, Supernova.