Record entry for Prestwick Sailing Club’s youth regatta

Sep 23 2011 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

PRESTWICK Sailing Club hosted a youth regatta with a record entry of 97 boats from as far afield as Findhorn on the Moray coast, Aberdeen and Arran.

Several of the sailors were only 10-years-old and some were racing for the first time. The event also incorporated an adult laser event as part of the Scottish Laser Traveller series.

Saturday brought a challenging squally wind, which produced some exciting sailing. On Sunday morning, it was beginning to look like there may be no wind but by the time racing started a healthy breeze had turned into a perfect sailing day.

Local successes included Chris Kilgour and Struan Donaldson who were second in the Feva class and Murray Macdonald who was10th overall in the Laser Radial class.

Prestwick sailors in the Topper main fleet were Mara Lyons and Fraser Cameron. In the Topper Regatta fleet, Brooke Gibson was third and Fiona Vallente fifth. In the Optimist fleet, Cameron Auld, Cameron McIntyre and Thomas Beard all sailed well despite the challenging conditions on the Saturday.

It was Thomas and Fiona’s first experience of racing, having only completed a training course at Prestwick this summer.