Levenhall Radio Yacht Club, Musselburgh, East Lothian
The racing secretary Terry Connell was at the pond very early to clear weed from
the course to ensure the smooth second running of the Dewar Trophy event for 2011.
This was the first serious competition that could be held following the partial cutting
of the weed by Lothian Council. Unfortunately they had only paid for a single day
of the boatman’s time, which was enough to clear about a quarter of the pond area.
Nonetheless with careful shaving of some tiresome banks of weed using the
dinghy’s
propeller, which relied on the skilful manoeuvring expected of a former Trinity House
pilot, a creditably long course could be set with a clear start line, a good beat
to windward and a long run to the leeward mark. The wind was in the west, fluctuating
in strength but never above a first suit, with quite a few shifts throughout the
ten race event. Seven skippers assembled at the start line under the watchful eye
of Race Officer Richard Ennos who was intent on seeing fair play. Fritz Olsen with
his red Kite took line honours in the first race with John Dewar (Lintel) second
and Nick Cowern, sailing a new Widget painted a fetching yellow, in third. From then
on it became difficult to discern any clear pattern to the racing with race wins
being shared between Tom Milne(Lintel) (1), John Wyllie(Lintel)(2), Terry Connell(Lintel)(1),
Sandy Mackay(Kite)(2) and Nick Cowern(3). In the end it was the consistency of Terry
Connell with a string of second and third places that won out. There was a tie between
Nick Cowern and John Wylie for second place that was resolved in Nick’s favour on
countback. It was a real relief once more to be able to race at Levenhall after the
ravages of the weed this summer. The weather was kind, the sun shone, and a competitive
time was had by all. It was apparent that in the fallow period before the event,
knowledge of the racing rules had grown dim in the minds of skippers, but we hope
that with more practice this may return. Full results after ten races with one discard
are shown in the following table :
Dewar Handicap No. 2 Trophy 2011
Full Results