Local boys, Craig Forrest and David Wiseman dominated the Malakoff Scottish National Mirror Championships which was held at Lerwick 6-7 August 2011 in conjunction with Lerwick Regatta, winning every race convincingly.
The Championships were to be run over two days with three races each day, but with the forecast predicting very strong winds for Sunday, it was decided to run four races on Saturday, two in the morning, break for lunch then back out for a further two in the afternoon.
Pictures from day 1 of the 2011 Scottish Championships - click to expand
The first two races on Saturday morning were sailed in 18 – 22kts of South Westerly wind, which in Lerwick Harbour are very shifty. In the first race, and each subsequent race, Craig and David 70419 lead from the start, but through the rest of the fleet, places were changing throughout the race with Mike & Caroline Heath from Helensburgh 766 finishing second and Saul Swanson & Fraser McKenzie Lerwick 70417 third. Race two was somewhat disappointing as places never changed from start to finish, but the finishing order had changed with Kirsten & Graeme Napier Lerwick/Kirkwall 70404 in second place and Richard & Joe Fraser Lerwick 69528 in third.
After a well earned break and some lunch in the club it was back on the water to sail races three and four, the wind had lightened to 12 – 16kts from the same direction. At the start of race three, Richard & Joe were over the line and had to re-take the start and later capsized. Again places in this race chopped and changed throughout the race with second this time going to 70417 and third 70404. In race four as in race three, minor places changed throughout the race with second this time going to 70404 and third was 69528.
Pictures from day 2 of the 2011 Scottish Championships - click to expand
Racing on Sunday morning started at 1030 with the wind now NNE 12 – 16kts, again Craig & David dominated the racing with another two firsts. Race five saw minor places change throughout the race with 766 finishing second and 70417 third. The sixth and last race proved to be a little disappointing again as places never changed throughout the race and the result was the same as the previous race with 1st 70419, 2nd 766 and 3rd 70417.
Pictures from the prizegiving of the 2011 Scottish Championships - click to expand
Overall this meant that Scottish National Mirror Champions 2011 were Craig Forrest & David Wiseman,
Masters Champion; Mike Heath
Youth Champion; Kirsten Napier
Junior Champion; Saul Swanson
Best Junior from host club: Saul Swanson
Team Trophy, 3 Boats from same club; Lerwick: 70419, 70417 & 69528
Single Handed Trophy; No entries
Prizes were also presented for:
Oldest Competitor; Mike Heath
Youngest Competitor; Joe Fraser
1st Female Helm; Kirsten Napier
Lowest placed boat to finish all races: 70417
Shetland Sailing Centre would like to thank Lerwick Boating Club for hosting the event, the ladies who provided the catering, Malakoff Ltd for being the main sponsor of the event and John Henderson of Ocean Kinetics Ltd.
As the Lerwick Regatta mirror races were being run in conjunction with the Championship’s Craig & David won the Cadet & Mirror Cup, the Bournelea Shield and the Alistair Jackson Memorial Cup. Kirsten won the Female Skipper Trophy and Saul won the Geordie Leith Memorial Trophy.
Report by Bruce Leask.
