The 1929 Racing Season, Part 2

On Saturday 29 June Clyde Fortnight started.

The Glasgow Herald reports that all five Islanders have turned out. At the end the paper reports that the Islanders have produced very close finishes. The final positions are:-

Starts       1st    2nd    3rd    Total

Sanda        9    5    3    0       8

Cara          9    2    1    3       6

Westra      9    1    3    3       7

Stroma      9    1    2    0       3

Bernera is not mentioned in the report, but by a process of arithmetic she must have achieved a total of three third places, as these totals add up to 24 rather than 27 and all the other prizes are accounted for.

Saturday 13 July

Royal Western Yacht Club

Four of the yachts took part in the handicap race from Hunters Quay to Tighnabruaich. The results haven't been reported. Sunday was a lay day and on Monday 15 July there was the Tighnabruaich Regatta with a race over 8 miles in sunny, calm, fluky conditions. The results were:-

Stroma        6 hrs 1 min 3 secs

Westra        6 hrs 1 min 38 secs

Sanda         6 hrs 10 mins 11 secs

Cara gave up

Saturday 20 July

Holy Loch Sailing Club

Good racing took place in a fine sailing breeze. The results were:-

Cara         2 hrs 59 mins 17 secs

Stroma     2 hrs 59 mins 45 secs

Bernera    3 hrs 0 mins 50 secs

Westra     3 hrs 3 mins 59 secs

Sanda      3 hrs 5 mins 38 secs

Saturday 27 July

Gareloch Yacht Club

"The Islanders have already a well established reputation for close finishes....Cara had a long lead that looked like a runaway victory...but was caught by Sanda and Stroma." The results were:-

Sanda      4 hrs 7 mins 8 secs

Stroma    4 hrs 7 mins 44 secs

Cara        4 hrs 8 mins 33 secs

Bernera   4 hrs 21 mins 30 secs

Saturday 3 August

Clyde Corinthian Yacht Club, Hunters Quay.

There was a storm and racing postponed. On Monday 5th there were light winds and a nice bright day. The results were:-

Bernera       3 hrs 34 mins 30 secs

Westra        3 hrs 35 mins 20 secs

Cara           3 hrs 36 mins 7 secs

Sanda         3 hrs 36 mins 37 secs

Stroma       3 hrs 40 mins 43 secs

Saturday 10 August

Largs Regatta

There was a South westerly wind, a good breeze. The course was from Largs to the Gemlyn Bank, to Fairlie, back to Largs, back to the Gemlyn Bank and back to the finish at Largs.

"Westra won by 3 minutes 1 second, an unusually large margin..."

The results were:-

Westra      1 hr 59 mins 9 secs

Stroma      2 hrs 2 mins 10 secs

Sanda       2 hrs 3 mins 46 secs

Cara         2 hrs 4 mins 58 secs

Bernera    2 hrs 5 mins 29 secs

Bernera had been over the line at the start and was recalled, so if we assume that it cost her a minute the five boats had sailed about thirteen sea miles within six minutes of each other.

My next post will cover the remainder of the season.