Photo by Angela Jenkinson

It’s been a great start to the sailing season in Pwllheli over the last two weekends, and the camaraderie and banter has picked up again in full spirit from where it left off at the end of the season. 

Photo by Angela Jenkinson

This season started with a tuning weekend on the 2nd and 3rd April followed by the start of the Pwllheli Spring series last weekend, coinciding with the arrival of competitors for the Youth Nationals. With temperatures plummeting over the last two weeks, there was a return of snow on the top of Snowdon and that put off a few crews from racing just yet. But for those that came out to play there was fun to be had both on and off the water.

Photo by Angela Jenkinson

The first day of the tuning weekend was focussed on upwind trim and making sure that sails and running rigging were all in order. On the Sunday there were two informal races which Peter Dunlop & Victoria Cox’s J109 - ‘Mojito’ won and Paul&Sam Kitteringham’s Elan 350 - ‘Finally’ came second. 

Photo by Angela Jenkinson

On the first day of the Spring series, Mojito and Finally were greeted by a chilly hail shower as they left the channel. But once it past, the sun came out for a bright day on the water amongst the many youth sailors and kite surfers in the bay. The sparkling waters gave an ideal backdrop for spectator and keen photographer, Angela Jenkinson, who managed to get some impressive pictures. 

Photo by Angela Jenkinson

With wind from the Northwest between 7-13kts and a number of rusty mistakes, the day ended with one win each and crews retired to Plas Heli to discuss the racing. Sunday, a slightly warmer day, brought a promising 14kts from the south east. However both boats struggled to get target speeds in the choppy seas left in the bay, while the breeze swiftly dropped away to just 4 or 5kts.

Photo by Angela Jenkinson 

The current standings in the series see Mojito leading with 5 points and Finally currently in second place with 7. 

With four weekends to the series and one weekend to discard, there is still plenty of time for boats to compete. The series continues with weekend 2 on the 23rd and 24th April, incorporating the first of this years ISORA Welsh coastal race on the Saturday.

More dates, times can be found in the club racing calendar.

Don't forget to download the list of Racing Marks and Course Cards  found at the bottom of this section.