The Racing season in Pwllheli concluded with great racing on 9th and 10th November.

Sgrech is the 2013 Pwllheli Challenge winner and Wil 2 Win takes Class 3. The overall and race results are available here

Another great weekend of sailing at the Club with all but Honey Bee and Serendipity out on the water. The weather was fine and fairly warm for the time of year and it was noticeable that there wasn’t any snow on the hill tops as there was at the end of last year. Still, a Westerly to North Westerly 18-21kts did bring a slight chill with it. However that wasn’t to stop the fleet challenging the leaders Sgrech and Mojito at the top of the series table.

Mojito knew that they would have to win all four of the races in the final weekend but Sgrech were sitting relatively comfortably knowing that they had a 6 pointer to discard. But with winds in the force 5 range Predator were likely to have a good day and as a result regain top spot in the table. This was not the case though, as Jeepster had a fantastic race, getting a 1^st in the first race closely followed by Sgrech, Molissa, Jetstream and Mojito. Just  2 minutes split the first 5 boats.

The second race saw three boats over the start line allowing Mojito to get a good start, however forestay problems meant that they were slow in changing between jib and spinnaker and they never seemed to be able to find the speeds of previous weekends. This allowed a number of boats to take over the lead and again Jeepster got a good result of 2^nd place behind Sgrech. Jetstream go t 3^rd place. After discussing the results over a few beers in the sailing club bar the crews went on for dinner at the Barn and a great night was had.

Sunday was a completely different day with bright skies and very little wind which was somewhat welcomed by those with sore heads from the night before. The forecast was again for Westerly, however a slight sea breeze was building from the south to south east and creating some interesting wind patches and holes. The whole fleet were experiencing huge wind shifts finding in some cases that tacking and bearing away only resulted in having to trim the sails for up wind again. The race officer too was having problems determining a wind direction and struggling to set an acceptable course. In the end Predator suggested a course and the rest of the fleet were happy to start racing. The fleet started the race in a decent 5kts next to Gimlet rock but after rounding the first mark and heading further out they found many wind holes reading just 0.6kts.  Sgrech and Jeepster headed west, whilst Predator and Molissa headed east to try and find wind.  Poppy and Mojito took a more direct route and seemed to be gaining on Sgrech and Jeepster who were the first to reach the 2^nd mark. But Molissa had found wind and came storming in from the east. The three boats round the mark with spinnakers up were away, while Poppy and Mojito were making slow progress to the 2^nd mark and being rapidly approached by Jetstream. Eventually they rounded but Jeepster, Sgrech and Molissa were well ahead. The course was shortened on the next mark and Jeepster gained another 1^st, Sgrech 2^nd and Molissa 3^rd.

At the start of the second race Mojito were looking for a position as far to windward as possible so that they could use their code zero but found Predator bearing down also trying to get a windward start. Mojito luffed to protect their wind forcing Predator out of the end of the starting line and putting them at the back of the fleet. However this cost Mojito their speed over the line with Wil to Win speeding past, while Jeepster and Sgrech were well in the lead. The wind had seemed to be building for the second race but again further out and wind holes were experienced. This didn’t seem to stop Jeepster who had another great race coming in 2^nd to Sgrech. Wil 2 Win split these and the other two J109s taking 3^rd place. This firmly put Sgrech at the top of the table while Mojito were lucky to hold on to 2^nd place with Jeepster finishing just two points behind in 3^rd place overall.

Everyone agreed that it had been an exciting series. The challenges of both full on and very little winds coupled with the variety of round the cans racing resulting in the use of the whole sail wardrobe through the series. The sail makers are bound to busy over the winter months!

Although this was the last venture out before winter for many boats, if you fancy some more racing this year, feel free to contact the club, as there is bound to be someone interested in an impromptu race or two round the St. Tudwall islands and back.