Largs SC Round Cumbraes Race
The 2006 Cherub Nationals are to be held in Largo Bay on the 30th August to 1st September. The sailing starts on the Wednesday and as it is going to take a day to travel up there you will probably need to take Tuesday off. Now who wants to go in on Monday when the rest of the week is to be spent cherubing.
The simple option is to take the full week off and come up to Scotland early for some extra practice. Now you could just go up to Largo Bay and stay there for the week but for a small amount of extra driving you could have much more fun.
The Sat 26th of August is the start of Largs Regatta Week with standard around the cans racing on the Saturday starting at about 1 O'clock. This is followed on the Sunday by a race around the island of Cumbraes. The Island is about six miles long so to sail around it is between 13 and 17 miles. The race is open to both Yachts and dinghies with the yachts going around both Big and Little islands, the Dinghy's just do the Big Island and normally start between 10 and 11AM. The course record is held at the moment by an 18 foot skiff that got around so quickly that the race committee were not expecting them. The race is also done in different classes by slower boats like Gp14's and Toppers. So it should be no problem for Cherubs.
To get up to Scotland from anywhere south of Birmingham the best bet is to go up the M6 then the M74 which takes you up towards Glasgow. Even if your destination is on the East coast (Like Largo Bay) this is the best route as the A1 on the east coast is a slow winding nightmare of caravans and single carriageway driving. On the Other hand the M74 is a majestic three lane motorway that sweeps through the boarders with hardly a car in sight.
What this means is that a detour to Largs does not add a huge extra distance or time compared with going straight to Largo Bay. To help there will be full directions on how to get to both Largs and Largo Bay in the Pre-Nationals newsletter.
- More information on entry at Largs SC Website
- Report from Round Cumbraes 2005
- Back to Events
Getting to Largs
Getting to Largs from the south the easiest way is probably to drive to Glasgow and then follow the M8 through the centre of Glasgow. Just after Glasgow Airport leave the motorway following signs for Irvine. The road changes from a dual to a single carriageway and you need to be in the right hand lane following the signs to Irvine. After about 5 miles you will reach a sort of right turn/roundabout signposted for Lochwinnoch Take this road (A760) down the hill and keep on this windy road till you reach Kilbirnie. In Kilbirnie you need to turn right at the first roundabout and then left at the second.
You are still on the A760 and this continues past some reservoirs on the left hand side till you get to Largs. You enter Largs down a steep hill where you reach a set of traffic lights. The main body of the town is to the right but you need to turn left here which will take you out of the south side of the town.
As you leave the 30 limit take time to admire the Lark flowerbed on your right. The Marina is now visible ahead and to your right, so take the next right turn over the railway bridge. The Sailing club is a large building on the front, there are several tarmac and gravel parking areas.
Largs regatta 2006
It was great to see so many cherubs make the detour to Largs on the way to the nationals for what proved to be a challenging weekend sailing. On Saturday there were three races round the cans in Largs channel in some very shifty and varying breeze which probably went from about 5-20knots throughout the afternoon. Primal sailed all three races and was joined by a different cherub in each of the races. Cheese started the first race before realising there main was slowly making its way back down the mast Strawberry raced the second race and Aqua the third.
Cherub Scottish Championships
Sunday was the distance race round the island eight cherubs started the race with Dave and Lara probably making the wise decision to stay on the shore. Before the start Stu Hopson and Tim Noyce on Sweet dreams managed to make their mark on the million pound super motor yacht, rumoured to belong to a Russian Billionaire football chairman, anchored near the start line. Initially the breeze failed to settle and was up and down but once we turned the corner the wind got up and the waves appeared which made heading to windward hard work. The first casualty in the fleet was Sweet dreams who were forced to retire when there forestay failed and there rig fell down. The next boat to retire was Cheese before bed time due to the lack of jib cleats on the boat the crews arms were starting to tire and would potentially not have survived the race they therefore made the wise decision to head for home. Finally Aqua was forced to retire and now has a nice Tom shaped hole in the jib.
The remaining five cherubs battled on and thought it might get easier when they rounded the first mark, after a few capsizes from all the boats Atum bom were first round followed by Primal scream, Squid pro quo, Lost in space and Dangerous strawberry. At the mark both Atum and Primal found it impossible to bear away when Atum tried their rudder broke but they managed to fix this quickly and get back sailing and when primal tried they got blown over by the wind therefore both boats were forced to go the long way round further out into the channel for an interesting and tough sail through the waves before it was safe to bear away and head down wind and eventually get there kites up. The other boats with the 97 rules sails managed the bear away and gained the advantage by being able to hug the shore By the time everyone reached the bottom mark the squid had done incredibly well and caught up with Atum while Primal had lost a lot after a couple of capsizes on the last leg.
It was soon time for the gybe at the bottom of the island Atum turned first and hit the water a move which was mirrored by the squid. Everyone was now on the way to the finish line and the wind had dropped considerably in the Largs channel Atum took off to the finish and first place, Primal was closing in on the squid until they got into the lee of a large yacht and went for a quick swim and the squid got a well deserved second place followed by Primal in third. A short while after Lost in space completed there epic journey, congratulations to Tim and his crew who has never crewed a cherub before for completing such a gruelling race. The final boat to make it round the island after a gallant effort was Strawberry who had had a tough time round the back of the island, with many capsizes and a large part of the Clyde in their boat, so well done Stu and Oliver and everyone else who completed the course.
- Results:
- Atum Bom; Will and Lucy lee
- Squid Pro Quo; John Hacket and Robert Kennaugh
- Primal Scream; Phil Alderson and Carol Low
- Lost in Space; Tim Unerman and Joe Siman
- Dangerous Strawberry; Stu Tinner and Oliver Hobson
- Aquamarina; Andy Lang and Tom Gruitt Rtd
- Sweet Dreams; Stu Hopson and Tim Noyce Rtd
- Cheese Before Bed Time; Ben Howett and Calum Reid Rtd
For photos see http://www.pfmpictures.co.uk/ for contact details and email Marc Turner for availibility