It was worth the wait and the weather. After two days of rain, someone finally pressed the switch marked ‘wind and sunshine’ to return Tarbert and Loch Fyne to its picture postcard best and offer up two, or in some cases three, great races yesterday at the Bell Lawrie Scottish Series.

With a north-westerly breeze of between 11 and 18 knots which stayed settled in direction this was an opportunity seized with all hands by the crew of Sidney, the Bavaria Match 42. They sailed themselves back into contention for their third overall Scottish Series Trophy win as they posted three wins in the highly competitive IRC Class 2.

A recalled start for Class 2 meant the Black Flag was enforced by the race officer immediately on the second start and one key transgressor was Peter Rutter and the crew on the Elan 37 Quokka. Quokka are three points behind Sidney after the three races.

With steady breezes the race officer took the chance to re-sail Friday’s second race which was lost to an expired time limit and some confusion over the intermediate lap timings. The third race was just one short circuit of a windward-leeward course, not enough for some: ” I think the race officer must have had a table booked for dinner but it was a good race.” Quipped one Class 2 tactician.

In IRC Class 1 it is the visiting boats which are prevailing. The new Mark Mills 40 footer Tiamat is getting quicker as the regatta progresses as the crew sort out the manoeuvres and the speed controls. They scored two first places and a second to lead by just one point from Glyn Williams’ Hamble-based Farr 45 Wolf which managed a 2,2,3 for the day. “It was a much better day’s racing, just right for the Farr 45. Flat water and 12-18 knots of breeze. We are out not looking to win every race, just stay up there and not make any mistakes. Our guys are pretty slick and we did OK today.” Said Williams who has sailmaker Jeremy Robinson calling the tactics and Pete Selby navigating. “If we had this kind of weather on Friday at the start of the regatta we could be better. Today we just managed to knock a few rough edges off the crew work and it was much better. There is no doubt this boat is quick, especially upwind where we have good height.” Commented Tiamat’s tactician Mike Richards.

In IRC Class it is past Scottish Series winner Howard Morrison who leads on the Sigma 38 Enigma. Their first and second for the day means they have built a five points margin over David Clark’s First 33.7.

The Swan 45 class of four boats enjoyed close racing with the green Murka, owned by Russian Mikail Mouratov, keeping the upper hand with two wins ahead of Fever which was second in the first race, and Crackerjack which was second in the second race. “The guys on Murka did a great job today and were just a little bit quicker. We kept looking for the left hand shift that was promised and it never came and it never came until the last beat of the second race when Crackerjack got it and pipped us for second place.” Commented Fever’s tactician Ruaraidh Scott. Crackerjack missed out on the first race of the day after they lost their bowman to a head laceration that required stitching. In IRC Class 4 John Biggs’ Checkmate leads overall after another two wins on the Beneteau First 311.

Results Sunday

Swan 45 Class: 1 Fever (Gordon/Diedrichs) 12 points, 2 Murka 2 (M Mouratov) 13, 3 Crackerjack (K Miller) 16

IRC Class 1: 1 Tiamat (T Costello) 10, 2 Wolf (G Williams) 11, 3 Playing FTSE (J Anderson) 15

IRC Class 2: 1 Sidney (L Stevens) 13, 2 Quokka (P Rutter) 16, 3 Jeronimo (Sinclair/Lowe) 21

IRC Class 3: 1 Enigma (H Morrison) 12, 2 Eauvation 4 ( D Clark) 12, 3 Movistar-Bleu (R Killops) 15

IRC Class 4: 1 Checkmate (J Biggs) 7, 2 RoBo (J Blair) 13, 3 Significant (I Macdonald) 18

CYCA Class 6: 1 Tangle O’the Isles (J Gough) 8, 2 Zara of Doon (Lyall/Wilson) 14, 3 Pure Magic (D Balmforth) 15

CYCA Class 7: 1 Mosika Alma (M Goodwin) 6, 2 Kudos (D Syme) 12, 3 Mellow Moment (A Rodger) 17

CYCA Class 8: 1 Oyster of Ashton (G Deacon) 14, 2 Upstart (E Thomas) 15, 3 Pointer (B Robertson) 16

CYCA Restricted sail Class: 1 Tem Purr (D&E Lindsay) 7, 2 Prince of Tides (J Marrow) 8, 3 Pippa (F Gray) 11

CYCA Restricted Class 10: 1 Skibbereen (Pilkington/Anderson) 6, 2 Zubenubi (B Waugh) 9, 3 Juniper Groove (T Anderson) 13

Sigma 33 Class: 1 Carmen (P Scutt) 9, 2 St Joan (I Nicolson) 10, 3 Squawk (C Porteous) 17

1720 Sportsboat: 1 Antix (A O’Leary) 9, 2 King Quick (G Scott) 12

National Sonata: 1 So (McLure/Stewart) 7, 2 Pied Piper (A Harper) 10, 3 Scruples (C Tait) 20

1720 Sportsboat Class: 1 Antix (A O’Leary) 9, 2 King Quick (G Scott) 12, 3 Goacher Sails (Goacher/Tunnicliffe) 12

Sportboat Class: 1 Bertie (S Barter) 8, 2 Warthog (A&S Lightbown) 18, 3 Eh (T Wright) 18.5

Impala 28: 1 Bluestreak (C Hussey) 10, 2 Fly (P Duggan) 16, 3 Bambi (P Doig) 17