Waglan 8, 9, 9a

With two races to get through, maybe even three, it was an early departure from the Aberdeen Boat Club for Shun Fung, the committee boat. Leaving the dock at 0930, the venerable Cheoy Lee was soon steaming across the Lamma Channel towards Tung O Wan, to find a suitable place to drop anchor.

The sea was lumpy as it often is in the 'Lamma Patch' but the good news was that the wind was blowing 12 to 14 knots from the northeast – perfect for two windward / leewards for the PHS divisions and possibly three for the faster IRC boats. Race officer, Alex Johnston, having laid many courses in this area before, was confident enough to position the top mark on arrival at 1000, before going further in to the bay to anchor the committee boat.

It took a while to find the right location for Shun Fung but, once satisfied, the RO sent his support staff out to lay the bottom marks some 60 metres from the committee boat, and the finish marker a short distance to starboard. It took longer for the Outer Distance Mark, though, and Johnston was forced to raise the AP at 1050.

But, by 1100, the stage was set for an invigorating day's racing.

A minute later, the RO formally welcomed competitors to Races 8 & 9 of the Waglan Series 2024-25. "Both IRC divisions will do Course 2 while PHS A and B, will do Course 4. If conditions hold," he added, "we will try to get in another race for IRC."

At 1104, the postponement flag came down and, a minute later, the sound of Shun Fung's 'cannon' reverberated around Tung O Wan. It sounded again at 1110 and, at 1115, five sleek racing machines swept across the line. Seconds later, Zesst flopped over and assumed the lead in a beat to the top mark. Seven PHS entries started at 1120 with Thomas Wong's DBX2 showing the way and Pascal Martin's Skywalker giving chase.

Reveling in the conditions, Next flew around the course, finishing in 48 minutes to take line honours and 1st in IRC Division 1. It's almost as if Neo Yachts designed their 430 Roma for the choppy waters south of Lamma Island. In 2nd place was Glenn Smith's Wild Card with a repaired mainsail. In the previous week's Four Peaks Race, the unfortunate Grand Soleil 44 was forced to retire when five mainsail cars parted with the mast.

IRC 2 was won by Henning Mueller and crew aboard the Jeanneau Sunfast 3600, Zesst. Sadly, Witchcraft retired after wrapping a fishing net around its keel.

Doing the shorter Course 4, the PHS boats all finished within 15 minutes of each other. In the A division, DBX2 scored best and in B, Felix Mak's Shun Shui did very well on handicap, even though it finished last in the division.

Race 9 was soon underway and, at 1230, five IRC boats started in winds of 10 knots, with gusts of 15. Coming up to the line at 90 degrees, Next was being squeezed by Witchcraft and had to bail out within metres of the committee boat. But the crew acted quickly and the Neo 430 soon recovered, setting off in pursuit of the other four IRC boats.  

The PHS start also experienced some drama when Ti'Punch, wallowing on the line just 15 metres from the committee boat, became an obstruction. Other starters had to take quick action to avoid the motionless 38-foot Dehler.

First boat home was IRC 2 entry, Witchcraft, with an elapsed time of 44 minutes and 43 seconds. On handicap, Wild Card won IRC 1 and the King 40, Witchcraft, took the 1st slot in its three-boat division.

In PHS A, DBX2 again emerged victorious, with Skywalker 2nd and Ti'Punch, 3rd. An enthusiastic crew certainly contributed to The Rising Sun's 1st place in PHS B. Taking 2nd was John Berry's Five O One with Easy Breezy II bringing up the rear.

At this point during the day's racing, wind readings around the course were a fairly consistent 10 knots, and the RO was quite confident in announcing a Race 9a for the IRC divisions. "PHS boats can go home," he said, "but the two IRC divisions will be sailing Course 2 for their third race of the day."

A gun sounded at 1330 and, at 1331, the P flag was raised. Four boats started at 1335 – Nightshift had decided to call it a day. First to finish and claim handicap honours was Next although Wild Card, with a better handicap, finished in 1st place. Nick Burns and crew had taken 45 minutes and seven seconds to do two laps of the course, putting them in 1st with Zesst in 2nd.

There are 12 days of racing in the Waglan Series. With two of those days consisting of two geometric courses, the total is 14 races. The next race day is the 23rd of February 2025.