The 25th Inter county challenge

An annual two day event hosted by the Wick Model Yacht Club on Sarclet Loch competing against the Kirkwall Model Yacht Club. Six trophies are raced for, over 8 races, sailing 4 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday.

Each race consists of travelling from the start line at the north end of the loch to the goal at the far end (south) and then returning. The round trip for this journey approximates to 1.5 miles. Now these are not paved paths along the lochs shoreline. On the west side we have what is locally known as the 'short side', which has relatively firm ground. From the start line we begin with a gate which is kept closed to prevent this years lambs from wandering, one wooden bridge, two styles, a ditch and a burn to traverse. On the return following the east known as the 'long side' it is soft and slippy under foot with 3 styles and one ditch. In some respects this could be compared to a cross country run wearing waders. So the sailors taking part in this weekends event covered 12 arduous miles.

The Wick club sailing their 4ft class vessels (no steering gear)

• Apollo sailed by Donald McWilliam & Willie Thomson
• Aurora sailed by Archie & Fiona Miller
• Pioneer sailed by Tony Wilson, Peter & Louise Sinclair
• Firewood sailed by Kevin Paterson
• Valhalla sailed by Sandy Bremner

compete against

The Kirkwall club, 10raters with vane gear.

• Hope sailed by Arthur Deerness & Bill Drever
• Highlander sailed by Ian Kirkness & Alan Walls

Bill Drever who is the only person to attend all 25 events

Saturday

A light breeze blowing from the north west. All of the yachts were fitted with there largest sails

First race - 1st Leg of Thrumster Estate Cup

The Apollo with spinnaker fitted got off to a good start despite the hail stones, leaving everyone else to fight over the remaining positions. Although the gap was reduced by the time we had all reached the far end. The Highlander and Apollo fouled. Normally this would cause no problems but the vane gear used by the orcadian team was knocked off and was lost to the murky depths. They limped home to the finish line. The Hope managed to catch and pass the Apollo to take the lead.

1st Hope, 2nd Pioneer, 3rd Apollo, 4th Firewood, 5th Aurora

Second race - 1st leg of Quatercentenary Cup

Starting this race we had rain to send us on our way. When the fleet left the start line the wind shifted and all vessels apart from the Valhalla and Firewood headed towards the long side. The Highlander sailing quickly and Firewood covering less ground were the first to return. The Highlander with greater speed edged away from the Firewood which was closely followed by the Apollo.

1st Highlander, 2nd Firewood, 3rd Apollo, 4th Pioneer, 5th Aurora, 6th Hope

Third race - 2nd Leg of Thrumster Estate Cup

With hails stones this time the Aurora with spinnaker fitted raced ahead of everyone. On the return it only required to tack once to complete the race. Chasing closely behind was the Firewood and Apollo. The Firewood caught weed on its last tack losing 2 places. The Hope and Pioneer collided, causing boom damage to the Hope and the Valhalla was struggling to sail at speed into the wind, fell behind.

1st Aurora, 2nd Apollo, 3rd Pioneer, 4th Firewood, 5th Highlander, 6th Hope

Fourth race - 2nd leg of Quatercentenary Cup

All the boats got off to a good start, all but 2 headed towards the long side. Fortunately the wind shifted changing the direction of the yachts and they returned to the short side. The Firewood and Pioneer gained a lead. On the return a quick adjustment to the Apollo meant it followed the Pioneer from the far end. The Firewood and Aurora sailing neck and neck only required a short tack across the finish line whereas the others went deep in to the 'hole' losing places.

1st Aurora, 2nd Firewood, 3rd Pioneer, 4th Apollo, 5th Hope, 6th Valhalla

Saturdays events concluded with these scores

For the Thrumster Estate Cup the Pioneer and Apollo had acheived equal points, 9, with 2nd and 3rd places each.

For the QuaterCentenary Cup the Firewood with 10 points, had two 2nd positions.

Thrumster Estate Cup races 1 & 3

1. Apollo 9 points
2. Pioneer 9
3. Aurora 8
4. Hope 7
5. Firewood 6
6. Highlander 2
7. Valhalla 1

QuaterCentenary Cup races 2 & 4

1. Firewood 10 points
2. Aurora 8
3. Pioneer 7
4. Apollo 7
5. Highlander 6
6. Hope 3

Sunday

The wind from the same ert as Saturday was mildly stronger the yachts were split between large and mid sized sails. A brighter day but still bitter cold when waiting for the starting whistle to blow.

Fifth race - 1st leg of MayDay Shield

The Aurora with spinnaker fitted pulled away. The Pioneer, Aurora and Firewood on the return were sailing closely together. All required a tack at the chicken rock returning to the short side before sailing again towards the finish line. The Pioneer landed in the 'hole' was turned for its 2nd tack but the main sail unhooked itself and it drifted slowly back across. The Aurora also required a second tack this time in front of the finish line. The boat was sitting deeper in the water than normal and had to be drained. The Firewood took advantage of the 2 unfortunate events to cross the line in first position. At the shed it was found the Aurora had burst its keel. Some epoxy and tape was applied to seal the hull but it had to sit out a race as the glue dried. Archie & Fiona sailed the Valhalla in the next race.

1st Firewood, 2nd Hope, 3rd Apollo, 4th Aurora, 5th Highlander, 6th Pioneer

Sixth race - 1st Leg of SMYA Northern Trophy

The Pioneer was off to a flying start under spinnaker. The others following on. The Firewood and Hope caught and passed the Pioneer on the return. Its sails were to slack, requiring to tack twice. The Valhalla and Highlander were catching tacking only once but couldn't pass. The Hope managed to sail from goal to goal but the speed of the Firewood ensured first place.

1st Firewood, 2nd Hope, 3rd Pioneer, 4th Highlander, 5th Aurora, 6th Apollo

Seventh race - 2nd leg of MayDay Shield

The wind speed had increased as the day went on. The Apollo chose to reduce its sail size to achieve stability. Again the Pioneer was off to a flying start. The Firewoods spinnaker runs were scrappy bouncing on the short shore several times before removing the spinnaker for the return leg. The Firewood and Hope collided although no damage was incurred. Apollo was the first to return followed by Pioneer and Firewood. Pioneer again was to slack and lost position, the Apollo landed deep in the 'hole'. The Firewood was caught just at the edge of the 'hole' and a short tack across secured victory. The fastest time of the weekend, 21m02s. Hope was sailing very close to the eye of the wind but it didn't have the speed. The Aurora and Pioneer needed an extra tack.

1st Firewood, 2nd Apollo, 3rd Pioneer, 4th Hope, 5th Aurora

Eighth race - 2nd Leg of SMYA Northern Trophy

The final race of the weekend. The spinnaker run was the same as the earlier races each boat jostling for position some sailing beautifully from end to end while others like the Firewood bounced up the shore. On the return the model yachts sailing in to the wind were heading towards the chicken rock hit the shore turned to go on to the losing tack before turning gain to continue. The Firewood and Pioneer somehow with a wind shift pulled away form the longside towards the shed before falling away again. The fast moving Firewood caught the second wind shift to cross the finish line. The Pioneer not sailing quite so high landed in the 'hole' were it lost places. The next boat to cross the finish line 5 minutes later was the Aurora.

1st Firewood, 2nd Aurora, 3rd Highlander, 4th Hope

Sunday concluded with the Firewood winning all the races

MayDay Shield races 1 & 3

1. Firewood 12 points
2. Apollo 9
3. Hope 8
4. Aurora 5
5. Pioneer 5
6. Highlander 2

SMYA Northern Trophy 2 & 4

1. Firewood 12 points
2. Hope 8
3. Highlander 7
4. Aurora 5
5. Pioneer 5
6. Valhalla 2
7. Apollo 1

The overall winner of the weekend was the Firewood

Viking Cup - Most Overall points

1. Firewood 40 points
2. Apollo 26
3. Aurora 26
4. Hope 26
5. Pioneer 25
6. Highlander 17
7. Valhalla 3

Bill Drever Cup - best Orcadian vessel

1. Hope 26 points
2. Highlander 17