PICTURES: Chanonry Sailing Club Ness Cup race battled out in ideal conditions on Black Isle
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PERFECT conditions greeted a thrilling Black Isle race open to both dinghies and larger sailing yachts.
The Ness Cup is a highlight of the Chanonry Sailing Club annual race calendar.
The 2022 race on Sunday started in glorious sunshine with a steadily building sea breeze, resulting in ideal sailing conditions.
The race started and finished at the harbour in Fortrose following a large lap around marker buoys in the Inverness Firth.
All yachts and dinghies started at the same time.
The high-performance single-handed Musto Skiff class were quick off the blocks with 16-year-old Ollie Bull leading the majority of the race.
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Scene set for Black Isle boat race
Ollie is an emerging talent and although he was competing in his first Ness Cup, he had recently returned from competing at World and European youths championships in Spain and Denmark.
During the closing stages of the race Ollie was reeled in by Ben Yeats who has been competing in the Ness Cup since the 1990s. Despite Ben grabbing line honours from Ollie there was still a chance for one of the slower boats to win the Ness Cup, due to the time allowance given to different classes of boat.
The main challenge came from Charlie Brecknell who enjoyed the freshening breeze in his Solo class dinghy and managed to secure 3rd overall.
While the singlehanded dinghies dominated the event, the larger crewed yachts enjoyed their own battle, with Mike Martin skippering Tandoori pipping Gregor Fisher in Carefree.
The day was rounded off with food, drink and prize giving in the club house overlooking Fortrose harbour. For anyone interested in taking up sailing please visit www.chanonry.org.uk
Ness Cup 2022 Results
1 Ben Yeats
2 Ollie Bull
3 Charlie Brecknell
Full Ness Cup results at http://www.results.chanonry.org.uk/2022/NessCup.htm
