SAILORS from across the UK and Ireland flocked to the Clyde as Helensburgh Sailing Club played host to the prestigious Sigma 33 Offshore One-Design UK Championship.
The ‘Sigma Nationals’, as they’re known for short, have been dominated by the strong Clyde fleet for the last decade or more – but it’s more than just a UK event, as was shown by the entries to the 20023 event from as far afield as Belfast Lough, Dublin Bay and Waterford.
Knowledge of home waters, though, proved crucial for overall winner Griogair Whyte, from the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club: sailing Close Encounters, he sailed an impeccable series right from the start, with four bullets and with a fourth place as his discard.
Whyte has come so close so often in the past to winning the overall title, and his perseverance and consistency on the day yielded a rich reward for his efforts.
The Sigma 33 National Championships brought dinghies and crews to Helensburgh from as far afield as Dublin Bay and Waterford
Whilst race officer Howard Morrison and his team fitted in three of the planned races on the first day of the championships on Thursday, only one race proved possible on both Friday and Saturday due to fickle winds.
Despite that setback, Morrison achieved the near-impossible on the fourth and final day of the event, with four more short but intensive races in near-perfect “champagne sailing” conditions off the town.
With nine races sailed, and one discard, Sunday’s results saw second place overall go to another local competitor, Alan Harper from Cove, in Leaky Roof 2.
In third spot, four points behind Harper, was Paul Prentice from Ballyholme Yacht Club in Bangor, County Down, in Squawk, with Donald McLaren in Sigmatic one point behind in fourth place and the best Helensburgh Sailing Club result.
The top five placings were completed by another HSC member, Jake Miller in Mayrise, fresh from his runaway win in the Sigma 33 class at the 2023 Scottish Series on Loch Fyne at the end of May.
Prize winners and crew members in the ‘Sigma Nationals’, hosted by Helensburgh Sailing Club and won by Griogair Whyte of the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club on board Close Encounters
Sigma 33s are well-designed and robust cruiser-racers designed in time for the 1979 Boat Show. More than 400 were built and – despite their age – they provide intensely competitive one-design racing where the vagaries of handicapping systems offer no hiding place.
HSC’s busy season catches its breath for now but will finish with a flourish in November when the club hosts the British Universities Fleet Racing Championships 2023 – another national event, and a fitting conclusion to what is proving to be an outstandingly successful year for the local club.
Results: 1 Close Encounters (17 points), Griogair Whyte, RNCYC; 2 Leaky Roof 2 (25 points), Alan Harper, Cove Sailing Club; 3 Squawk (29 points), Paul Prentice, Ballyholme Yacht Club; 4 Sigmatic (30 points), Donald McLaren, Helensburgh Sailing Club; 5 Mayrise (34 points), Jake Miller, Helensburgh Sailing Club.
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