Today saw the first ever ‘small yacht, heavy-seas, motor race’.  The rules are simple, each boat must leave their chosen starting port and get to Chanonry Narrows at midday with two sails hoisted.  From there, they must start their engine, drop both sails, and motor up Inverness Firth. The finish line is signified by the Kessock Bridge.  The first boat to pass under the bridge wins. The prize - pride.

This years contenders were ‘the little blue boat’ (crew- unknown), ‘the white boat’ (crew- an older man and his enduring wife), and ‘Jelly Fish’ (crew- two 20-something females and some extra ballast in the form of the skipper’s father).  Each struggled hard,  but there could only ever be one winner.

The ‘little blue boat’ (LBB) had the best start, cutting the corner and taking the shallow channel near Fort George extending their lead to almost 1nm.  The second boat to start was the ‘white boat’ (WB), who had a good line around the corner. And finally came Jelly Fish, who, after a slow start from Hopeman was struggling to keep pace with the bigger boats.

However, off Fort George WB were struggling with their sails.  Many frantic minutes were spent with crew on the foredeck furling the jib by hand, while the mainsail flapped it’s discontent. It was then that JF came into play, with swift crew work on the foredeck, and clever preparation with the rigging design meaning that the sails were dropped in seconds.  JF than overtook on the outside and moved up into second place, with LBB still up ahead.

With large choppy waves off Chanonry Point, the tactical game was played out.  LBB found it difficult to steer into the waves, and veered off towards the shore.  This gave them smaller waves, but against a fierce wind, they also lost the all important current taking them up the channel.  WB stayed in the current longer, but couldn’t stand the struggle and ended up pitching their way into the shallower waters.

JF and her crew (and ballast) were undeterred by the change of course of the others, and bravely stuck to their dinghy background, and stuck it out in the waves of the deepest channel (with 4 knots taking them towards the finish).

The dinghy training paid off, and JF soon over took LBB.  However, the trip was not easy. Crew were positioned acutely astern (to keep the outboard propeller in the water), and helm was struggling with the amount of spray coming off the bow (at one point a wave did make it completely over the bow and rolled down the boat into the cockpit- fortunately everybody there was so wet that it made no difference). 

Meanwhile there were dolphins trying desperately (and succeeding) to distract all involved in the race, by jumping energetically out of the water a little way off.

Eventually the current and engine combined beat the wind, and Jelly Fish crossed the finish line first, and thus became the winners of the first ever ‘small yacht, heavy-seas, motor race’!

NB: All boats successfully crossed the finish line before the tide turned to rush them back out to sea.  Also, the winner, Jelly Fish, is currently moored at Inverness Marina (Lat: 57.4942 Long: -4.2344) for the night, before entering into the Caledonian Canal sometime tomorrow, and the crew have enjoyed a rare shower and are finally dry.