Women on the water

The group of 15 enjoyed a day of coaching, racing and fun on the water at Annandale Sailing Club.
It was the eighth annual Ladies on the Loch (LoL), with the aim of encouraging more women onto the water and into regular racing.
It was organised by two of the club’s instructors, Carol Beattie and Elaine Ross, who were assisted this year by Elaine’s daughter Caitlin.
Participants were aged 17 upwards and ranged in ability from some who only recently completed their first training course, to past sailors keen to return to the sport, and regular club racers.
The morning was spent honing skills in a variety of dinghy classes including Lasers, GPs, Solos and the club’s new Topper Argo.
After lunch and some onshore race training, the afternoon session included a “floating tombola” – which involved using boat control skills to retrieve treats in floating plastic cartons – and two short races.
Everyone, including those new to racing, took part in these and there was some competitive sailing from the boats at the front of the fleet, keen to win the club’s silver LoL quaich.
This year’s winner was Laser sailor Lindsay Nurney.
A supper followed, prepared by “galley slave” for the day Ed Woodman, and served by rescue crews David Gemmell, David Richardson and Lindsay Tosh.
Carol said: “Ladies on the Loch was a great success this year. We received some fantastic feedback with people saying they appreciated the informal training, the day really boosted their confidence and was full of fun and laughter.”