This weekend we hosted as RS200 alongside a Tinker Travellers open, as well as a fleet challenge for club members.

On Saturday the wind was light, and initially did not come from the forecast SW direction. Drizzle came in unexpectedly, but passed through

The wind did freshen slightly from the forecast direction, but would it hold for the rest of the afternoon? Although it eased for a while, fortunately it did pick up again just before the start of the final race which seemed as it was going to be dire because the rain had started to fall. Val Bell took a clean sweep of all three races before rushing off to a 90th birthday party!

Some early morning mist on Sunday should have been a hint of things to come – no wind! However, it did fill in late morning, then eased, but came back and settled down. However, the sun shone, and it turned out to be an excellent day’s racing.

Julian and Robert Cruickshank had a good start in the 5th race and managed to fend off Val and Ken Bell despite only flying their spinnaker on one leg, but it won’t stop Val taking the trophy.

Val must have burnt Ken out as she sailed the final race in her Solo. Honours in the final race went to Alan Nicholson with Val 2nd

In the RS200s the delayed start due to lack of wind meant there would only be 7 races sailed out of the 8 scheduled. Chris Pickles and Laura Westell from Delph sailed consistently to have a clear win with 6 points (five races to count). Phil and Naomi Smith were top Bass boat finishing 7th overall.

RS200 Open – Overall Results

RS200 winners Chris Pickles and Laura Westell	Tinker winner David Warren (just for a change!)

The forecast was for a north easterly and that’s what came through, and it freshened as the morning went on. There were comments that the wind was shifty, and that seemed to help keep the racing tight, but it was all to the good and everyone enjoyed the sail. A couple of boats from the youth squad capsized, but quickly righted themselves.

The afternoon race was the Banana Stakes, typically sailed around the lake. Due to the lighter winds the course just went as far as mark 10, but the NE winds resulted in a lack of a beat and the fleets kept close together. In addition, it was held on a personal handicap basis. Although Neil Garrison sailed well away in his Dart, it was to be Julian and Robert Cruikshank that took the honours. Robbie D tried his hand in Ethan’s Topper (with a full rig though) and he was well and truly stuffed!

The race counted towards Sandra’s Salver, and it seems that both the main contenders for this year’s award are suffering from back problems! Having survived yesterday’s sail without too much extra pain, Elaine made a special effort to sail the race as she has been lying low from sailing for a couple of months due to back pain. Her main contender, Sue Watson unfortunately hurt her back on Sunday morning before going out with Mike Turner. She was all dressed for sailing but unable to get on the water. So it will be down to the wire – one more pennant to race and all to sail for if they can make it!

On Saturday it was a glorious afternoon. The high pressure system removed the clouds, but took the wind too 🙁

There was a gentle breeze to push the fleet around, but it was much less that we’ve been used to all season

OD Mike Moore may have been a little flustered after his drive up to the club as he was held up in traffic queues for 45 mins. Is that any reason to set a course that had everyone’s head (well boat) spinning? Or was it colour blindness? Perhaps it may just be a little dementia now that he’s hit that magic time of life?! Out of the six marks in the course, four marks were set to be looped rather than just rounded. As the race was a pursuit, it was unfortunate that the error was noticed after the first boat was well up the first reach – yes reach, as the wind was split and coming from two directions to make life interesting, or should that be challenging? The looping of the marks caught out Andy Smith and Joe Roberts, both sailing their Moths, and they were disqualified. Despite being over the line and rerounding, Steve and Ruth worked their way to the front of the fleet to win the race. William and Elaine were neck and neck with Mik on the finish line but could not quite get past him. However, their third position was sufficient to secure the series.

In the second race, part of a long championship series, the shore created shadows across the course from time to time, but Robbie D and Becky held a strong enough lead to win on handicap. Alan Nicholson did well to finish second and beat Steve by just 17secs. The series continues in the morning.

The lake level was high yet again, clearly there had bee a substantial amount of rain through the week – perhaps why it stayed relatively dry over the weekend?!

Another weekend series was held this weekend and concluded in a breeze that seemed to increase as the day went along. Although there were only 8 takers in the last race, at one stage four of the boats were capsized! Mik Chappell saw what the wind was doing and opted to take down his sails before he became a statistic for the afternoon. With the series already won by the last race, Robbie D and Scumper did not race, which left Toggle with the chance to better his overall position. He secured a vital first, giving him third overall and moving him up the championship one place to fourth.

Zefer was getting to grips with his new acquisition, a Moth, and as with Andy Smith, the capsize technique was being well rehearsed! Apparently, making use of his spare afternoon, Scumper had a go too, but reckons he didn’t tip it in quite as often (but then he has had a lot of practice over the years!)