Last weekend started with the fifth round of the Celebrity Glass Pursuit Series where the boats with the slowest handicap start first and the remainder at designated intervals behind them. The race was scheduled to be seventy minutes in length and, after an hour, the Mirror of Mik Chappell which had been first away still led. He had high hopes of winning the event but it was not to be as the Laser of Jim Christie swept past just before the allotted time to be declared winner. The Byte of Joe Watkins would also have passed the Mirror but a bad rounding of the final mark left him a few lengths adrift and in third place.

Two long series races followed and it was, again, Jim Christie who was dominant moving into the lead in the Handicap fleet�s Skiddaw Trophy series. Eric Smith sailing with Ruth Critchley in a GP14 were second in race one but did not contest the second round allowing Dave Lawson sailing a borrowed Solo to move into a series second place. The Mirrors only sailed one race and Dave Todhunter took the lead in the Bates series after winning an extremely close contest with Mik Chappell. The race officer reckoned that it was only seeing the bow of Dave�s bright red boat ahead of the black one of his opponent that allowed him to be certain of the finishing order!

The final race of the weekend was the Jubilee Sailing Trust Pennant which was won by Dave Lawson from Joe Watkins. The award for the first lady crew went to Sue Watson allowing her to move into a joint lead with Elaine Hunt for the Sandra�s Salver trophy.

The popular Thursday evening Night Jar series has restarted restoring the mid week after-race meal and social atmosphere. It is called, innovatively Night Jar B! Victory in this initial round went to Mike Turner with Sue Watson crewing after the Laser 2000 of Steve Peck / Simon Smith and the Enterprise of Carl Arthur / Neil Garrison retired when well placed.

Not certain whether it is the weather or just recovery mode after Bass Week, but there was a general lack of enthusiasm for racing on Sunday. Two asymmetrics were prepared to race. Hugh went out and, while waiting for Steve and Ruth to finish getting ready, he was enjoying a good plane only to capsize! When righted his mast deck support had broken away leaving his boat out of action. Meanwhile Steve finally got on the water and washed off some of the sea salt and sand from his trip to Abersoch – not by capsizing though!

Neil Garrison took a novice crew out in his wayfarer – quite a day to be introduced to our sport!

A glorious day’s sailing was on the cards for Saturday. Sunshine and a reasonable breeze was not enough to tempt too many sailors down this weekend. Were they preparing themselves for Bass Week? Perhaps they had heard the forecast for Sunday and decided not to bother!

The first race was marred when the anticipated position of mark 9 was to the left of the leg from 0 to 8 which meant that boats had to loop around it to comply with the rules. After much consideration it was realised that those which did not directly loop around it had completed the course but sailed only one lap instead of the two which others had sailed. As the handicap fleet use average lap times this was not a problem. The two GPs had not looped the mark, but as they had sailed the same course, the fairest solution was to allow the finishing position to stand. The Mirrors had spotted what was going on, and all looped the mark!

The second race took the fleet under the shade of Sale Fell (just for a change) and this allowed positions to be skewed somewhat. Neil and Judith Currie took advantage of the conditions to secure a big lead and win on handicap.

Some consistent sailing by Mik Chappell gave him two firsts, with Alan Waugh finishing 2nd

Sunday’s forecast was horrendous, but a lot of the rain had passed through early morning so at least it was dry! The wind was from the south, and there were strong gusts going through the narrows at Scarness but the wind elsewhere was slightly sheltered by Sale Fell (again!). There was a good reach in strong winds from 8 to 5 but the wind didn’t particularly carry on down the broad reach to 1. Neil Garrison and Peter Ballard in a Dart got a good lead from William and Lesley Drummond (what a day to come out of retirement!) who (fortunately) were unable to fly the gennaker due to a rigging error on William’s part! But William won the race on handicap.

The wind swung in the afternoon to the south west. The gusts passing over Sale Fell gave some challenging gusts and shifts to be managed and once the fleet started the broad reach from 9 to 3 there was no longer any shade from the fell! William and Lesley were the first casualty as the gust picked up and the boat nose dived before the inevitable capsize. The squall passing through took all the fleet out at some stage and there were only two finishers – Neil Garrison and Jim Christie in his laser.

Alan Nicholson probably felt quite fortunate to be OD as it meant he didn’t have to sail, but with two 2nds from Saturday, and a 3rd for being OD, he finished up in pole position in the handicap fleet and winning the Grizedale Cup

Although Saturday’s positions were reversed in the morning race for the Mirrors, Mik’s two firsts were enough to win him the Round Table Tankard

A bit of a quiet evening by all accounts – the breezy forecast presumably put a few competitors off sailing in the crews/ladies/junior/seniors race which mark the last sailing Thursday before Bass Week. Looking at the timings, Val Bell had a magnificent race in her Solo as the others took 50% longer on corrected time

Clearly the results didn’t tell the full story which has been padded out by Mik.

Well Ladies’, Crews, etc evening was wild & wolly (try wooly!) again with low number of finishers reflecting dngo (Did not go out), dns, dnf galore. Tim Knowles set an interesting course 0 – 1 – B – YZ with YZ crossed in both directions but it worked ok. 99 laps – felt like it! Alan Nic had a mega capsize before start being brought in by Scott – Andy & Scumper rescuing Solo. Val actually fell out of other Solo. Lynne chickened out before start and Dave lapped everyone 10(?) times – thought he had better not cross finish line as he would be classed as a lady – was not eligible for anything else. John Crosbie had super start but capsized on first beat & Jack H came in looking like a drowned rat – Joan looked sheepish! Nic was helming Ken’s boat but don’t know why they didn’t get a Seniors finish. Susie got into a death roll and handed over to Mike T in the middle of it so they qualified for everything (well almost) and nothing. I hit final mark of race trying to avoid Val and the 360 seemed to take an age (thought I’d better do as Peanuts might have seen it). All finished off with a chinky from galley.

What another wonderful day for sailing. The vicious gusts from Saturday had faded leaving a good, relatively steady breeze, but with some shifts to take advantage of, and the sun was shining!

In the Asymmetric Cup Phil and Naomi again sailed well to win the morning race from Rory Yardley, by just 7 secs/lap. Phil did not sail the afternoon race as he wanted a capsize practice in the Moth, but the RS200s still took pole position when Joan and Jack Hardie pushed Rory into 2nd place again.

In the MJM Trophy, there was some close racing but Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith got a clear lead on handicap. As for the remainder of the fleet there was only 1 sec/lap separating three boats. Mike Moore and Martyn Stephenson had some close racing with Ian Macpherson and William Carruthers (in a F15!). Although Ian had the lead at the final mark, Mike was close enough to tack first and beat Ian to the line (Skill I believe Mike called it!). In the afternoon, Mike again had some close racing but this time William had taken the helm. Despite Mike luffing head to wind to gain advantage at the end of the first beat, William and Ian broke away and secured a strong lead. Mike nibbled away at the lead on a couple of beats and was on William’s tail (Mike happy) at the final windward mark. William broke away again and held Mike off till the finish (Mike not happy! Luck I believe Mike called it). On handicap William won, Mike was 2nd with Mike Fairlamb 3rd

Saturday

The rain has passed through, and the wind is less than forecast, but with some strong gusts Andy Smith is trying out his Int Moth in some wind for the first time, and finding it just as tricky (and tippy!) as in the lighter winds of the Thursday evenings that he’s been used to. Scumper has had a go too, and found how tiring capsizing can be (after the first 15 or so!) The winds were blustery, and there were some excellent offwind legs that proved challenging. A wineglass in the gennaker after the gybe mark did not help William and Elaine’s chances, and it was capped off when the downhaul on their gennaker came undone. Bean and Naomi went on to win by a big margin from Steve and Ruth in a borrowed Ent. There were only three takers for the 2nd race. Scumper was still practising his capsize drill in the Moth so did not make the start. Bean again won, with Steve second and Ian Macpherson 3rd in a F15 At Ullswater on Saturday Sam Hall finished 1st Junior and 3rd overall out of 14 standard lasers. Adding another 2 glasses for the collection!

The Moth got some more capsize practice, especially when Steve took it out after racing – his best effort is believed to be 10-15 secs! Say no more 🙂

The breeze for the evening sail was light, but the fleet of 17 boats kept moving. As the series draws towards a close, Alan Waugh secured a 2nd and opened us his lead from Neil and Joe and won the series

Sun and a steady SSW breeze greeted sailors on Saturday – though rain was scheduled to move in late afternoon!

The breeze held, was relatively steady, and the rain held off. The beat was relatively steady and there were some good gusts for planing at times. The conditions led to some close racing by the RS400s and the F15s.

Scumper and Big E sailed well to secure a first and a second, and Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith, with no competition in the GPs sailed well to finish 1st and 3rd, giving them 2nd overall overnight. Neil and Judith had to retire after Neil sat on, and broke, his extension during a gybe.

Tim and Ian shared the winning honours with Mike and Sally in the F15s, leaving Mike as overnight leader.

Similarly in the Mirrors, Mik and Toddy each shared a 1st and 2nd, leaving Mik as overnight leader

Would the rain pass through overnight, and would the wind blow on Sunday?

Sunday arrived, and with no chance of Sunday Sun, even though it was a muggy morning, the waterproofs were on – just as well as the rain moved in as the fleet launched, and then came back again with a vengeance as the racing finished!!

Things were a bit crowded before the handicap start and three port boats passing through a narrowing gap of two starboard boats preparing to start was not going to be a struggle. Unfortunately, Mike Fairlamb ended up with a hole in his port side in the melee.

The course took the fleets partly under the shade of Sale Fell which, together with the varying gusts passing through, meant a lot of ground could be won and lost on that leg. Bean and Naomi were able to use that to their advantage and won the race from Steve and Ruth who had been having a good battle with Robbie D and Big E. Toggle fell foul of the changeable winds and fell out to windward at one stage when the wind dropped, but was quickly back in the boat and racing again. William and Elaine had been having some close racing with the other 400s but were left standing in light airs when the other two planed away from the windward mark.

In the afternoon, the gusts freshened, and they proved challenging with mega shifts as well! Three boats were squeezed off the line and had to return – Steve, William and Tony/Rosi Flinn in their Martin 16. Bean got off to a flying start and led the fleet for the first two laps, although he was eventually passed by William after a big shift during the beat, he stayed close enough to win the race on handicap. Robbie D and Steve thought better of trying to catch Bean on the tight offwind legs and retired early. Scumper sailed his laser and had to work hard to pass Sam Hall, but they finished 2nd and 3rd, with William 4th. Bean’s win gave him the series from Scumper.

In the GPs, Mike Fairlamb sailed on despite the damage to his boat, and won both races and the series. Ginge and Jose sailed the first race but that was enough for them. Jose said one race was enjoy, two would be endure! She did mention some other things but there would be too many red faces!

Mike and Sally won both F15 races from Tim and Ian with some close racing, winning the series overall.

The Mirrors did not race, leaving Mik the winner

After some heavy morning rain, the day dried up and a SW breeze was the order of the day (well for the morning at least!). The winds tended to gust through all day and there were some good reaches if you were in the right place at the right time.

In the handicap fleet Bean and Naomi generally remained in the right place for the wind and secured wins on handicap in both races (flying their gennaker on the beat in the afternoon race may have proved to be something of an advantage!). Neil and Judith held off William and Elaine in the morning race, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. The gusts had proved a little too much for Judith so they opted out of the afternoon race which seemed as if the SW wind would be strengthened by a sea breeze. However, a good wind from the S fought with the SW breeze through most of the afternoon race leading to some testing conditions. The changing wind had enabled William to break away, but it also brought Bean back(!), together with Mike Moore and Martyn Stephenson in a F15, leaving William in 3rd position again.

Joe Watkins tried his hand in Joan Hardie’s RS200 while she had a go in his Byte (and he beat her!). Dave Wright came a cropper whilst gybing at 1, and subsequently retired.

In the GPs, Mike Turner and Sue Watson secured a good win from Katherine Davis, but neither sailed in the afternoon.

In the Mirrors, Alan Waugh had to fight back in both races to win from Nick Orton.

Various sailors have been playing away from home this weekend – four boats went to Ullswater to compete in the annual Lord Birkett two race series around the lake, 205 boats, and our lads came 25th (Robbie D and Big E), 26th (Scumper and Zefer), 69th (Andy and Rob Smith) and 92nd (Toggle). Full results

Others went to Llandudno for the GP14 National Championships being held over three days – well so I thought. In fact Phil Hodgkins sailed in Ginge and Jose’s boat under the Derwent Reservoir burgee! He finished 27th out of 53 boats (just the wrong side of halfway 🙁 ) Final results

Results eventually posted on websites! Stick with Bass for up to date results 🙂