This weekend we are hosting the GP14 Inlands. The rain has passed over and there is a forecast for a good southerly breeze all weekend.

There is a fleet list of 42 boats all ready and waiting for some excellent racing, and that is what they got!

Neil Marsden walked away with the first race and Steve Goacher the second, each having broken away by the end of the first beat.

The southerly breeze held steady and the fleet had a 28min beat to the bottom end of the lake for the third and final race of the day. There were various capsizes along the way. This time Shane MacCarthay led the fleet but the reaches and long run back to the finish proved to be testing with various position changes taking place. It was to be Mike Senior that won, and took overnight lead. Steve Goacher was second and lies third overall with Neil Marsden getting third and lying second!

Bass tales include the discovery of a killer shrimp in the lake – must be true because they were nibbling Mike Moore’s backside while he was practising his capsize drill (shouldn’t really do it through a race though!). Word is that the capsize was due to crew Kayla not getting her leg over fast enough! Best Bass boat was Dave Lawson with Toggle crewing – clearly continuing his successes in the Masters at Windermere recently. Sally started the day badly when she broke a crown on the crispy bacon bap! It went further downhill when she was hit in the face (guessing by a spinnaker pole). Tim Knowles unfortunately capsized just after finishing, caught his main on another boat and ripped it, Bad enough in itself, but the fact that the main was new last weekend, and was only on its second outing, exacerbates the situation somewhat!

On Sunday the wind was still a southerly, significantly lighter than Saturday, but it was easing as the fleet prepared for the first start for which there was a general recall. The black flag for the subsequent start kept the competitors back from the line and they had a clean start at 10:45.

As Mike Senior approached the leeward mark it seemed unlikely that he would maintain his lead as he was being blanketed by the fleet in light winds, but he cleared the mark and started beating on what turned out to be the final beat. However, the wind was not as kind to the rest of the fleet as they approached and rounded the leeward mark in drifting conditions as the wind swung through 180 degrees. Spinnakers were hoisted in an attempt to catch the occasional zephyrs of wind which remained unkind. Mike Senior was to have a 17min lead over the next boat, and unfortunately with a 20min finishing time limit on the race there were only three more boats that finished the race. But the 36 DNFs were in the good company of champions such as Steve Goacher and Neil Marsden!

As a result Mike Senior was in an unassailable position and had won the Championship. A disappointed fleet were sent ashore for lunch in the hope that the breeze would settle down for the fifth and final race.

A slight breeze did cause ripples across the lake over lunch and the OD went out to start a race, but it was not settling and racing was cancelled.

Prizes were awarded by the Commodore’s wife Pauline following a few words of thanks by Commodore Dave Nicholson. Mike Senior thanked the club on behalf of the visitors.

Dave Lawson’s finish in the morning race secured his position as best Bass boat (and first amateur!) finishing 4th overall.

Mike and Liz Senior
GP14 National Inland Champions 2010

This weekend the lake was taken over by RS 200s, 400s and Vareos, all sailing as separate fleets. As they are all asymmetric boats, the courses were windward/leeward.

With eight races scheduled, all the races were to be short and sharp. Unfortunately the wind was not been as strong as forecast, but there was certainly enough to get them round the course.

The wind did freshen from time to time, but the shifts occasionally took away the true windward leeward as well.

With four races in, there appeared to be some clear winners emerging, but who could tell what Sunday would bring?!

Well a wet Saturday night lingered throughout the morning. There were some good gusts that resulted a couple of capsizes, and racing generally remained very close.

With another two races completed, the sailors stopped for lunch.

The rain stopped for the afternoon racing, and veered more to the NW, but there were occasional bands of wind that helped (or hindered) boats by a significant amount at times, but after eight closely fought races the winners were confirmed. Toggle led the fleet home in the final race having been on the wagon after an enthusiastic start to the weekend. He had led the previous race for a while but slipped back when Scumper got his act together again! Tog’s consistent placings enabled him to secure a strong second behind Scumper.

Vice commodore Stephen Kirkpatrick thanked the competitors and presented the prizes.

RS400 – Wayne Fletcher/Deb Fletcher	RS200 -� Chris Pickles/Laura Westell	RS Vareo – Mark Somerville

Sunday

Shunty realised there was a bad omen for the day when The Bates wouldn’t start due to a lack of diesel! So it was duly towed to the start line by a Dory which he tied to The Bates. Unfortunately his knot didn’t hold and it drifted off! Having set a course for a NW breeze, just after the sequence began the wind swung to the W so Shunty opted to change the course. He eventually restarted the sequence and the wind, of course, swung back to the NW! C’est la vie!

Although the wind freshened as the morning went on, there were still various lulls. William and Raf took the lead, but the off wind legs were not kind in terms of strength and they were unable to sufficiently break away from the other fleets. As Tim and Ian caught up in their F15 their main halyard broke and they dropped out of the race. Paul Bowmer led the rest of the fleets the wrong way around the course, which helped William increase his lead but not enough to win on handicap. Mike Fairlamb’s win was sufficient to secure the Tinker Trophy.

Perhaps the wind direction would settle for the afternoon, aided by a sea breeze – or was that wishful thinking?! Fortunately the wind did strengthen and held. At last Shunty’s course was more suited to the asymmetrics and William squeezed in a win, only just, by 4 secs a lap!

In the Tinker rally, Malcolm Ellwood was the new overall winner, from long standing winner David Warren, with Stewart and Barbara Warden 3rd. For a pleasant change they had good winds, without being too strong, all weekend. Prizes were presented by vice commodore Stephen Kirkpatrick

Saturday

Another glorious afternoon’s sailing, though the wind was not as strong as predicted.

While a fleet of 16 Tinkers are holding their annual rally again, club racing comprised� mixed fleet handicap series for the Tinker Trophy. Though William and Lesley were able to break away, from the rest of the fleet, the lulls in the wind prevented them beating the GPs when handicaps were calculated. While Tim and Mike each won a race, William had to settle for two 3rds. Mike and Eric are overnight leaders.