After Winter maintenance identified some major defects in the top part of the flagstaff. The substantial repairs have been completed and the pole re-erected in time for Bass Week much to the relief of our vice commodore, and he expresses his personal thanks to Scumper and Alan Smith for all their efforts in organising its repair and reinstatement.
Daws on course, of course!
Well done to Ethan Dawson who competed in the Topper 4.2 Nationals last weekend at Leigh and Lowton. There were 45 entries and Ethan finished 39th.
He won a prize for completing all nine races, especially impressive as Saturday’s wind hit 28 knots!
Any guesses who dreamt up the heading?
Youth Squad
The Youth Squad have again had some dedicated races, but could be better attended.
Although Ethan mastered the conditions on Saturday, he found his match against Robin Crawley in Sunday’s racing. Despite this, Ethan leads the Sunday series, while Luke Howarth is leading the Saturday series
All on the last race
A gentle breeze with various gusts at times led to a pleasant morning’s racing. The wind in the afternoon eased as the race went on, but it was still reasonable racing conditions. The close racing at the front of each fleet led to the series results being dependent on the last race, so they had everything to sail for.
Mike and Eric secured two more wins to take the series from Paul Bowmer.
Robbie D and Scumper again shared wins in the handicap fleet, but Robbie’s win in the afternoon won him the series.
Similarly, Telf and Andy had some close racing but, Andy’s afternoon win gave him the series.
RYA Training Day
Des Wright, Ken West, Emma Smith, Ellen and Jamie Kerr, Jordan and Arnie Helling enjoyed a race training day with Pete Robinson from the RYA.� The wind was gusty and many enjoyed the warm water of the lake, but everyone agreed they had learned many simple techniques and learned more about the rules to help them gain confidence to start racing.� Pete coached them on the water and finished the day with some short races. Next RYA Training Day is in September.� Keep a look out for the date
Did she jump or was she pushed?!
The morning gusts had eased by the time racing started but there was still a good sailing breeze to keep the sailors happy. A shift in the wind took resulted in a somewhat biased beat for a while, but such is Bass!
Neil and Judith Currie were tempted back on to the water by the lighter airs, but at one stage Judith missed her toestraps and was dragged along with the boat as she clung on to her jib sheet. Neil soon had her back in the boat and they continued with the race. Scumper and Robbie D with Big E each had a win on handicap. Jim Christie lost his rig when a U bolt gave way, but no real damage done.
Gary Mansell fought his fears and went out for a brief sail with William in the RS400. One beat was enough as a taster but he will be back for more….
While Andy Smith waits for his new GP, he took to the water to give Telf, Mik and Alan a run for their money in the Mirror fleet. Telf and Andy each had a win a piece
Kayla went out in Mike F15 with Tom – each thought the other was helming! Anyway, they had a pleasant sail and no incidents.
In the GPs Mike and Eric shared the honours with Paul Bowmer and his wife, with Paul taking overnight lead.
Overall some close racing across all of the fleets. The series concludes tomorrow.
Sam’s Success
Sam Hall was sailing at Coniston on Saturday where he secured a hat trick of wins and received a �15 prize.
Sunday Soaking
The wind seemed unexpectedly light when sailors turned up, but as the start time arrived, the wind picked up and the rain moved in – it was relentless until lunchtime. There were light patches, and William with Jo Watkins managed to find them on the single spinnaker reach of the course, but there were strong gusts from time to time too.
Although Neil Garrison in his Dart finished first on the water, it was Scumper in his Vareo that won on handicap from Jim Christie.
During lunch the wind freshened, and led to some more exciting reaches at times, but the shadow of Sale Fell still had its effect on racing and progress. William and Jo led the handicap, but they were beaten by Jim Christie in his Supernova on handicap. Scumper despite a couple of capsizes, held on to his position but was going to retire due to damage to his spinnaker pole, however he opted to wait for the shorten course signal. Little did he realise he would have to wait until the lead boat completed their lap some 10 mins later before the signal was sounded!
Although Mike beat Tim in the F15 fleet in both races, he did have to sneak past Tim in a lull going to mark 5 as Tim had mastered the first beat and gained a solid lead much to Mike’s dismay (or was it surprise?)
Soggy Saturday
As the hosepipe ban continues, the lake is filling up – not because water is being saved but due to the amount of rain!!
The day started windy with intermittent showers, but the wind eased during the prolonged start sequence for the pursuit race! The lack of Mirrors meant the other fleets had an undue wait. Even with the long wait, Scumper managed to be several minutes late in his Vareo. Mike and Kayla quickly broke away and won the race with Tim and Ian 2nd.
The 2nd race was fleet racing – no-one in either fleet was particularly pushing hard for the start line! Scumper had a clear win from Jim Christie in the handicap fleet, while Mike beat Tim in the F15s.
Congratulations!
Many congratulations to vice commodore Stephen Kirkpatrick and his wife Claire following the birth of their daughter Georgina Elizabeth,� a sister for Henry and Thomas, who weighed in at 7lb11oz on Tuesday evening. Mother and baby doing well.
Well done to Emily for guessing it would be a girl called Elizabeth!
Sultry Sunday – Not!
Despite there being strong winds all around, the conditions were unexpectedly sailable. However, there were not many takers, presumably because of the poor forecast.
Mike and Kayla led the fleet, followed by Toggle in his Vareo, but Mike and Eric kept on the pace and were never far behind. On handicap Mike’s F15 beat the Mike’s GP.
In the afternoon race, the course had a couple of reaches that proved exhilarating when the gusts came through. Joe Watkins, thinking the wind had eased over lunch, opted to take out the Laser with a full rig, which proved a little too much on occasions as he had several capsizes, but carried on to the finish.
This time it was Mike Cowan that was in close contention with Mike Moore.� Mike Moore held his position on handicap and leads the series overall.