The glorious weather has returned to offer what must have been the best sailing day of the season so far, with blue skies and 20C SW winds. 18 boats raced in shifty (nothing new there), and sometimes gusty conditions.

The F15s had some good racing with Ian/Lezliann getting to grips with a new cut genoa that took a couple of laps to set correctly up the beats to get the edge over Tim/Ian and take the win. In the second race, Ian pushed his luck claiming water at mark 4 and ended up doing a couple of turns, then had to fight back to successfully take the lead and win the race.

There was mixed fortunes in the GPs with a relatively close finish in the first race, won by Val/Ken, with Mike/Eric 2nd. Not sure what happened in the second race, but the boats were considerably more spread out, with Mike winning, and Alan/Sue 2nd.

Beginner Jo was keen to get a sail, and unexpectedly ended up racing in two races with Robbie D in the handicap fleet. To her surprise, there were no bumps, capsizes, or broaches! However, she did experience a general recall in the first race, somewhat unusual in club racing. Scumper was in his RS 100 and won on the water and on handicap, though in the second race Peter Whipp in a Laser was a very close 2nd by just 5 secs. Steve/Ruth took 2nd in thd te first race.

Sunday started off with the micro climate that is Bass doing its own thing. Westerly breeze at Bothel, north easterly on the lake, when it filled in. When the course was being set, the lake was sporting a northerly, but soon after some of the fleet rounded the windward mark, but gusts started from the west, and later continued to back to the SW! With no competition in the slow handicap fleet, Bean with Oliver raced with the handicap fleet and was only just pipped to the windward mark by Scumper! The excitement proved too much for Oliver and they subsequently retired. With the beat having disappeared following the windshift, and three races to get in, a shortish race seemed appropriate with the expectation of the wind bedding in over lunch.

The SW breeze, though somewhat shifty, held for the next two races, and it was strong enough for some good close, and spinnaker, reaches. Mike and Eric took 3 wins to win the McMillan Cup in the GPs, while Ian/Lezliann used a first and a second to win the Ullock Mug, with Neil, and a guest appearance from wife Judith, won the other two races in the F15.

Wins in the handicap fleet were shared between Ian Hall, Scumper, and Zefer, with Scumper winning the Grisedale Cup and Zefer 2nd.

Final results

A sunny afternoon with good winds had 15 boats on the water across three fleets, and they all had clean starts. There were a few boats that capsized and subsequently retired, though others soldiered on and will no doubt sleep well after the day’s exertions!

Val/Ken had some good racing with Mike/Eric in the GPs, but they lost out on the final beat in the first race when they were caught port and starboard by Mike. They didn’t make the same mistake in the next race, finishing with a good lead.

Sandy/Douglas had two straight wins from Mik in the Mirrors. It was the single handers of Tony in a Solo, and Peter in a Laser that each had a win in the handicap fleet.

None of the day’s results affected the overall leaders in the series

Latest results

Sunday started much more overcast but the sun came out in the end. There were good winds again but very few takers. 

Val/Ken had some gear problems but managed to hold off Alan/Sue, while in the Handicap fleet Peter in his Laser beat Mike in a Streaker by a good margin. 

BL etc latest results 

The afternoon race was the Albert Bates Retirement pennant. However the course kept the fleet in the northern bay with the small potential for typical flukey airs as the course had one beat to mark 8 in the shade of Sale Fell. 

Rory/Eleanor won on handicap in a F15, with Alan and birthday girl Sue 2nd having been forced to tack off from Val/Ken on to a better tack!

The race counts towards Sandra’s Salver for female crews, and Eleanor’s 1st puts her into the lead

Albert Bates Memorial Trophy 

Sandra’s Salver

After a week of fantastic weather, everyone was looking forward to more of the same for the bank holiday. With the wind from the SSW, it was in two minds as to whether it would come round Sale Fell from the S or SW. There was a great fleet of nine mirrors, in the first race and it was the Smith brothers Phil�and Andy that were vying for first position, but Andy/Lily couldn’t keep up with Phil/Oliver. Meanwhile, as thunder could be heard rolling through the hills, the rain held off, and blue skies were edging towards us.

By the 2nd race the SW wind had swung back to the S, and the wind eased. Although the boats seemed to crawl around the short course, it just took 15 mins to complete the lap so the OD sent the fleet round again. However, in a matter of minutes a squall moved in, bringing heavy rain, and resulted in so many capsizes that the race was abandoned and boats headed back to shore.

Within a mad half hour, the squall had disappeared, together with the rain and wind, and the scene was set for a lovely evening during which the Hunter Family were putting on another curry night, serving over 100 meals and raising over �500�in aid of the ASHA Foundation.

Latest results

Sunday started off dry, overcast, but much cooler with a chill factor of 5C! As ever, the wind swung back and forth throughout. After lunch the skies cleared and the sun shone with the wind backing more to the west.

Neil took to the water�for the first time this season with Rory in their F15, taking three 1sts and the Mellor Mug ahead of Graham (also fresh back to the water) and Elaine.

In the GPs, the main competition was between Mike/Eric who took the first race, and Joan/Jack who are overnight leaders having won the next two races.

Joe won the first race in his Laser, but Robin/Erin took the next the next two to be overnight leader.

In the Slow Handicap fleet, it’s a bit of a family affair with the Smiths taking the top four positions, all in Mirrors, with Emma being overnight leader.

Bank holiday Monday morning started with light rain and a good SE breeze. The fleets seemed reluctant to get on the water, which gave the chance to do its worst by easing, and swinging, so the OD had to lift the start line and move it across the lake to take advantage of a slightly steadier breeze, or so it seemed. The course was set, and racing got underway, but the wind wasn’t at its best, and there were holes around the course. Although racing had only been underway about 25 mins, the race was shortened at the end of the first lap to put the sailors out of their misery (and save the committee boat having to hang around too long!). The wind promptly filled in and settled down as the fleets headed ashore for lunch…

Joan/Jack took another win in the GPs from Mike/Eric, and won the Commodore’s Prize. In the Handicap fleet, Robin/Erin beat Scumper which earned them the Isel Cup, with Scumper 2nd overall.

Although Phil won the Slow handicap race, Emma’s 2nd kept her in the lead, so he would need to sail the final race to secure the series.

After lunch the wind held, and strengthened a little, enabling the OD to set the course he had initially set for the morning race. There were only six boats that took to the water and enjoyed some good reaches and planing conditions. Scumper led the Handicap fleet but was beaten by Joe with a margin of 18 secs on handicap. This didn’t affect Scumper’s overall 2nd position, with Joe 3rd.

Phil�raced against Jonathan Bullen in the Slow handicap fleet, taking his fourth win and the Orsova Cup, with sister in law Emma a well earned 2nd.

Final results