First shock of the day was the weather! The forecast rain did not appear and there was a good westerly to blow the fleet around the course.
The first race in the Asymmetric Cup, where the course is set on a windward leeward basis, had the asymmetric fleet rounding the leeward mark in the opposite direction to the other fleets. Which would be the boats to meet at that mark? None other than Robbie D and Mike – Mike, protecting his new boat from the first scratch, gave an unusually wide berth!

Sailing Sec Roy made a rare appearance on the water, and was caught out, along with Joan and Jack, by a gust that capsized both boats.

The afternoon was not without its mishaps when, just before the start, Brent did not duck quick enough in his Wayfarer and gashed his head. A quick dash ashore, and some first aid had him sorted though.

Mr and Mrs Bean led the way in the Asymmetric fleet, leaving Scumper and Robbie D to battle it out. Although the stronger winds favoured Scumper, trawling his kite was his downfall, and Robbie D broke away.

Mike and Kayla in their F15 sailed well again, managing to keep Steve and Jo in a Merlin behind them for most of the race. Ian had issues trying to stay in his boat in both races, but we are assured he wasn’t trying to escape Lezli-Ann, and they slipped behind the leading GPs on handicap. As ever, Dave and Lynn led the GPs from Mike F and Eric, though Dave and Sarah put in an excellent performance in the morning race beating Mike F.

In the Asymmetric Cup Bean is leading with Scumper 2nd and Robbie D 3rd, but it’s all to sail for as they all have the same points!

In the MJM series, Mike Moore leads, with Dave 2nd and Steve 3rd.

Two new boats were launched this weekend. First there was our new RIB, named Christopher Graham after our rescue crewman that was tragically killed in a car accident. Secondly, Mike Moore launched his new F15 and named it Highwayman in honour of his father Denis (Monty Python fans may suss out the link). Mike got off to a flying start in the first race, only to have Kayla lying on the foredeck fixing something just after clearing the start line. It did not slow them enough to let Ian and Lezli-Ann passed though, and Mike went on to win the race. Ian had the best start in the second race, but Mike got through and again won. How long will this unbeaten record last?
In the handicap fleet, Alex and Olivia led the fleet in their RS200, and despite the best efforts of Robbie D and Scumper to break through in their Vareos, they went on to win both races, with Scumper and Robbie D each securing a 2nd and 3rd each. Toggle and Jo took 4th and 5th in both races.

In the GPs, Mike and Eric’s early lead was thwarted by David and Lynn who also won both races.

After some close racing, Mik and Alan shared the honours with a 1st and 2nd each in the Mirror fleet.

Racing Underway

Spring is here, the clocks have changed to British Summer Time, the sun was shining, sailors were eager to get on the water, but there was no wind, just the glorious sight of the mirror-like lake.

Lunch came and went, and things still did not look hopeful, but just as the clock struck two, a sea breeze rapidly covered the lake enabling the first race of the season to get underway. 10 boats made it to the start on time, but there were two that lagged behind – Scumper and Toggle!

Steve and Ruth took an early lead, but with changing wind conditions there was some hot competition from Robbie D, Joan and Jack Hardie, and Dave and Lynn Lawson. Rather than curtail racing after half an hour when Ethan Dawson had completed his first lap, the OD opted to allow him to sail on for another lap. Unfortunately, towards the end of the hour, the wind eased and slowed down the pace considerably which led to 4 retirements.

Steve regained sufficient lead to win the race by� 2� mins from Dave , with Joan 3rd and Tim/Ian in a F15 4th. Scumper continued to the end, catching up much ground to finish 5th.

With light winds, and a late start, there was no further racing so the results stand for the overall series.

More of the same next week is the present forecast, but there’s plenty of time for that to change!

The final two races counting towards the 2011 club championship were scheduled for Saturday. The forecast winds were similar to those forecast last week – the exception being that the forecast seemed more realistic winds winds in the high teens mph gusting high 30s mph!

Ruth opted to put her foot down before the boat was even uncovered, though having seen the conditions, Steve was mutually agreeable to going on rescue duty instead of sailing.

A bit like Noah’s Ark, the fleets got ready in pairs – Two F15s, two Supernovas and two Vareos. Even before the starting sequence got underway the F15s were heading back to shore, Ian/Lexli-Ann due to the ferocious gusts, and Ian Macpherson/Elaine Fairlamb due to gear failure. That left Jim Christie and Peter Ballard raring to go, though both had several capsizes before the start. The Vareos were more cautious, and only Scumper opted to take to the water as the starting sequence was underway. Peter took an early lead, but Scumper did work his way past, and despite various capsizes made his way through to the finish. The Supernovas were flattened by various squally gusts and eventually retired.

Herb’s quote of the day was ‘at least it’s kept dry’ – well it was true up to that point in time and then the drizzle came through and soaked everyone before the last boat was retrieved.

Not even Jim seemed keen to venture out for another race, so the series came to an early conclusion with Joan/Jack Hardie holding on to their winning position despite not sailing!

The wind was forecast to ease a little for Sunday’s final races in the MJM/Asymmetric Cup, and it did! With a brighter day, there was a much better turnout of a dozen boats.

With some stronger gusts at times, most (well Neil survived) of the single handers were caught out at some point, especially on the various gybe marks.

In the Asymmetrc Cup only Scumper and Banter Phil were contending, they each capsized from time to time, but Scumper took another two wins and strengthened his lead in the series, with Toggle finishing 2nd and Phil 3rd overall.

As Mike/Eric were tussling with Lasers most of the race, first Tom Gosden, and then Ian Macpherson, Mike won overall in the morning race, with Ian 2nd, and Ethan Dawson in his Topper a strong 3rd. Peter Ballard and Jim Christie were again duelling, with Jim taking a defensive covering action at one stage, only for Peter to pass beneath him, then Jim got caught in irons as he tacked away for clear airs. By the time he was moving properly again, Peter was well out of sight!

In the afternoon, Val/Ken took an early lead but flying their spinnaker on the bottom reach proved to be their downfall, as Mike/Eric thought better of it and were able to sail through to the lead to windward.

Though Tom beat Ian on the water this time, on handicap, Mike/Eric secured another win.

Overall, Mike/Kayla kept the lead in the series with Peter 2nd.

With these races over, the year’s list of prize winners is being compiled in time for the the annual prize giving dinner dance in November.