With a mass of rain and high winds overnight, it was a pleasant surprise that the winds had eased and rain stopped by the time sailors arrived at the club. The wind held, and again there was some good gusts at times to take advantage of. Big E was one of the few to capsize. Scumper and Toggle made the most of the conditions getting two 1sts and 2nds respectively, and the same for their overall series position in the Grisedale Cup. Big E matched William/Lezli-Ann on points but his 1st yesterday broke the tie in his favour to finish 3rd overall.

Mike/Kayla sailed well in the first race, taking advantage of Simon’s poor starting (Simon’s words), they won the race and the Ullock Mug, with Simon finishing 2nd. Kath Davis had her first sail/race in a F15 when she crewed for Ian Campbell in the final race.

In the GPs Andy/Rob Smith won the morning race and took the McMillan Cup, while Val/Ken Bell gave Mike/Eric a run for their money beating them in the morning race. During lunch Mike decided his old sails were no longer up to scratch and put on new new sails for the afternoon, not that it did the trick as Val won, Tim/Rob Smith took 2nd, and Mike/Eric 3rd. Overall Val was 2nd and Mike 3rd.

No Mirrors sailed, so John Telford won the Round Table Tankard.

It will be noted that across all fleets, the winners had a clean sweep counting minimum points by winning all races to count.

After a miserable wet start morning across the country, the rain suddenly cleared leaving a tempting lake, with lighter than forecast winds, for the weekend series. The OD set a technically brilliant course, encompassing all the key legs of sailing – shame it didn’t translate into an enjoyable course for the race! It seemed that as soon as the handicap fleet started the wind picked up enabling crews (and helms if you’re being picky) to sit out. Offwind the gusts came through in bursts, so it was important to make best use of them when you got one.

Neil Garrison raced his Dart, and soon took the lead in the freshening winds, but he was to finish 5th on handicap. Scumper was next, but finished 2nd on handicap behind Big E in his Laser. The course for the second race was a simple triangle, but proved much more exciting, especially as there was a a great spinnaker reach on the final leg. Neil Garrison led the fleet again, followed by William/Lesley Drummond, but with Scumper catching on some offwind legs, he was able to win on handicap and leads the series overnight. Toggle secured 2nd in the race, but Big E lies 2nd overnight.

In the F15s, Mike/Kayla got off to a flying start and was cover tacking Simon Longstaff/Jon Denwood up the first beat, but it was not to last as Simon took the lead until Jon missed his toestraps whilst tacking and fell overboard. The time it took to recover Jon effectively gave Mike a chance to win that he wasn’t going to give away. In the 2nd race Ian Campbell took to the water for the first time in his new acquisition, crewed by Lezli-Ann Pearson. Having held back the race for a short while as he completed a slight modification, he was lying 2nd up the first beat behind Simon. However, it wasn’t to last as he continued to sort through teething(?!) problems, and Mike passed him. Hard to believe maybe, but Jon was to fall overboard again when a toestrap worked free as he was flying the spinnaker on the tight reach – catching his foot in a sheet you’d have thought he was trying to water ski behind the F15. Again Mike ceased the opportunity to take the lead, and won the race with Ian 2nd. Mike has overnight lead.

In the GPs Andy/Rob Smith sailed consistently to take two wins from Mike/Eric. Val/Ken retired from the first race when their kicking strap failed, enabling Alan Jones/Sue Watson to take 3rd place, but Val beat Alan in the next race.

Although John/Jack Telford won both races in the Mirrors, Mik and Alan Waugh had a much closer race such they had a dead heat in the first race, with Mik beating Alan in the second race.

The first Night Jar series of the season came to an end this week on another lovely summer like evening, with light winds.

Joan/Jack Hardie in a RS400 led the fleet around the course and won, just 9 secs ahead of Tim Knowles/Martin Statter who led a group of five GPs. Notably Robert Cruickshank had an excellent race, and finished 6th overall in a fleet of 22 boats. The total number of entrants in the series reached 50, and Joan’s win secured her the series. Neil/Judith Currie were 2nd and Val/Ken Bell 3rd.

In the personal handicap version of the results, Alan Jones had a good race securing another 1st, clearly winning the series with 7pts for the seven races to count. Alan – wave bye bye to your handicap! His closest rival was Joan Hardie with 24 pts, then Val/Ken Bell 3rd.

Another glorious day with a reasonable wind better than forecast. The Jimmy Lancaster Memorial Trophy was Sunday afternoon’s race which took the fleet around the lake, and with a SW wind, as ever, Sale Fell had its effect on proceedings.

Steve Hunt/Ruth Critchley in a Merlin broke away from the fleet early and secured a good lead, however taking the middle route down the lake proved not to be the way when the wind died on them, and Joan/Jack Hardie in RS200 took the lead. Well for a while at least, because on the way back, it was Mike Moore/Kayla Sheard in F15 that were first boat back into the Northern bay, and they held the lead to the finish.

Having sailed her Solo in the morning, Val Bell had a change of boat and, unusually, crewed for Keith Thomas in a F15.

When the fleet handicaps were calculated Mike had beaten Joan by 40secs, with Steve 3rd and Scumper 4th

The 1st for Mike also counts towards Sandra’s Salver for his crew Kayla, putting her in the lead in that series, which is specifically for female crews.

Another glorious evening tempted 17 boats out to race. Neil/Judith Currie led the fleet round the course, followed by Robbie D/Ethan Dawson in an RS200, but it was the GPs that made best use of the winds with Tim Knowles/Martin Statter winning on handicap, narrowly beating Dave Nicholson/Sarah Wilkinson by just 2 secs, with Robbie D 3rd 25 secs behind. Joan/Jack, having to count their 6th position have slipped into 2nd position in the series, 0.5pts behind Neil Currie with just two races left.

Alan Jones secured another 1st on personal handicap, with Nigel Lewis 2nd and Dave Nicholson 3rd, each about 25 secs apart. Counting just 6pts, and one more race to count, Alan lead in the series in unassailable – he can say bye bye to his handicap! However, 2nd/3rd positions are still up for grabs and being fought for by Joan/Jack, Nigel and Val/Ken.

47 entrants to date, will it top 50 by the end of the series?

A deceptive overcast start to Sunday reminiscent of Autumn, but it was pleasantly warm despite the sun struggling to show its face.

The wind had more southerly in it than Saturday, but tended to have more vicious gusts too! Racing was part of the long series Asymmetric Cup and MJM Trophy. The Asymmetrics had a windward leeward course between A & B, and Joan/Jack took control of the first beat, but the offwind leg split the fleet and William/Lezli-Ann pulled through to the front with the two Vareos on his tail by the start of the next beat. Sale Fell had its effect on the winds and gusts came through each side of the course, but not consistently! Those taking the club house side of the course suffered the most severe gusts, and unusually one caught out Joan/Jack out while reaching down to the leeward mark. Rory happened to notice his shroud had come adrift just before starting the offwind leg, so he sensibly bowed out of the race. Despite various capsizes, Toggle had some good offwind legs and closed the gap on William sufficiently to win on handicap.

The MJM fleet start was delayed due to a comment by Mike Moore on the displayed course A0B. However, his alternate course A1B didn’t prove to be much better! The fleet was led by Mike/Sally in their F15 which was more suited to the blustery conditions as it relentlessly ploughed on through the waves and gusts, but it was Sam Hall in his Laser that mastered the gusts, and beat Mike on handicap by 30secs Mike/Eric finished 3rd. Although their were probably more capsizes in the MJM fleet, not unexpectedly, Nigel Lewis was one of them!

By the afternoon race the wind had swung slightly to the SW, but the gusts were more vicious. Beating to mark 9 is a challenge at the best of times, but the gusts and downdraughts off Sale Fell, with intermittent lulls, made certain it was not a race for the feint hearted! Joan/Jack gracefully bowed out at the end of the first beat. Rory and Toggle took turns at being blown in on the gybes and gusts, but had a very close race, but William/Lezli-Ann had some good, and some frustratingly calm, legs and still went on to win on handicap. Scumper leads the series, with Toggle 2nd.

Neil Garrison opted to race his Dart, but a capsize on the startline was not a good start, and he later retired, as did more than half the fleet! Sam used his skills (and weight) to master the conditions, again beating Mike/Sally with Mike/Eric, who were flattened by a gust on their final lap, 3rd. Sam leads the MJM Trophy with four 1sts.

Bass again had its own micro climate this afternoon. Blowing a gale but dry on the coast, calm inland and dry, but drizzly, changeable conditions on the lake. Sale Fell was probably the cause of most of the unsettled conditions as the wind came round each side, as well as over the top and creating some down draughts! There were numerous heavy gusts that caught different sailors out at different times.

In the Celebrity Glass Pursuit, the course was partly in the shade of Sale Fell hence approaching mark 5 the wind increased and headed as it came from the south. The OD had set the mark to be rounded to port, which meant everyone had to loop the mark before heading back towards 0, but it included a gybe in sometimes blustery conditions, and Banter Phil in his Vareo was the first capsize casualty as he gybed. Later on the beat, Alistair/Claire Duncan were flattened by a gust on the beat, which was the same fate for Emma Williams in her Laser as she approached the finish line, enabling Neil Garrison to pass her. Although Mike Fairlamb/Eric Smith led most of the race, as it was a pursuit, and faster boats were chasing, the lead was lost with two legs to go – first Steve/Elaine Hunt passed in their Merlin, and then William Carruthers/Lezli-Ann Pearson in an RS400 got through. Jo Watkins leads the series with Neil Garrison 2nd.

After a tea break, the 2nd race was a championship long series. William led, took advantage of Steve’s gear failure causing him to retire, and went on to win the race. Banter Phil was next over the line but finished 4th on handicap behind Neil Garrison and Jo Watkins. Scumper still has a strong lead in the series ahead of Jo.

Alistair/Claire had a better race and were not too far behind Mike/Eric, though neither boat opted to use spinnakers!

A wet day may have led to a quieter turnout this evening of 13 boats, but clearly it was all very competitive.

Neil/Judith in their RS400 beat Dave Nicholson/Sarah Wilkinson in a GP by just 10 secs on fleet handicap, with the next bunch of five boats, led by Jo Watkins, a couple of minutes behind, but all within a minute of each other. Although Joan/Jack Hardie and Dave/Lynn Lawson did not sail, they still hold 1st and 2nd positions with Neil/Judith lying 3rd just a couple of points behind.

On a personal handicap basis, Alan Jones has found his form again and cemented his lead in the series, beating Paul Clark by 90 secs with Dave/Sarah and Emma Williams finishing within another 35 secs. Joan/Jack still lie 2nd with Dave/Lyn 3rd

Overall this series has had an excellent turnout of 44 boats to date – if you haven’t joined in, perhaps you’re missing out on the fun!

Where was everyone today? All at home enjoying breakfast in bed, or perhaps playing with their new iPads. Whatever the reason for the low turnout, many people missed a good sail.

The morning race was part of a long championship series, and the OD was keen to make sure the race incorporated� a beat, run, reach and fetch. Joan/Jack Hardie in their RS200 fended off competition from Toggle in his Vareo to beat him by just over 1 min on handicap, with Jo Watkins in a Laser Radial 3rd ahead of Peter Ballard in his Supernova.

In the F15s, Mike/Kayla had an early cover tacking regime over Tim/Ian such that they were both over 13 secs behind the start, Mike stayed ahead and won, giving him a one point lead in the series over Tim.

Mike/Eric in GPs ambled round the course beating Kath/Glenys by a good 9 mins!

The afternoon race was a pennant in aid of RNLI, and, as ever, the course took the fleet around the lake. Kath/Glenys were too busy chatting to get niggling faults sorted on their boat to get out to the start on time, so returned ashore at the end of the first beat. The OD was again pleased that the fleet would have a beat, run, reach and fetch in the race, little did he expect that four different boats would be on separate states within yards of each other on the same leg of the course! (Check out http://t.co/Hapuznd) Such are the conditions on a round the laker. Mike/Kayla were first to the end of the lake after about 40 mins, but there were another three boats closely on their tail viz. Joan/Jack, Tim/Ian and Toggle. Also, Mike/Eric were sailing well on handicap and just three mins behind the leading bunch.

Conditions on the return leg were equally changeable, and although Mike broke away several times, there were numerous occasions when the lead was threatened such that he was to finish his day’s racing as he started – cover tacking Tim/Ian! After 90 mins sailing, Mike finished ahead of Tim by 3 secs, and won on handicap. Joan/Jack were 2 mins behind, and Mike/Eric another 20 secs later.

Sandra’s Salver is for lady crews in pennant races, as Kayla was the only lady crew to finish she gets 1st place, but Sue Watson still leads the series.