 Another new member has been born in the shape of George Alfred a son to Roy and Cath, who weighed in at 8lb 1oz at 10:18 on Saturday morning. All doing well
Meanwhile back on the water, the north east breeze resulted in the OD and Herb freezing their little socks off on the committee boat as the fleets sailed around the courses in moderate airs. Scumper and Ruth led the handicap fleet to take two firsts from Mike Moore and Kayla. William and Elaine came in third each time. John and Janis Halliday retired from the first race following a capsize at the 2nd to last mark. Trevor Craig suffered a capsize as well. Some reckoned it was warmer in the water than out of it! Toddy had a good first race in the mirrors and beat Mik. In the second race he was close to Mik until he had a problem taking down his kite at a leeward mark, allowing Mik to romp home to victory. In the GPs Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith had two victories. Mike Turner and Sue Watson came a valiant second in front of Nigel Lewis, but the increasing winds meant they called it a day and they quit while they were ahead. |
SUNday
Not as muggy as Saturday, but certainly a lot sunnier 🙂 The light airs struggled to fill in, but when the OD went out and set a line, Herb started to get frustrated when the boats on the shore with sails up made no effort to move to the start line. Robbie D checked what was happening on the radios only to be told that the line was set and everyone had to get on the water NOW! Well Herb did reckon they’d been waiting 45 mins. So the boats that were ready went out and others followed only to find Herb wasn’t waiting any longer, so Scumper, Toggle, and William gave the rest of the fleet about 6 mins start. Robbie D and Ethan took an early lead and their only competition was Roy Blackburn with Lewis Tyson. The light breeze did hold, and it looked promising for the afternoon race around the lake.
Not sure what is it about water from the sky (rain), but sailors seem to avoid it where possible. So when it came down torrentially everyone huddled in the foyer waiting for it to pass over, which it did after 15mins or so. However, it had killed the wind so racing didn’t seem to be too enticing. About half an hour after the start the wind filled in from the south and boats were able to do some planing. Alan Nicholson christened his new Solo with his first capsize of the season.
NB Separate report for Youth racing on Youth Squad pages
Saturday Sailing
After a hot sunny week, Saturday was disappointingly hazy and muggy. A taster session was held during the morning for newcomers to the sport. This was followed by some Youth Squad training and a race (or should that be a drift). With the lake mirror like, it seemed unlikely that any club racing would get underway in the afternoon. The wind did fill in a little and boats were preparing for the pursuit race, but the wind faded again, and the OD cancelled racing.
Perhaps tomorrow!…
Bass Youth Squad Saturday Series
Overall
| Rank | Class | PY | SailNo | Helm | R1 | R2 | Nett |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Byte | 1162 | Joe Watkins | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | |
| 2nd | Topper | 1290 | Rory Towler | 4.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | |
| 3rd | Topper | 1290 | Christina Tully | 6.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | |
| 4th | Topper | 1290 | Lewis Tyson | 3.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | |
| 5th | Topper | 1290 | Ewan Clark | 5.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | |
| 6th | Topper | 1290 | James Springell | 2.0 | DNC | 13.0 | |
| 7th | Topper | 1290 | Ethan Dawson | 7.0 | 6.0 | 13.0 | |
| 8th | Topper | 1290 | Jordan Helling | 8.0 | DNC | 19.0 | |
| 9th | DNC | DNC | 22.0 | ||||
| 9th | DNC | DNC | 22.0 |
Sailwave Scoring Software 1.94 Build 29
www.sailwave.com
More Bank Holiday Successes
On Bank Holiday Monday, 5th. May, Sam Hall competed in the latest North West Junior Travellers Series at Budworth S C . Sam won his event and is seen here collecting a silver cup, plaque and a �15 voucher.
Meanwhile David and Lynn Lawson sailed consistently at Lochmaben to the Scottish Area Championship out of a fleet of beat Twenty-two GP14s. Mike Fairlamb & Eric Smith won the silver fleet. More info
Paul Wright and Ian Preston came 10th in the F15 Northern Championships at Windermere, with Scott Beattie and John Somerville finishing 24th in a fleet of 54 boats
Ron Beck
It is with sadness we announce that Ron Beck has passed away. His funeral was held at Brigham Church. He leaves his wife Daphne
Bank Holiday Monday
Can’t be! It’s Sunny! Shame is that there’s no wind. Bass is again the epicentre of its own micro-climate. From time to time ripples on the water tease us into thinking the wind is filling in and settling down. No such luck. Even the forecast SE breeze is likely to be counteracted by the sea breeze. Another waiting game. Nice day for it though.
The wind has continued to come and go and the Catapult Association have called it as day on their National Championship, so the latest results, after 5 races, stand
Steve Hunt gave the closing speech and the trophies were awarded by his wife Elaine
Murphy’s Law ruled, and the wind came in following the prize giving allowing the club sailors to get on the water. The wind settled in from the north, completely opposite to the forecast! Shunty stormed off from the starboard end of the line at the start signal, while Scumper stalled on the start line and set off last, tacked right, and was first to the windward mark! Robbie D and Ethan, also benefited from the wind on the right hand side of the course and rounded second. The windward mark was in the lee of the shore and was challenging to approach at times.
The run to the wing mark gave Mike and Kayla the chance to get ahead of William and Elaine, and Mike enjoyed putting his luffing skills into action, although it had no real effect other than to cause Elaine to comment on his builder’s bum!
Sailing Secretary Roy Blackburn was out on the water for the first time this season, crewed by Sally Roberts, and had a minor catastrophe when the boom came off the mast, but they did survive the whole race without a capsize!
On handicap, Robbie D won followed by another three RS200s, and then Scumper. Although not enough to beat Scumper overall, the first gave Robbie D second overall in the series
Quiz Night
The social event of the weekend was the Sunday night quiz – Boys v Girls. Devised by Kayla and Gary the men had to answer girlie questions (e.g. What is the average number of items girls get in a handbag?) while the ladies had to answer boys questions (e.g. What is LBW?). It seems the girls were able to take on the boys questions with ease while the boys struggled at times.One of the big questions was why the boys had Commodore Shunty as captain when he hadn’t won anything for such a long time! The other sad truth is that the boys did know the answers, but didn’t recall them when required – ask Ian Preston!
Congratulations to the girls on winning by the narrowest of margins 🙁
Action Photos
Rich Critchley took various photos at the weekend which can be found on the following link.
Also, some more photos have been added to the Youth Squad gallery
Catapult National Championships 2008
The warmest bank holiday weekend of the year, with a strong southerly breeze, greeted a fleet of nine catapult association sailors for their national championship. The gusts caught out some sailors and results in a capsize – catamarans not being easy boats to right! With a southerly being the ideal direction for going round the lake, the OD set a course right to the southern end – a 35min beat, followed by a zigzag reaching course back to the finish. After 2 races, Roger Hodgkinson of Herne Bay is in the lead with a 2nd and a 1st.
Club racing took place alongside the Catapults with another two races in the Barf Plate series.� In the first race Steve and Ruth took the lead from Scumper and Zepher on the penultimate reach before the finish, and won the race on handicap.
The race around the lake proved to be hard slog even for the beefcakes. William and Elaine were first to 12 out of the RS400s, but Mike Moore and Kayla in an F15 were not too far behind. Scumper took the lead and broke away on the reach to 11 after William gybed and wineglassed his gennaker. As the fleet sailed the final beat from 1 to 0, the shadow of Sale Fell caused the relative positions to go somewhat awry. Robbie D and Phil Hodgkins passed Bean and Naomi, but Mike Moore held his position and won on handicap
Laser/Mirror/Handicap Open
Sat 12pm: Too many people must have been looking at the forecast to travel today! That includes club members. Of those that have turned up there are presently 5 boats preparing to venture out. Whether they stay up or out is a totally different matter.
1.45pm: Stay upright? No chance! The first capsize was by Paul at rescue boat moorings. Big E and Toggle were both doing capsize practice before the start as well. Andy and Emma were the first to get across the lake, no gennaker, but flying! There were only three starters – Scumper and Zepher in an RS400, Andy and Emma in an RS200 and Big E in a Laser.
2pm: Scumper was the only boat to make it to the windward mark, so no pressure. Didn’t stop them put up their gennaker offwind. Then they capsized (Kayla had a 5p bet saying they wouldn’t!) – nil points for style. The boat went straight over again, and then they got their act together and put the gennaker up again. The next capsize was much more spectacular – Well worth watching!
2.30pm: Will they finish the race? Yes, Scumper did finish and then went to pose for T who was taking some photos!
2.45pm: With the wind easing, it looks as if the OD is going to send the fleet out for more.
4.45pm: And he did. There were several more takers this time, and a few more finishers too, but not quite so many capsizes – only the single handers and Barry Lancaster in a National 12.
T was in a rescue boat, taking more photos and all up for giving William and Elaine a bit of banter for not flying their gennaker. Robbie D had the same thought. Shame William had left his in the garage! Elaine was all for borrowing Steve’s only to find it had a hole in it.
It was to be the visiting Albacore helmed by Judy Armstrong with husband Paul that won the race from Scumper by 40secs on handicap. Bean and Naomi’s dash from Newcastle was worth it, when they secured third overall. Three more races tomorrow, but the forecast is for much less wind
Andy’s Tip of the Day: Don’t let the air out of your drysuit when you’re in the water and a wave’s crashing over you because the water gets in!
The mist came down early Sunday morning, and was lifting. There was some air movement towards Scarness but would it make it to the Northern end? The betting was yes, by 1130! The general forecast was not good though.
While waiting for the wind it was time to catch up on the gossip. The days of the ladies using (or sharing?!) the gents showers may be over. A well known amenable plumber (any clues from the photo? Any guesses where the tattoo is?) had a session in the ladies showers, together with several male and female onlookers, with pleasing results. There was an offer to test the showers for an hour, but that is yet to be taken up! All in all, the showers now get the ladies wet, all be it for only a few seconds at a time. Such is life 🙂
The wind did not fill in, and with little prospect of it doing so racing was cancelled at 1pm so the overnight results stand.
The prizes were presented by the Commodore’s wife, Elaine Hunt
