Well meteorlogical started today, with lots of sunshine, but the wind was not the OD’s best friend. It was slow to fill in, when it did, it shifted wildly, faded, and came back in from another direction, then continued to back to the west throughout the afternoon racing.
Banter/Rory in their RS200 managed to break away from the rest of the fleet before the wind died early in the first race, so the race was very brief as there was a concern that the remaining boats could take an eternity to finish. In the handicap fleet, Banter won with the Solos of Stan and Hugh finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. Oscar in his Tera won the slow handicap race, from Hannah/Zara in a Feva.
The next race looked promising, only for the wind to fade briefly at the start, then fill in, and swing so that there were no beats on the course! Not the conditions to do turns as Stan and Banter found to their cost. Rory won in his Solo, with Mike/Jack in a Graduate 2nd, and Hugh 3rd.
In the GPs, Val/Ken and James/Jenny each had a 1st and a 2nd.
Sunday’s wind was just as challenging for the OD. The course was set to have two beats in slightly different directions, but the wind didn’t always play ball! Towards the end of the morning race the wind strengthened.
The wind held for the afternoon pursuit race held in the main bay, so there was much more sitting out required, with the occasional ducking (well for Chris in his 300 at least!)
Sunshine and a SE breeze tempted a fleet of 45 boats on to the water to compete for the Mark Ninnim memorial trophy.
Taking advantage of the wind direction a course was set to mark 7 at Scarness, so it was slightly worrying when the F2 eased shortly after the first start, but it returned, then faded again during the finishing sequence. On corrected time, Caroline/Dave Exley in a RS400 took the first win just 11 secs ahead of Dave/Lynn Lawson in their GP.
The next race had a shorter main beat to 8, and started in light airs, but filled in within a few minutes. On handicap Dave/Lynn beat Chris/Evie Pickles in a RS200 by 8 secs, winning the trophy, with Matt/Oliver Sharman in Laser 2000 2nd overall having secured two 3rds.
The weekend series being held over Sunday and Monday will have a separate series for asymmetric boats using windward/leeward course .
On Sunday the weather was very similar to Saturday but with drizzle instead of any sunshine!
The wind dropped over the lunch break, and the forecast wasn’t looking promising for it to return, but it did (fortunately!). Despite there not being a lot of wind Caroline had the opportunity to practice righting her capsized boat!
At the end of the race there was a 120 degree shift to the west so the start line was relocated for a short, manageable, windward/leeward course for the third and final race of the day. As the wind did drop yet again, the short course proved to be a sensible option!
Monday was overcast but generally dry with a SW F3-4, the best wind of the weekend. The wind was as shifty as ever, and eased slightly towards the end of the morning race, but there were numerous opportunities for planing, and several boats capsized throughout the course of the day.
In the F15s, Andy Tunicliffe/Ian Hopwood won both races, with Robin Dawson/Mike Cowan runners up, but their results overall earned them the Scarness Cup, with Ian Campbell/Lezliann Pearson/Ian Preston 2nd overall.
The GPs did not race, so Val/Ken Bell won the Graham Cup, with AJ/Sue Watson 2nd.
Matt/Oliver Sharman and Mark Somerville/Neil Campbell each won a race in the asymmetric fleet, but it was Chris/Evie Pickles that won overall with three wins from Sunday, Matt/Oliver were 2nd.
Dave/Lynn Lawson sailed in the non asymmetric handicap fleet, and won the Wythop series with four wins. Guy Wheeler/Elaine Ross were on equal points with Andy Smith, but beat him on tie break.
Four wins for Phil/Lucy Smith won them the Reflection trophy, with Alex/Saskia Leonard 2nd.
We are intending on running a windward leeward experiment for the Wythop 5 race series held on the 26th and 27th of May. The handicap fleet will start as normal but a specific course will be added for boats within this class with an asymmetric spinnaker. This course will be a windward leeward and use the 1st mark of the course as the windward mark and then the leeward mark would be the penultimate mark prior to Y/Z with the requirement to pass through Y/Z each lap. These boats if individually shortened would be under specific class flag ‘numeral 9’. Y/Z has not been mandated for this windward leeward course as we are not sure a third Y/Z plate is available on the committee boat.
Results for handicap will be calculated as two separate fleets and results used for club championship. This is a single weekend experiment which will be followed up by a general members survey for consideration over the winter. The above wording is an addition to section 5, courses of the sailing instructions.
Any questions feel free to catch me at the weekend.
A sunny Saturday greeted over 40 boats across the two fleets in the GP14 Northern championship and Solo open meeting. Unusually the wind was from the NE, and, with a better strength than forecast, the OD aimed to get four races in ahead of Sunday’s light forecast.
The GP fleet were first to start, but too early, so there was a general recall. The immediate introduction of the black flag for all subsequent starts worked well to temper their eagerness.
As often typical at Bassenthwaite, the wind swung, and varied in strength throughout the afternoon, and the cause of some mixed fortunes.
After two races, the wind veered to the E/SE, faded, then filled back in again from the NE. The race was started, but the windswung again removing the beat, and, with the second beat was not looking promising, the race was abandoned. The OD waited for more than half an hour, but the wind did not settle, so racing was postponed until Sunday morning.
Sunday had lots more sun but the wind shied away until noon when there was some unexpected flurries from the forecast direction. By 1230 there was sufficient for the OD to venture onto the water to determine if racing should resume, which it did just under three hours after the scheduled start time.
Generally, the wind held throughout the afternoon, but it proved to be very shifty again, and there was some head scratching by the OD trying to determine where the beat was likely to settle for what was to be the fourth and final race of the weekend.
As with Saturday, the wind shifts resulted in a game of snakes and ladders for some, though Thomas Gillard and Shandy from Sheffield Viking succeeded in getting to the top of the ladder in all four races and had a clean sweep of the GP silverware, to become the winners of the Northern championship.
The Solo open was not as clear cut, with the result being determined on the final race between three helms. Innes Armstrong from Burwain took the honours, with John Reekie from Bassenthwaite 2nd.
It is with sadness we have learnt of the sudden passing of Aileen Telford. Aileen is a long standing active member of the club, widow of Herb, a past commodore and official starter.
Funeral arrangements (now confirmed)
1pm 28th May at St James Church, High St, Whitehaven CA28 7PY and afterwards at Whitehaven golf club
Our thoughts are with daughter Lezliann, son John, and their families at this sad time.
Weekend sailors enjoyed the best conditions of the season so far, with warm, sunny weather, and light-medium southerly winds.
Not exactly capsizing conditions, though John Reekie seemed to upturned several times. There was sufficient wind for Neil to suffer from aching muscles on Sunday as he got used to sailing a Laser while Archie waits for his hand to recover�
AJ/Sue had some close racing with Val/Ken with a fair share of wins between them.
The Sunday afternoon pennant race in aid of the Jubilee Sailing Trust raised interest as to whether the course would be around the lake. With the wind having been lighter than forecast for the morning race, the OD opted to use 10 as the windward mark, however, the wind had freshened and bedded in. Before the fleet had reached 7, several sailors decided discretion was the better part of valour, and headed ashore. Toggle was one of them planning to retire but capsized beforehand!
Those that continued had a hard slog up to the windward mark but enjoyed some good planing conditions on the route down to mark 2. Reekie continued his capsize routines, and had Phil/Oscar in a RS400 chasing hard. It�s a shame they both went around the next leeward mark the wrong way�
Neil Campbell almost made the same error on the final mark but recovered to beat Val/Ken on the line, and win the race on handicap.
The bank holiday weekend was busy on and off the water, with the club hosting an open meeting for Catapults, and the Mirror Northerns alongside club racing. Though the forecast was for relatively light winds, it freshened to F3-4 in time for afternoon racing, and, as usual, oscillating in direction, generally from the SW.
The total of 50 boats across three fleets was a magnificant sight. All starts for the day were clear, and there was some close racing, with various position changes for those that took advantage of, or missed, the swinging shifts. Several legs offered great planing conditions, and there were a few capsizes, and a couple of gear failures.
Paul/Jude Allen were trialling a Melges 15, securing a 1st and 2nd on handicap to win the Paul Carruthers Memorial Trophy, with Dave Lawson/Mike Fairlamb in a GP 2nd, and Val/Ken Bell in a GP 3rd.
Will/Isabelle Crocker from Welton SC had a 1st and 2nd to take overnight lead in the Mirror Northerns, ahead of Angus/Isla Armstrong from West Kirkby, and Phil/Lucy Smith from Bassenthwaite.
Sunday morning was dry after a wet night for the campers. The wind was light but started to fill in from the forecast SW direction, however, when the OD was setting the line/course the wind direction was coming from all directions! It did settle down from the SW again, so a line was set and racing started only for the wind to back to the S as a dark cloud moved in. Just before the Mirror start the races were abandoned until the wind had settled again. Next start got underway, but the first beat was light for a short while.
After lunch the wind had veered more to the W, then later through the race backed to the WSW which cast a shadow over part of the beat, slowing the final lap for some boats which took up to 80 minutes to finish.
The wind came back, and the last race held, though many boats had opted to call it a day.
In the F15s, Ian/Lezliann took three wins, though Angus Corry/Mike Hunter had led one race for a while only to miss out the gate after the first lap. Ian/Lezliann are overnight leaders with Cliff English 2nd.
Val/Ken won the first GP race, but AJ/Sue won the next two to take the overnight lead.
In the handicap fleet, Robin sailed Tog’s Solo winning the first two races to take overnight lead, with Guy/Elaine in a Graduate securing two 2nds, to lie 2nd.
The Mirror results counted for the club championship as well as the Northerns, so Phil/Lucy lead with three wins ahead of Naomi/Scarlet.
In the Mirror Northerns, after five races, Phil/Lucy Smith lead ahead of Matthew/Albie McGovern, and Angus/Isla Armstrong.
Monday started with a mirror like lake, but zephyrs appeared just after noon, and most of the bay was soon filled with a light breeze, so the OD took to the water, and racing was underway just after 1pm. By the time the Mirrors were nearing the leeward mark at the end of the first lap the F1-2 breeze had eased. With more wind filling in at the top of the next beat, the race continued, but it didn’t last for long so the race was shortened at the top of the beat.
Ian/Lezliann took another win and won the Jak Pot trophy for F15s. The GPs did not race, so AJ/Sue kept their lead position and won the Lyne Tankard. Chris/Evie in their RS200 won on handicap, with Phil/Rory 2nd, but a 4th for Robin was sufficient to win the May Holiday trophy, with Chris/Evie 2nd, and Dave/Lynn 3rd. Phil/Lucy had another win in the Mirrors/Teras and won the Peel Pot.
In the Mirror Northerns, Phil/Lucy Smith had led to the leeward mark, but was passsed by Will/Isobelle Crocker. Matthew/Albie McGovern opted for the left side of the final beat, and took advantage of the zephyr that filled in as the wind backed more to the west, being sufficient to take them through to the lead and win the championship, with Phil/Lucy 2nd.
Northern Championship winners Matthew & Albie McGovern
Only Junior team Rueben Allen & Oliver Smith
Youngest crew Phoebe Leonard
All the Junior sailors
In the Catapults, positions were very consistent, with Gareth Ede taking two 1sts, George Evans two 2nds, and Stuart Ede two 3rds. Sunday’s results were much more varied, but Gareth maintained his overall lead ahead of Stuart moving forward to 2nd, then George. With a lack of promise for a decent breeze on Monday, the Catapults opted to call it a day with no further racing, so the Sunday evening results stood.
We have learned of the death earlier this week of Pat DeRedder, wife of former sailing secretary Max DeRedder.
Max and Pat were club members for over 30 years.
Pat was a former magistrate, and supported Max in various activities including sailing in GPs and Flying 15s, and racing/driving/maintaining vintage cars, for which many longer standing members will have known them.
Saturday started off with clear blue skies, but by the afternoon the clouds had moved in and removed any benefit of the sunshine in the cold NE breeze which filled in just in time for racing.
There being just one asymmetric boat sailed by Neil/Archie, it raced in the MJ� series, and led the fleet in both races ahead of Dave/Lynn in their GP. Val/Ken launched their GP in time for the second race, and had some good racing with Dave/Lynn, finishing just a few seconds behind.
On handicap, Dave/Lynn won both races to lead the series, with Rory taking two 3rds, lying 2nd overall.
Sunday’s conditions were similar, cold, overcast, and a light F2 from the north. The fleet of five boats stayed relatively close together with less than two minutes between 1st and last. Paul in a Laser led the fleet across the finish line, but on handicap the honours went to Dave L in a Radial. with Mike F in a Streaker 2nd.
After lunch break the wind freshened, Chris in a RS300, despite numerous capsizes, persevered to finish the course. Dave L was 1st across the line, with Toggle in his Solo 2nd, and Mike F 3rd, with corrected times reaffirming the finish order. Dave L leads the series
Saturday greeted sailors with sunshine and patches of wind that filled in from the NNW in time for scheduled afternoon racing, though, after the first lap, the wind came and went, backed to the W before filling back in again from the NNW in cycles. Consequently some boats took 80mins to finish the first race.
The wind faded shortly after the start of the next race which was soon shortened to avoid another drifting finish, much to the relief of many, as well as Shunty who had advised the OD he had a table booked for 7.30!
There was close racing at times, and mixed fortunes, with various positions being swapped. AJ/Sue were on the better side of the mixed fortunes, taking two wins in the GPs from James/Jenny. Andrew Reekie secured two wins in the Teras from Rory Davenport.
Sunday was more overcast, with a forecast of a lighter wind. Again the wind swung, and varied in strength. There was a brief period at the end of the first lap when the fleet bunched up as the wind dropped, but it filled in again to continue the race for another lap. Phil/Rory in a RS200 led the fleet across the finish line, but on handicap John Reekie in a Solo won, with Dave Lawson in a Laser Radial 2nd.
The next race was the Albert Bates Retirement Trophy; although the wind was light on the first beat, it freshended for the rest of the race. Banter/Rory were on top form, pulling out a strong lead from Neil/Archie in a RS200, then Mike/Sally in a F15. On handicap Banter won, with Neil/Archie and Dave Lawson tying for 2nd place.
