Following� the championship series held last weekend, the overall club championship results have been compiled and can be viewed here
Many congratulations to this year�s champions, new and old, as listed below! Though you may need to click the heading to view them!…
| Fleet | Helm/Crew |
|---|---|
| Flying 15s | Robin Dawson/Mike Cowan |
| GPs | Val/Ken Bell |
| Handicap | Dave/Lynn Lawson |
| Mirror | Phil/Oliver Smith |
| Tera | Oscar Davenport |
An excellent turnout of 50 boats for the Flying 15 northern championship, after high winds over the last couple of days, were greeted with plenty of sunshine and a mirror like lake, with a forecast of F1 from the east.
At 11am the AP was raised as there was little chance of the racing starting at the scheduled start time of 12 Noon. By 11.30, there was signs of the wind filling in from the southern end of the lake, and the OD, sailing secretary John Reekie, went out to investigate. 10 mins later he returned and advised the AP would be removed at 12 Noon with a view to starting at 12.45pm.
In order to find steadier winds, the OD had to head as far south as Bowness bay, some 2 miles away from the club launch area! Although the wind was F4-5, it was from the SSW, nothing like the forecast, and the OD was concerned that it would not last too long, especially as there was a risk of the sea breeze having a dramatic effect on sailing conditions. Having the corse so far down the lake caused issues for the race management team because the lake is so much deeper, and extended warps for start marks, as well as course buoys. The depth and swell required two anchors to enable the committee boat to stay on station!
Despite the advice for sailors to get launched, it was after 1pm before everyone was in the starting area, and racing could get underway.
The fleet was given the chance of a soft, unrestricted, P flag start, only for it to be thrown away by the need for a general recall. The next start used the U flag for which four boats were disqualified due to being OCS, including several Bass boats, and race leader Andy Tunicliffe/Ian Hopwood, so no favouritism there!
The windward/leeward course did not offer any planing conditions, but the wind held, and resulted in various crash tacks/collisions.
The U flag did not curb sailors’ enthusiasm on the start line so, after another general� recall, the black flag was used for subsequent races.
Unexpectedly, the F4 last for the first two races, then eased slightly for the next race, after which various sailors convinced themselves that was the end, but the OD wanted to make best use of the available wind as Sunday’s forecast was not at all promising. A fourth race was started in F2 but, after rounding the windward mark, there was clear risk of it fading if the race was prolonged, so it was shortened at the end of the first lap.
On Sunday there was a delay until the wind filled in, after which the OD invited the fleet on to the water, aiming for a 11.10am start. A course was set up, then moved, and moved again as the wind veered towards the east. It later backed towards the forecast northerly direction, but apart from the gusts it rarely reached 5mph so by 12.30pm the fleet headed ashore as the wind faded.
At 1pm, the wind had filled in from the NE, but with little prospect of the minimum desired wind bedding in, racing was postponed for the day.
The prize giving followed with thanks to all by Commodores Ian and Andrea Preston
Final results
Considering the weather over recent weeks, ironically, the final Saturday of meteorological summer started with an abundance of bright sunshine and a lack of wind, it filled in from the south with some white horses in the narrows at Scarness.
As racing started, the wind backed and eased, took away planing conditions, and minimised the risk of capsizing (much to AJ�s relief). Though Dave/Lynn won both races in the GPs, they didn�t have it all their own way, and had to pass AJ/Sue in the first race! AJ sailed consistently enough to secure 2nd place in both races.
Neil/Archie led both handicap races by a large margin, securing a 1st and a 2nd. Ian in a Solo was the other winner, while Rory, also in a Solo, took the other 2nd
Sunday�s forecast was somewhat mixed with conflicting predictions as to the direction (E and NW). During the morning there was a patchy NE that filled in with a vengeance just before sailors headed out.
The beat on the course was soon very one sided as the wind veered more to the south, and though the OD anticipated the wind would back again to the east, it didn�t so the race was shortened after 30 minutes. Neil/Archie led and won the handicap race, while Dave/Lynn won the GPs.
The next race was the RNLI pennant, in the distant past held around the lake. However, with the southerly breeze holding out, there was an appetite to head down the lake by all sailors, so a compromise course down to mark 10 was agreed.
The fleet stayed very close together, and Neil/Archie in their RS200 led, with AJ/Sue next around the windward mark, ahead of Dave/Lynn, a position they held for most of the run down to 3. Dave had taken heed of the light and fluky airs along the eastern shoreline, and by keeping west he pulled back to make it a close fight to the finish.
Coming in to the final mark the GPs seemed to be taking it to starboard instead of port, much to the consternation of Neil who was reaching in on starboard! Consequently AJ got flustered and dropped back from being 1st on the water to 3rd as Neil, then Dave got past, there being no more than 4 secs between them all!
Dave won on handicap , AJ 2nd , and Neil 3rd
RNLI pennant overall results
For the last bank holiday of the sailing season, there has been an additional day’s camping. After two wet and stormy nights, there were plenty of sunny intervals for racing on Saturday.
Although a few sailors found the high base wind level offputting, there was a good turnout for the afternoon races. There was plenty of close racing, with little room for mistakes.
The wind eased temporarily after the first start, but then returned with good gusts to provide some exciting planing reaches. There were various capsizes, and several benefitted from the higher lake levels as they discovered their burgee still in place after turtling!
Robbie D/Toggle won both races in the F15. In the handicap fleet Chris/Laura in a RS200 won the first race, with Phil/Rory winning the second. In the slow handicap fleet Oscar/Poppy in a Feva won one race, and Oliver in a Tera the other.
Latest DW series results
Sunday’s forecast for higher base winds, higher gusts, and plenty of rain was almost correct (the rain showers weren’t particularly heavy!), and despite a two hour postponement the conditions didn’t improve sufficiently to tempt anyone to go out out (though Oliver was keen to have a shot!)
Monday’s wind was much more amenable, though it tried the OD’s patience by rapidly shifting more to the SW soon after the start sequence!. The bonus being that backing to the SW meant one of the reaches was better for planing.
The F3/F4 was sufficient to make the sailors work hard to stay upright, and there were a few capsizes, including AJ/Sue to name but one, but the racing was good.
With the series curtailed to just two races, there was no discards. Robbie D/Toggle won both races and the Flying Free Trophy. Chris/Evie won the August Trophy, with Dave/Lynn 2nd. Phil/Lucy won the Mirror Mug with Andy/daughter 2nd
A flood alert was issued this evening from Bassenthwaite to Workington and Crummock to Workington for Wednesday and Thursday.
Please keep an eye on lake levels as water is already quite high.
After a busy Bass Week, with another windy forecast, the enthusiasm for racing has yet to return. The few sailors that turned up decided racing wouldn�t be close enough, so racing was cancelled for the day.
Next week�s long bank holiday weekend is bound to be very busy !
With Bass Week 24 starting on Saturday, a final working party to finalise preparations will be held on Tuesday from 10am. All help will be welcomed.
Follow the action on our Bass Week website
To bring the regatta to a close, the schedule today is two races on the orange course and three on the black course with the prize giving later this afternoon
Thursday was full on, with 5 races on the Orange and Black courses and a disco late into the evening. Thankfully the wind gods played ball, with west-south-west winds blowing consistently most of the day.