As expected, the lake continued to rise overnight and the lower boat park is flooded.
Is your boat safe? Does it need moved?
With a mass of water, but lack of wind, those that were down were more interested in moving their boats to safety just in case the lake rises again, so the racing was cancelled.
The enthusiasm of the handful of people that turned up to sail rapidly waned as the light conditions at 1pm were blown away by ever increasing winds, evident by a mass of white horses visible when looking down wind!
Racing was cancelled with a vow to try again tomorrow.
With the lake level currently rising at a rate of 30mm/hour, and likely to rise more overnight, it may be prudent to check your boat on Sunday and decide whether it needs moved to higher ground.
Due to the atrocious forecast for Saturday it has been decided to cancel this weekend’s F15 team racing.
Club racing is still scheduled, but actual conditions will determine whether racing can proceed.
After causing chaos in America, there’s another storm heading our way with gusts forecast to exceed 60mph over the next few days.
Is your boat properly tied down? It may be a good time to check to avoid damage to your, and your neighbour’s, boat
October is here, the autumn is setting in, but with the sun shining again, there was a fleet of 15 boats across various fleets for the first races in the Autumn Saturday series.�
Alex took the lead in his RS100, but failed to properly note down the course so was keen to double check it as he pass the committee boat! Neil’s Laser sail was somewhat floppy as he forgot to put battens in it!
Bob managed to get entangled on the committee boat’s anchor warp – AJ was keen to point out that he had never done that. Watch this space!
There were occasional planing conditions, but generally the wind was relatively light with the inevitable wind shifts to contend with. It was good to see Joan/Jack back on the water (for the first race at least), and they haven’t lost their form finishing 3rd on handicap.
Alex’s strong performance, earned him two wins on fleet handicap. Mike/Kayla and Dave/Lynn each had a 2nd position. On personal handicap, Alex took the first win ahead of Joan/Jack, while Mike Cave won the second race, with Bob Gate 2nd
Sunday had a forecast of high winds which would increase� through the day, and that is what happened. Though there was a good breeze when sailors arrived, various� persuaded themselves it was best to use smaller Laser Radial sails, or in Paul’s case Topper sails! The wind did increase even by the time racing was underway.
With no OD to hand, racing was started from the finish line transit at the race office. The simple, trapezoidal course, was no appreciated by Mike/Kayla because there was a true dead run, and without using a spinnaker they were nose diving from time to time. The gusty conditions were too much for all the single handers as they all capsized, as did Val/Ken.
The heavy keel on Mike/Kayla’s F15 worked to their advantage in the heavy winds, enabling them to win by 40 secs on handicap ahead of Dave/Lynn in their GP. Having caught up with Val/Ken when they capsized, AJ/Sue were disappointed that they had to sail one more lap so retired.
Although the wind seemed to settle over lunch, the sailors had warmed up, got comfortable, and opted not to venture out again, so it was an early finish and home.
Next weekend the annual F15 team racing event takes place starting at 1pm. Club racing will run as usual, starting at 2.30pm.
September is drawing to a close, and the temperature dipping, but the sun shone for an afternoon of medium winds to power the fleets around the course. With a couple of incidents before the start Nigel didn’t actually make it over the start line… First of all Paul got his Laser’s mainsheet caught around the bow of Nigel’s GP, causing Paul to capsize, and then be towed backwards! Then, just before the start Nigel capsized, righted the boat and capsized again getting the mast stuck in the mud, so it was all over before he started. Despite this, Nigel’s overall results were sufficient to beat Val/Ken, who won both races,� by a couple of points to win the Autumn Cup.�
In the F15s Mike/Kayla took an early lead from Ian/Tim who sailed well on the run to take the lead for a while, but Mike broke back through on the following beat, and held it through to the finish. The finishing order was the same in the second race. Mike/Kayla’s results gave them a clean sweep to win the Dawson Trophy, with Ian/Lezli-Ann 2nd.
After some soul searching, Joe was pleased to have opted for his Radial sail in the blustery conditions. He led the handicap fleet, winning on handicap from Tog and Paul Gannon, with the same results in the second race. This maintained Joe’s clear lead in the Skiddaw Trophy, with Paul 2nd.
With no racing in the slow handicap fleet, Mik kept his lead to win the MT Bates Trophy.
Please note that Sunday’s racing will start at 11.30 am as usual, rather than� 14.30 hrs as incorrectly stated in the handbook
Sunday’s showery start put Mike F off preparing his boat for a short while until it stopped! At the start he held on to his lay line, AJ/Sue were hoping a gap would amazingly appear, it didn’t, so they squeezed between the starboard start pin and the Bates, got caught on the anchor warp and had to re-round, giving the rest of the fleet a 75 sec head start!
Jeff, with novice crew Hannah, were caught out by a gust after unravelling a wine glass twist in their gennaker. After taking a while to extract their mast from the mud, they made an early trip back to shore. John/Tim had gear problems and had to retire too.
Mike/Kayla led the fleet and built up a 4 min lead on Val/Ken which was cut back to just 15 secs when the handicap was applied. As the race was part of the two race Fleet Challenge, it meant all was to race for in the afternoon race.�
The second race started without incident, but AJ/Sue soon realised that they had rigged the genoa incorrectly wrapping the halyard around the spinnaker halyard, so they cut their losses, and retired. Mike built up a bigger lead this time, securing another 1st place to win the Fleet Challenge, with Val 2nd.
A brief wet spell on Saturday didn’t put off the Tinker fleet of 11 boats from having an early race before scheduled club racing.
John Reekie’s son planned to sail his Oppie but perhaps needs a little more training on tying knots…�
There were only three boats for club racing, but with Jonathan retiring there were only two finishers, of which John Reekie took the honours with Ant/Jo 2nd.
Jo was keen to practice her life on the trapeze wire, but there were no others takers.
Sunday’s winds were lighter than forecast and there was a better turnout of boats. Mik kept the course out of the way of the Tinkers race area but it resulted in using 8 which was in the shadow of Sale Fell so there were some big shifts, down draughts and holes to contend with.�
Even though Jo didn’t get out on the trapeze again, they still managed to win the morning race a minute ahead of Steve/Ruth in their Merlin. Although Ant/Jo were leading the series, the overall result would depend on final race.
Steve didn’t help his chances capsizing 30 secs before the start, and giving the fleet a 5 min head start! Although he pulled up to 2nd on the water, it was Dave who won in a Laser Radial, with Ian/Tim in a F15 2nd. Ant/Jo’s 3rd turned out to be a discard as they maintained their overall lead to win the Tinker Trophy.
A group of club members competed in the Southport 24 hour race in an Enterprise finishing 34th overall. Even after the rain had passed, some were getting wet, especially when the changeover didn’t go to plan…
Better than last week…but only marginally. �Eleven boats crossed the line and headed for A. �But it was painfully slow. �Val & Ken turned around and paddled back to the livestock as John�s Solo had taken an initial lead and wasn�t going to be caught.
The wind filled in from the west but it didn�t reach across the Lake and the drift to B was painful. �Stephen, who was race officer, decided to take a trip in the RiB with Chez and finish all at B. �So, following John, it was Richard Hughes in his colourful Laser after a superb light weather sail. Jon Anson�s Laser was next.
Did anyone want a tow back? �No. �The wind filled in enough to allow all to make it home for the meal! �What meal? �The chefs didn�t turn in for the first time this season. �A disappointing end in several ways to a mammoth series.
While the rest of the country enjoyed more sunshine, the lake was cloud covered all afternoon, though there was no sign of showers that were evident just a matter of miles away. There was a promising southerly force 2 breeze when the start line was set, but the risk of a swing to the south west came to fruition much sooner than expected when it affected boats on the first beat! The Sale Fell effect continued throughout the race causing holes in the wind alongside large shifts.
It seems that some of the later starters were able to benefit from the major shifts/changeable conditions. Neil Garrison in an Enterprise, started on the starboard end, took advantage of the lift from the SW and went on to take the lead, finishing a matter of seconds ahead of Joe on the finish line. In the GPs, Nigel/Glenys had to restart after being OCS giving Paul/Vicky a head start. That order is not one that many would expect to change but Nigel managed to reverse it! Mik took the honours in the Mirrors ahead of Paul/Evelyn, and leads the series.
With the wind ‘more’ settled in the SW, the results of the second race were more as expected with Paul winning the GPs (though Nigel leads the series), and Joe the Handicap fleet, strengthening his lead in the series.
Sunday’s weather didn’t offer the wall to wall sunshine that other parts of the country enjoyed, but there was a southerly breeze which picked up to force 2-3 just before racing started to offer some champagne sailing conditions!
It is clear that very few sailors had read the handbook to determine the format of the morning’s pursuit race, and of the two that did, Mik opted out of racing with the wind picking up, so the first start time had no takers. The next start for most of those racing would be 11 mins later, but with three Laser Radials lining up there was a Laser that thought it was their start too! Calling back the Laser confused the GP that should have started with the Radials… Last year’s winners of the race Mike/Kayla knew the format, started at the correct time, and went on to win! Their win wasn’t straightforward though, having had a contretemps with Neil regarding water at a mark, and they ended up doing a 720. Perhaps miracles do happen? What a morning…
The afternoon race was the Banana Stakes pennant sailed around the lake which is, of course, where Hugh ‘Round the Lake’ Godfrey sent the fleet of four boats. The beat took Mike/Kayla 40 mins, and a further 30 mins to get back to the finish. His closest competition was Neil Garrison who failed to finish correctly due to rounding the finish mark the wrong way. There was similar confusion with the others but it was Paul Gannon that was next to finish correctly, finishing 2nd on handicap to Mike/Kayla.
The race counts towards Sandra’s Salver for female crews. Kayla being the only crew, and female, strengthened her lead in the series
Sandra’s Salver latest results
Congratulations go to Andy and Phil on winning the Scottish Nationals at Loch Lomond this weekend, and secured the 2018 GP14 super series as well.
Bates ready at jetty and Safety ready to go. �But the wind was disappearing: �Can�t use 0. �Maybe 4-A-B? �But wind faded at A, then B. �Val waited until the last moment but raised N over A so �no racing today�. �And she didn�t even get a 3rd for OD! �So must win next week�s final round to get the Fleet handicap win.
But Katia and crew have now secured the Personal Handicap category so it was time for high fives before packing their boat away.