Calls have been received from a number of members regarding the rapidly rising water levels, if your boat is near the lake shore you are advised to move it to higher ground as a matter of urgency. �????
Update 4.30pm – All boats have been moved to higher ground but you are advised to check them at your earliest opportunity as not all could be secured.
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The Annual Prizegiving takes place on Saturday 28th November which may seem some time away but will soon be upon us. To assist in preparation for the event can all members who have club prizes please ensure they are returned to the Committee Room, engraved and polished before Saturday 31st October. This will allow a full audit of prizes and their condition to take place before the Prizegiving.
Thank you
Jon Denwood
What a weekend it was, most arrived on Friday afternoon/evening with caravans, motor homes and tents ready for a fun packed couple of days. Friday evening saw the clubhouse full of sailors watching the Rugby World Cup Opening ceremony and match on the big screen, a number continued late into the night celebrating England’s victory against Fiji. As a result several were quite subdued on Saturday morning but the glorious weather soon got them livened up.
Early Saturday afternoon saw the on water activities commence which consisted �of 4 teams of 10 aged 5 to 60+ compete firstly in a relay race in Toppers, the rules of racing were totally disregarded, numerous forced capsizes and sinkings were encountered. The next leg of this unusual Triathalon was a paddle board race followed by an open water swim. Again a lot of skulduggery was apparent. The whole event was enjoyed by all including the numerous spectators and adjudicators, who won, who cares. After a quick shower and tea and cake which was sold to raise runds for Macmillan Cancer Support everyone met in the freshly cut back field for a game of rounders. The game lasted the best part of 2 hours and was won by the team that batted first as the light was fading by the end. Saturday evening was spent in the clubhouse with a bring and eat buffet which was excellent followed by a game of bingo.
Sunday morning whilst not quite as sunny was dry and a reasonable Westerly wind was blowing for our Barts Bash Race, bacon, egg and black pudding butties were eaten in preparation. 35 boats took to the water and sailed the course, there were a few capsizes and tales to tell. The faster boats sailed 5 laps the slower boats 2 and others 3 & 4. When the club results were computed Alex & Olivia �in a RS 200 were declared winners from Dave & Lynn in a GP14 and Commodore Mark in a RS100. �244 was raised for the Andrew Simpson Foundation. Everyone returned to shore for lunch and to reflect on an excellent weekend, caravans etc were packed up and we all went home.
Bart’s Bash results�Bass Version��Bart’s Version
Barts Bash 2015 is almost upon us, together with�thousands of Sailing Clubs worldwide we are hosting a Bart’s Bash race this Sunday 20th September at 1100hrs as part of our action packed “fun” weekend.
Last year we had nearly 40 boats taking part, let’s try and top that this year, the race is open to all classes and abilities and is all about breaking world records and raising money for a worthwhile charity. All you need to do is�enter via this link http://www.bartsbash.com
To ensure Bass is represented well in the final standings you can register your participation as a crew through the link above.
Entries at present number 19 so get yours in.
The programme for the Fun weekend whilst flexible due to the weather will broadly be as follows:- Camping and Caravanning Friday to Sunday, bar open Friday evening, Rugby World Cup Opening Ceremony then England vs Fiji from 7pm, Saturday on water activities using club boats – relay/team racing etc. Rounders match followed by evening Bring and Eat and Bass Bingo. Sunday morning Breakfast Butties in the Clubhouse followed by Barts Bash race at 1100hrs, all sailors welcome.
Jon Denwood
An intrepid team of sailors and supporters set off in atrocious conditions on Saturday morning to take part in the 49th sailing of the West Lancs Yacht Clubs aka. Southport 24 hour race. Fortunately on arrival the torrential rain has passed by and the sun shone and wind blew. For the second year in succession we were sailing an Enterprise kindly loaned by Mark Ninnim.
The race started at 1200hrs and we were in the second flight as a result of our excellent 11th place last year. The wind was blowing a good force 4 from the SW which meant the start was on a broad reach. Mark and Emma made a good safe start and sailed consistently well in testing conditions until 1500hrs, our position at this time was 17th out of the 64 entries. They were replaced by Alex and Izzie who had an exciting time including two�capsizes at the Gybe mark.
There were numerous boats capsizing and a number being towed back to base. At about 1630 Rob replaced Izzie as crew as the conditions demanded more ballast and at 1800hrs Ethan and Alex2 took over in gentler conditions. They sailed steadily maintaining our position until 2000hrs when Neil and Hazel, sailing her first Southport took over, conditions were now much lighter and our position was varying between 22nd and 16th throughout the race.
Mark and Emma did a second stint between 2200 and midnight followed by Alex and Harry who finished a creditable 5th in the midnight race. At 0130hrs Harry did a swallow dive into the lake and Izzie stepped aboard to crew, winds were blowing a force one gusting two and it was cold but dry.
At 0300hrs Ethan and Alex2 were sent out for the graveyard shift and despite Ethan’s pleas for leniency were not replaced until 0600hrs by Neil and Hazel who sailed until just after 0800hrs when a tired Alex and cold Rob went out for their final stint. Mark and Emma, who had slept at Chez Preston and were refreshed, then sailed to the finish in bright sunshine.
�After the results were finalised we were 16th overall and 4th Enterprise which was an excellent performance from a fabulous team of sailors who were fine representatives of Bassenthwaite Sailing Club.
Jon Denwood
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After a five week break the Night Jar restarted with Round 13. It was overcast with a constant force 4 southerly wind and some chop. The course was 7-3-1 giving a long beat, a good beam reach and a gybe mark leading to a close reach to the final mark.
There were 18 starters on a fairly short line and the GP of Val & Ken, going for the port end, was driven over and forced to return. Going from a fast leg into a tight gybe caused a few capsizes including the 200 of Toggle and Joan. At the end of lap 1 the two Joes � Watkins and Roberts � had pulled out a lead in their 300 and 100 respectively followed by the GPs. Joan & Jack had AJ & Sue close astern.
With lap times of 11 minutes and with rain threatening it was decided to finish the fleet after 3 circuits, the exceptions being Josh�s Tera and David�s Topper as they had been lapped.
On return to the Clubhouse and the meal prepared by Debbie and helpers, results were calculated. Joan & Jack took the win on FH from AJ & Sue with Joe Watkins third. Val & Ken had gradually worked themselves up the fleet to finish fourth ahead of Neil�s Radial.
On PH Hazel in a Radial took the win with Aj & Sue second closely followed by Izzie also in a Radial, it was great to see both girls sailing brilliantly in their Radials.
Over 50 helms have now contested one, or more, rounds in the Series and there are still three rounds to run.
Getting competitors to sign on for this race was difficult. Many were waiting to see which category others were going in before deciding which Fleet was likely to bring them an award! When all had put their names on the sheet the OD took it on the water to establish who was sailing what. He chose a longer course consisting of 0-A-B-4 and 21 boats started. In the Handicap Fleet John Reekie sailing his Skiff misjudged it and got badly boxed in behind the Wayfarer of Chris Lloyd / David Furguson. Terry Hall had rig failure and spent some time on the lee shore before starting late along with three of Neil�s trainees.
The Skiff inevitably moved into the lead on the water with Olivia & Alex�s 200 and Joan & Jack�s GP in the following positions. The GP pair took the Seniors Award plus first overall in the race on boat handicap while Olivia took the Crews Prize.
Slightly further down the order were the battling GPs of Sue & AJ and Kath & Glenys. Sue just squeezed home first but had opted for the Crew Fleet allowing Kath to take the cherished Ladies Prize
Initially it was thought that Lottie, helming Jim�s Hartley, had won the Junior Prize but, after Hazel firmly pointed out she was not in a Handicap boat, she was correctly allocated the top spot.
When Josh�s brand new Tera had been retrieved from an inversion near 0 all hurried ashore and into the Clubhouse to avoid being drenched from the horrific looking storm clouds which were building overhead. Lynn & David had put on a great meal and it was good to see most relaxing and chatting afterwards. Not quite the �end of term� but, with a four week gap to the next Thursday race, it certainly looked like it!
The Flying Fifteen Open, part of the Waples Wine travellers series, and the GP Open, part of the Northern Bell, are taking place this weekend. The first race on Saturday was scheduled for 1300hrs but blustery winds were forecast to ease so proceedings were delayed an hour, by which time there was a lot more enthusiasm to give it a go!
The wind did ease but there were still squalls that would catch sailors out from time to time. Our own AJ was one of them, capsizing just before the start on the start line, getting stuck in the mud, eventually getting free and continuing his merry way only to capsize on the finish line after the 2nd race!
It was the GP fleet that suffered the most from the squalls which flattened three boats at the start of the first reach which shook up the positions.�Andy/Ginger Phil took the honours in the first race from Dave/Lynn, who won the 2nd race and take overnight lead.
In the F15s, Simon/Jon took an early lead but it was Andy McKee that would survive the longer races to finish the day with two wins. For consistency Steve Goacher took two 2nds, and Simon two 3rds.
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For the evening entertainment, and the Flying Fifteen sailors in particular, Steve Goacher will be providing some valuable input on “sniffing out the wind” (perhaps ‘snuffing out the wind’ might be more appropriate after todays weather!) and Phil Evans will give an insight into spinnaker handling.
After a very wet night for campers, winds eased a little as forecast for Sunday. There was still some great racing, close reaches, and a few broaches to challenge sailors, but most sailors raced all three races to the bitter end.
Not sure why, but the first race had two protest flags, and a 720 pirouette, in the F15 fleet. Apart from that, all 10 starts were clear, no known boat damage, so a good time was had by all.
Andy McKee and Rich Jones from Dovestone won the F15 trophy with 4 pts while Andy Smith and Flaming Ginger Phil won the GP trophy with 5 pts
Prizes were awarded by Commodore’s wife Kirstie Somerville.
Last Thursday evening was a busy one on Bass. Apart from Neil�s group of trainees, twenty boats appeared for the eleventh round of the Night Jar.It was an overcast but dry evening with a fairly constant Force 2 westerly wind which again meant that the beat would be into zero. Despite Mike Fairlamb asking for a windward � leeward course as a means of keeping up with Alex Leonard�s 200, the OD chose 0-1-B-A.
With a crowded start line Alex & Olivia chose a port end start and were never headed although Joan & Jack moved into a strong second place ahead of the lasers of Tony King and Peter Whipp and the GP of Paul Bowmer with a novice crew.
The leaders were lapping in around 13 minutes and, with many others staying in touch, it was to be a 4 lap race for most. On Lap 2 a whole group of boats made for A at the same time and requests for mark room with subsequent comment was heard on the Bates!
Lottie Winfindale who was sailing strongly in her Laser was allowed to go into lap 4 but her father Peter was finished after 3 along with fellow laser helms Eric Kasiliwski, Tasha Todhunter and the L2000 of Steve Peck / Simon Smith.
Alex & Olivia were first across the line on Lap 4 but had they sufficient lead to take another first on FH? The answer was �no� with Joan & Jack taking the win. But the 200 crew lead the series from Mike & Eric.
Tony took another win on PH and leads that series. Joan & Jack were classified second in the race and Lottie finished an excellent third.