Saturday saw the above long series come to an end. Mike & Kayla had a 1st and a 2nd which made them clear winners of the Flying Fifteen Morgan Trophy. Dave & Lynn won all the races in the Spring Cup for GP14s. The Barf Trophy for the handicap fleet was won by Ian Hall in his Solo from Joe Roberts and various crews including mum Sally in a RS 400. The Mirror, Toppers and Slow Handicap were competing for the Red Sails Trophy and the winners �were Jim & Poppy in the Hartley 12 from Mik in his Mirror. The BBQ that followed was superb and many, or some, did not retire to bed until 0430hrs celebrating our performance at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Late May BH Weekend
A large number of members took the opportunity of a decent weather forecast to bring Caravans and Tents to our wonderful Club for the long weekends sailing events. A group of our Ladies decided a trip to the nearby Lakes Distllery was a better option than taking part in racing.
Nearly 30 boats took to the water in superb sailing conditions, force 3 westerly and bright sunshine. The OD Ethan set two challenging courses with numerous beats and interesting mark roundings that were enjoyed by all. The results service has been delayed because of a technical, Eurovision Song Contest, glitch but will be back tomorrow.
Night Jar 4
Not so nice an evening last Thursday with overcast sky and a cold SW medium wind. However, sixteen boats took to the water.
The OD didn�t want to risk the wind shadow at 9 so B was moved downwind of it resulting in a short triangle of B-A-3 plus an interesting offset line making it hard to judge the beat from 3 to Y/Z. The other quirk was another short line which lived up to its plan and ended with recalls for Dave & Izzie in the GP and Chris & Julie in the FF.
Alex & Olivia led the fleet in their 200 from the GP�s of Joan & Jack and Val & Ken, and the Lasers of Tony and Neil.
After two laps the wind strength increased. Hazel retired her Radial and Louise her Topper. AJ & Sue also pulled out with undisclosed problems on their GP. At the end of Lap 3 it was decided to shorten for the L2000 of Julie / Melanie. David Roger, sailing well in his Topper, and Jeff Tweddle & Mike Siddall�s 200 followed over the line on three laps.
Steve Peck & Simon Smith inverted their L2000 at the leeward mark and it took the efforts of the crew plus both safety boats to right it and tow it back to the slip. But the last act belonged to young Jos Hunter. He had only completed 2 laps in his topper and was last boat on the water, but he would not accept a tow and set out on a long and challenging beat back to the Club.
On FH Alex Leonard & Olivia Storey were winners from Joan & Jack Hardie. On PH it was, again, Tony King in the lead position with Joan & Jack also taking the runner up place in this category.
Sunday’s BL 3 & postponed Calvert Trust Pennant Sandra’s Salver 2.
A small but select group of sailors took to the water on Sunday morning to take part in the Blencathra Trophy long series for Flying Fifteens. The wind was still strong and gusty predominately from a Westerly direction. Mike & Kayla won from Tim and Ian with Alan and Sue in 3rd. As Dave and Lynn were the only GP14 they joined Peter Whipp in his Laser and Alex and Olivia in a RS 200 in the handicap fleet, an excellent battle ensued with less than a minute separating all 3 on corrected time, Dave and Lynn won from Alex and Olivia. The younger members did not take their Toppers out as they were assisting with training recruits from last weeks Open Weekend.
The afternoon race was the Calvert Trust Pennant which was postponed from last week. Dave and Lynn won from Mike/Kayla followed by Tim/Ian, Alan/Sue and Jim and Poppy. This race was also the second round of Sandra’s Salver which is for the best female crew in a series of 7 pennant races. Poppy still leads the series by one point.
MG 9 & 10 etc. �Saturday 16th May. What a Day!!
The day started with Neil, Mike & Jim teaching some �of our younger and keener members in Mirrors and Toppers. �It was great to see those who had come along for “Push the Boat Out” last weekend returning to learn and take part.
The wind was blowing from the West at speeds of 20-30mph shifting up to 90 degrees which made sailing interesting. The Club sailors on the veranda, sheltered by the clubhouse, couldn’t make their minds up whether to sail or not. The younger ones were keen to go.
We had a Scratch Race Management Crew as the Official Starter and his Apprentice had gone AWOL, Herb at a wedding and William up the Khyber (Fjords), the OD �having previously �won the Fastnet Race, equivalent to winning a pursuit race at Bass Week!!, was ready.
The first race started with the Flying Fifteens who were led by Mike & Kayla from start to finish. The committee boat tried its best to confuse competitors by drifting towards the shore but a rapid response from the crew rectified the situation. Dave & Lynn in their GP joined Hugh in his Vareo to make up the handicap fleet, positions changed throughout but Dave and Lynn won on the water and handicap. �The Toppers were joined by Jim and James in his Hartley 12, the Topper sailors decided to reduce to 4.2 sail size due to the conditions only to find Mike Fairlamb and Steve Hunt, both well over 40.2 had rigged fully sails and came out to take on the kids. We also had 2 new members Sol & Seb White who just joined last weekend taking part.
They all had a great race with many capsizes and stories to tell. Hazel sailed a fantastic race finishing just behind Steve and winning on handicap, Izzie capsized just before the finishing line and persevered �in howling winds despite a number of further dunkings to finish. Jamie showed great skill in finding the finishing line despite the committee boat moving position. They all did fantastically well.
Race 2 saw a reduced number of competitors. 3 Flying Fifteens took part, Mike & Kayla saw their Jib fall down just before the start and retired, Alan and Sue made a fantastic Port on Port start only to later retire leaving Tim and Ian to win the race. The Toppers were the only others to take part, 4 started and Hazel was the only one to finish making it 2 out of 2. �More wind forecast tomorrow!
Night Jar 3 – An Evening of Sun, Wind, Good Food and Conversation.
Thursday was another great evening for racing. A brisk but constant easterly wind gave a start upwind of zero and a course of 4-3-1-0.
With 19 boats bunching on a short line a general recall was just avoided although Ethan was squeezed over. At the end of the first beat the RS200 of Alex & Olivia had a slight lead from Mike & Eric in their GP which they gradually extended. Next was Dave Lawson giving Izzie yet more crewing practice. They were followed by the Laser of Tony King, Jim�s Supernovaand the GP of Val & Ken who were side by side crossing the line at the end of lap 1.
The completion of Lap 2 was even closer with five boats crossing the line within 10 seconds. Gary & Kayla pulled out of the race at this point as they were the evening�s chefs. Slightly further down the fleet the Laser 2000 of Julie Tomkinson & Joe O�Donnell were duelling with AJ, and Richard Broughton in his Solo and Jon Anson�s Laser were in close company.
A gap appeared which allowed the L2000 of Steve Peck & Simon Smith to be finished on 2 laps. They were followed by David Roger putting in a stunning performance to easily finish as the leading Topper. Finishing on 3 laps it was Alex & Olivia from Jim, followed by a virtual dead heat between Mike & Eric and Tony.
FH Results showed Mike & Eric first from Alex & Olivia with Dave & Izzie third. On PH Tony came out on top with Julie & Joe second and David Roger third. In the PH Series Julie is now closing in on AJ and Sue who are currently leading from Mike & Eric.
Calvert Trust Pennant & Sandra’s Salver 2 Rescheduled.
The Calvert Trust Pennant & second event in Sandra’s Salver were abandoned last weekend due to strong winds, we have rescheduled them to this Sunday 17th May in place of BL4 etc.