The sailing season started with a vengeance for the May Bank Holiday weekend. Clear blue skies, brisk winds (interspersed with the odd hole) and an excellent turnout.
Sunday’s Starter’s Prize racing comprised a two race series for all classes, sailed on a fleet handicap basis. In the first race the Flying 15s struggled to shake off Mark Somerville in his Laser and Robin Dawson/Phil Graham in their GP; they finished 1st and equal 2nd (with Scott Beattie in the lead F15) respectively. The second race took the fleet to the bottom end of the lake. William Carruthers/Alan Smith took an early lead but was passed by Scott Beattie and Ian Campbell after falling into the shadow of the point off Bassenthwaite Church. However, as the wind eased on the fleet that had hugged and crept up the western shoreline, William took the lead again and managed to break away from the fleet for the next 50 minutes to take first place on the water and on handicap. Robin and Mark again sailed very well to secure 2nd and 3rd on handicap. Overall positions: 1st Mark Somerville, 2nd Robin Dawson and 3rd William Carruthers.
Monday’s racing was the first club championship series. Light and variable winds in the first race were the cause of several frustrations but who cared on such a glorious day? The swinging winds continued throughout the afternoon to turn reaches into runs, runs into fetches, and reaches into beats! Indeed for the last race, the wind changed so much between laying the line and starting that the Flying 15s started on a run, but with freshening winds backed by a sea breeze, the race proved to be the most exhilarating of the weekend.
FF Results:
FF JACK POT 2001
PN Boat Helm 1 2 3 Pts
1 3673 S BEATTIE 1 1 1 2
2 3560 I CAMPBELL 2 2 2 4
3 3268 W CARRUTHERS 4 3 3 6
4 3473 M MOORE 3 4 4 7
5 3332 W SOMERVILLE 5 5 5 10
6 3385 M MIDDLETON 6 6 6 12
7 530 K CLARK RTD 7 RTD 15
Points for RTD = 8 8 8
Points for DSQ = 8 8 8
Points for DNS = 8
2 races to count
Titbits:
- Submariner Tim Chittenden would have found a periscope (or should that be a snorkel) very useful after being tipped into the water by a wind change.
- Ginge and Jose Hodgkins suffered a similar fate after another shift, however, although swimming was not necessary this time, Jose is believed to have got her knickers wet!
- Richard and Philip Hodgkins were at risk of having their pocket money withdrawn after beating their parents in one of the races.