Monday
Monday’s forecast threatened to be wet and windy – would it be sailable? Despite heavy gusts passing through, the handicap and F15 fleet opted to give it a go and managed to get some good racing in. Steve/Ruth had a couple of capsizes before the start, one of which had them being towed to get their mast out of the mud, but they didn’t chance hoisting their kite during the race and they held sufficient lead to win their 3rd race and the August Trophy. Scumper was their main contender, but he did fly his gennaker and gained a lot of ground on Steve, but several gusts, sometimes combined with gybes, proved too much and he had a few capsizes, but still finished 2nd, with Toggle 3rd. Ethan, with no competition in the Toppers, sailed in the handicap fleet and came 4th.
Robbie D/Zephyr sailed well in the F15 taking an early lead from Ian/Lezli-Ann who, perhaps unwisely, opted to fly their kite which proved too challenging and they slipped back down the fleet. However, Mike with Ian P as a stand in crew made good use of their ample payload and worked through to the lead and take a second win in the series with Robbie D 2nd, and Simon 3rd giving all three an opportunity to win the series in the final race.
By the time the afternoon race started, the wind had freshened a little more, and a couple more boats raced. The OD had perfected his course to ensure that kites could be flown on all offwind legs, added an extra beat for good measure, and kept them racing for an hour, but everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the race. All the single handers capsized at some stage through the race. Scumper led throughout and won the handicap race from Dave Lawson/Ken Bell in a GP, with Toggle 3rd and Paul Clark taking 4th in his Laser Radial.
Neil/Rory took the right hand side of the first beat and took an early lead which they held to the end giving them a good chance to win the series depending on how Simon and Mike finished. Simon slotted into 2nd place, giving Mike a final chance to win the series with a 3rd, but with Andy/Keith Thomas having their moments from time to time, it wasn’t to be and he finished 4th, and 2nd overall behind Simon who won the Flying Free Trophy.
Ethan and Finlay raced in the Topper fleet, and both capsized, but Ethan persevered to the end taking his 3rd win and the We series.
There was no more GP or Mirror races, so the Aitken Cup was won by Dave/Lynn Lawson and the Mirror Mug by Andy/Lily Smith.
Sunday
The forecast was for the best day of the weekend with little to no wind. The micro climate that is Bassenthwaite was having none of it – a reasonable breeze from the SE but with drizzle (well as soon as the racing was scheduled to start anyway!).
The morning started with a visit from a film crew recording an episode of Ade in Britain, who was making some Cumberland pepper cake (never heard of it!) and chatting with some clog dancers from Kendal.
As for racing, there were 23 boats on the water, including a strong fleet of eight F15s. With the wind coming from the SE, the course took the boats part way down the lake to 10, and although there were some difficult shifts to contend with, generally it was a good race though in drizzly conditions that turned to rain by the end.
By the afternoon race, the rain had stopped and there was still a good wind from the SE but it was countered by a sea breeze moments before the first start. This major wind shift led to the F15s having a general recall, and total confusion as not many of them knew what the revised starting process involved. The reaching start proved challenging for some in the following starts with Alan/Sue and Kath/Glenys in the GPs, and Ethan in the Toppers, all having to return for being over the line.
With the sea breeze coming from the SW, and the course taking the fleet even further down the lake to mark 11, the winds were not as ‘steady’ as they had been in the morning with major holes to work through at Scarness, and mark 14.
In the handicap fleet Steve/Ruth mastered the conditions in both races, winning them both on handicap, with Alex/Olivia coming 2nd in the morning, and Scumper 2nd in the afternoon.
Simon/Jon took a 1st and 2nd in the F15s and have the overnight lead from Neil/Judith. With two 1sts Dave/Lynn have overnight lead in the GPs from Paul/Vicky who are getting used to their new GP. Similarly, Ethan has two 1sts in the Toppers with Finlay 2nd. In the Mirrors, Andy/Lily beat Pam in her new boat in the only Mirror race of the day.
Monday’s forecast threatens to be wet and windy – will it be sailable? Only time will tell in the Bass micro climate.
Saturday
A wet start to the weekend, and the wind was lighter than forecast too! The breeze that was around when the OD set out to start the 3rd race in the Celebrity Glass Pursuit series, swung and faded. Perhaps fortunately, the windward mark was brought back into wind, shortening some of the legs. Although the start times were set for all fleets regularly sailing, it was more than 10 mins into the sequence before any boats actually started because the slower boats had opted not to race. Scumper and Zephyr must have been getting itchy feet as both had to be called back for being over the line. As the final fleet started the wind freshened, but it was not to last, and there were many patches with no wind. When it was time to finish the race, it seemed that it was going to be a very slow process as the fleet was well spread out and there was little wind. Again the wind came back, and speeded up the process, and Dave/Lynn took the winning horn, followed by Steve/Ruth.
As the fleet took a break from the rain between races, the wind came back and disappeared yet again. Racing was abandoned for the day (and the wind finally filled in!)