Dubwath Silver Meadows will be holding their AGM in the clubhouse on Friday 10th June at 7pm

It will include a talk by Dr Mark Tilzey, Associate Professor in Political Ecology & the Governance of Food Systems, Coventry University

It was with some trepidation that the 9 boats launched into a brisk, shifty NorthWesterly under blue skies after earlier rain. By the start time, however, the wind had moderated resulting in more manageable conditions but the shifts continued.

Race Officer, Val, set a figure of eight course starting with a beat to number 1. John Reekie used the shifts to best effect to round first which he held to lead on the water throughout, closely pursued by Alex in his Laser. James Reekie was the solitary Tera competing, getting in some valuable practice ahead of Saturday’s Open, together with Mike Fairlamb who had earlier safely delivered the pies!

It was good to welcome Jeff Tweddle and Robert Hedges back to competition both sailing without mishap to complete the course.

Latest results

Saturday started with some champagne sailing conditions for an excellent turnout of 40 boats across the two fleets racing this weekend. It was good to see that the Mirror fleet had mainly junior, or parent/child combinations.

With a westerly wind any potential sea breeze from the blue skies would only bolster the wind strength.

The Solo fleet were a little eager on the first start resulting in a general recall, and being pushed back behind the Mirrors in the start sequence. The main downside of this being that some Mirrors were buried for a while as the Solos powered through the fleet.

Unusually, Dave Lawson in a borrowed Solo capsized part way up the first beat, but he pulled some distance back to finish in the top half of the fleet.

There was a lot of close racing, and vying for position, especially rounding marks, with plenty of calls for water, and a few penalty turns carried out.

To avoid further general recalls the U flag was used for the second race, and it generally had the desired effect with helms sitting back from the line. A general recall of the Solos in the third race of the day brought out the black flag – everyone was well behaved thereon in.

With the wind easing during the final race, the finish line was moved to the top of the second beat of the lap, perhaps just in time as the wind direction became fickle, and final positions in the race were difficult to maintain!

Overall during the afternoon there were mixed fortunes for many, but in the Solos, consistency by Martin Honnor from Ogston made him overnight leader with three 2nds, a point ahead of Innes Armstrong from Burwain with a 1st and two 3rds.

In the Mirrors, it was a battle of the Smiths. Sailing secretary Phil, with son Oliver, are overnight leaders with two 1sts and a 2nd, but he had to fight off brother Andy, with daughter Lily, who are 5 points behind and lying 2nd overnight, as well as wife Naomi with daughter Lucy!

One major incident of the afternoon was the search for a hair bobble for 3 year old Saskia after the first race…

Sunday morning was overcast with a fading wind despite a reasonable forecast for an easterly breeze. At the scheduled start time the lake was mirror like, however, shortly after 11 an easterly filled in so the OD launched to set a course. It soon became apparent that a SE wind was bedding in.

With a 10minute beat to 7 in a strengthening wind, waves building, and some white horses, there was some exciting racing, good reaches, various capsizes, and a few retirements!

The beat was shortened for the final race, but the squalls had passed through, much to the delight of the remaining sailors.

In the Solos, Martin Honnor held his lead through to race 4, but race 5 was his downfall and he retired when he couldn�t stay close enough to Innes Armstrong who won overall by one point. John Reekie was best Bass boat finishing 4th overall.

In the Mirrors, the high wind took its toll on Phil and Oliver who lost their lead to Alex and Rory Taylor in race 4, but with two 1sts and two 2nds their overall 1st place was unassailable so they opted not to race the final one. Alex�s win put him on equal points with Andy and Lily Smith, but Andy had better overall results to finish 2nd with Alex 3rd

Final results

A light westerly breeze with regular shifts coming round Sale Fell greeted the 17 boats, including 5 Teras, who turned out for the first Night Jar of the Thursday evening series.

So keen was Ant to get started in his new role that he forgot to take a Race Officer with him (sorry Robin) but with the able assistance of Pen and moral support from Sid, racing started on time despite worries from shore that there might be an early start.

Val and Ken were first to show on a quadrilateral course and proceeded to set the pace for the first 2 laps, closely pursued by James and Jenny and Alex Reed in a Laser (ICLA7) with Neil and Rory regularly swapping places. A large wind shift on the 3^rd lap allowed Alex through to lead on the water and converted the beat into a fetch, turning the last lap into a procession. It was good to see the Teras out in force clearly benefitting from their winter coaching and next week Val has promised meat pies!

Latest results

It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the peaceful passing of Keith Longstaff earlier today.

Keith has been a long standing member of the club. Having started sailing in GPs he moved on to race with Herb Telford in Flying 15s – what a partnership that was!

Our thoughts are with Simon, Sue, Kim and their families at this sad time.

Keith’s funeral will be held at 11am Saturday 7th May at Crosscanonby church

With the new sailing season starting tomorrow, there will be a rigging day this afternoon to dust off the cobwebs and prep your boat rather than leave it the run out to the startline to find out what you have forgotten!
Also, if you don’t want to be late for the first race, remember to adjust your clocks forward by one hour for the start of British Summer Time.

Ok, so our sailing season is still around the corner, but the Bass Week team have worked out it�s about 150 days till The Craftinsure Bass Week gets into full swing, and have opened entries on Webcollect.

Don�t miss your chance to book your entry, especially caravan space which are being snapped up as quickly as ever!

Wishing everyone a happy, safe and healthy New Year topped up with fair winds for another fantastic sailing season!

The 70th AGM was held in the clubhouse on Sunday 5 December.

Commodore Jon Denwood thanked all who had contributed to what has been a busy, and successful season.

Key points

• The minutes of the 69th AGM were adopted
• The annual accounts were adopted
• The proposed rule changes were agreed, with some minor changes to wording
• Following discussion, an amendment to the circulated subscriptions was proposed and agreed

• Officers and members of the outgoing council were re-elected, though a vacancy for the safety officer position exists as Robin Dawson has stepped down from the role. Full list
• The honorary auditor was re-elected
• There were a couple of changes to the fleet captains

We are sad to have learnt of the recent death of former member John Wills who lived in nearby Bassenthwaite.

John was GP club champion a mere 55 years ago, took on the roles of sailing secretary and auditor, and went on to be Commodore from 1973-74

Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.