It is with great sadness that we have learned of the sudden passing of long term member Jim Christie who sailed regularly with grand daughter Poppy.
Jim’s funeral service was held at Carlisle Crematorium on Monday 9th April 2018
Our thoughts are with his wife Ann, grand daughter Poppy, and the rest of Jim’s family at this sad time.
With the arrival of British Summer Time the sun was shining again, but there was no wind on the lake! However, the wind soon filled in from the west for some great sailing conditions to start the 2018 season.
Despite having had four months to prepare it seems that some people weren’t quite ready. John Reekie got his boat ready only to realise his rudder was still at home, so he didn’t make the first start. Mike and Kayla weren’t quite ready either, so they had the morning off finalising the boat.
14 boats did make it to the start line for some challenging racing in a two race series competing for the Starter’s Prize. While Steve and Ruth found the beats shifty and unpredictable, Scumper was disappointed to find that the wind died on him every time he rounded the windward mark! Steve and Ruth took a big enough lead to win the morning race with second going to Bean and Naomi who sailed most consistently, taking winning position in the afternoon, and the series trophy. With a 4th and a 2nd, Zefer finished 2nd overall, with Steve 3rd.
Neil Garrison took the honours in terms of being the first to capsize this season, but he wasn’t to be the only one. Bob Gate took a long dip before the start of the second race, and despite the benefit of a wet suit a long hot shower was on the cards. Finally Jim and granddaughter Poppy had to demonstrate their swimming skills!
New members James and Jennie Macgregor had gear failure that resulted in their main slipping down during the first race, so they had to make an early exit.
Despite the frustrations for some, a good start to the season. Here’s to a good one!
Well it’s hard to believe after recent weather that British Summer Time starts next Sunday 25 March, which happens to be the same day that the 2018 sailing season starts!
So hopefully the Winter maintenance is complete, your sailing gear has been washed from the last time you used it, and your wetsuit hasn’t shrunk…
So don’t forget, put your clocks one hour forward on Sunday or you’ll be late for the first race which starts at 11.30(ish)!
In order to get the Club ship shape for the start of the season we have arranged a working party on 17 – 18 March.
Starting 10am till 4pm each day. If you are available for a few hours on either or both days please pop down and help out. It�s imperative that we get the grounds cleaned up before we start bringing boats on to site. There will also be plenty to do on the house, bar and boats and buoys.
It is with great sadness that the club has to announce the passing of one of it’s longest serving members. Caroline Lawson had been a member of the club from the early 60’s and the family have sailed at the club ever since. Carol passed away after recently being diagnosed with cancer.
The funeral took place on Monday 12th March at 1130am at St Mary’s Church, Maryport, followed by burial at Maryport cemetery. Family flowers only, donations to Maryport Inshore Rescue.
In my role of Press & PR officer at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club I have been collecting the Newsletters from years gone by.�� We started out producing an annual publication in 1995 and gave it the title of Foxy Tales. This came from the Club�s fox emblem which, in turn, stemmed from the Club being in the close vicinity of the birthplace of the legendary fox hunter John Peel .�� You will have heard of the ditty; Do you ken John Peel with his coat so grey….. I feel sure.
Anyway, the aim is to get all the annual editions online on the Website. There will then be a permanent ongoing record of who did what at the Club both on, and off the water.
Virtually every edition contains an article on each of the Club�s dedicated fleets which, for many years have included the Mirrors. So, using these articles, and the data in the Club Handbook, it was possible to trace the fortunes of the Fleet.
In the mid to late nineties the Mirror Fleet consisted of around twenty seven boats. One even won the Nationals, Phil & Tim Smith taking the title at Hartlepool in 1999. We never reached such dizzying heights again although we had an active fourteen boat fleet for the ten years from 2000 to 2009. By the later date there had been a progressive switch from family manned, and crewed boats to single handers.
The Club then invested in three good Trident GRP boats for training and to encourage families to race in the Mirror Fleet. But interest was declining in favour of the myriad RS variants. By 2013 we only had seven boats in the fleet in addition to the ones owned by the Club and, as few were racing at the same time, it was decided to merge the Mirror and Topper Fleets the following year.�� This left a variety of slower boats such as the Picos plus a Hartley and a Splash following far behind the other handicap Fleet boats. So a new Slow Handicap Fleet immerged in 2016 consisting of all boats with a PY of 1250 or greater.
This new Fleet is still with us but, by the end of last season it included just three random boats and fifteen Mirrors! And five more Mirrors have already been bought for the 2018 season. The turnaround is due to more, and more, parents deciding to use the Mirror to teach their youngsters to sail and race.�� And these aren�t any old Mirrors! Many are Winder GRPs with sail numbers well above 70000.
And we, again, have national champions in the fleet with Sandy & Douglas Simpson having joined Bass last year. Even they are finding the Club competition extremely challenging!
Mik Chappell�� (Eclipse 69960)
As of the AGM the club has been without an Hon Treasurer following William’s resignation after (another) five years in the role.
Clearly it is an important position that needs to be filled urgently. So if you are, or you know someone who could be, interested in becoming Treasurer don’t hesitate to contact William for further details.
In preparation for the General Data Protection Regulation which comes into force in May 2018 we have prepared a Data Privacy Policy.
All members are required to confirm having read the policy which is to be acknowledged by the lead admin member for each membership family group on the WebCollect administration portal used by the sailing club. Members have the opportunity to withdraw permission to publish photos on the website or address details in the annual members’ handbook by ticking the relevant boxes on their WebCollect membership details and advising the membership secretary accordingly.
Please login to your WebCollect account to confirm that you are aware of, and have read, the policy. If unsure how to proceed, please use these instructions to help you complete the process.
With very best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful 2018 sailing season from everyone at Bass
Great article by the BBC which includes an item on former Commodore and Trustee Mike Denwood