On behalf of the GP 14 Association I would like to thank Bassenthwaite Sailing Club for agreeing to host this End of Season Championship, it was a great weekend event.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and that is due entirely to all the hard work that was put in by so many of your Club members.
Thank you for your help over the months and I wish the Club every success in the future. We will look forward to being with you again next Autumn
Kind regards
Gill
Many congratulations to Phil and Naomi Smith on the recent birth of their first child Oliver, and first Grandson for Alan and Pat. The Smith name will continue!
We are experiencing a rush on VHF courses ahead of the new changes (1 day course plus 1 day exam?) taking place in the new year.
We are running a VHF Radio course at Whitehaven on Saturday 14th December, cost �105, all inclusive. Click this link to book online
Also, we have a Radar course on Saturday 1st December at Morecambe, cost �100. Click here to book
Best regards,
John Parlane
Training Centre Principal
Bay Sea School Ltd
Mob: 07721 891 615
www.bayseaschool.com
A forecast of strong, gusting, winds may have been the reason for a lack of visiting boats for this year’s F15 Team Racing, but there was a strong club contingent making nine boats in total. The winds were not as strong as forecast so there was some good sailing conditions, which proved challenging at times as most boats had varying results. The exceptions being AJ and Jack Hardie who broached in the first race, and spent the rest of the race bailing out (perhaps he needs to spend the evening puffing on those buoyancy bags?!). No broaches in the following races, but their position did not improve over the rest of the day. At the other end of the fleet, Neil Platt and Big E bagged three bullets, though visitor Cammy Dunn and Steve Lee put up a good fight, leading most of the final race of the day.
Steve took the helm of Mike’s boat, with Kayla crewing, and after a poor first race moved forward through the fleet in subsequent races, and they are on equal points with, but just ahead of, Ian and Lezli-Ann.
Conversely, Simon and Jon’s positions slipped through the course of the day, but they lie 2nd overnight on equal points with John Reekie and Rory.
In club racing it was the start of the October series; Robbie D sailed with Banter in the 400 and led both races, but it was new member David Hazleden in his Solo that won both races on personal handicap. After her success last week, Pam was in a strong position in the second race, but unfortunately capsized at the final gybe mark and retired.
Sunday’s first race wasvery light and shifty, with numerous position changes. Ian Campbell’s mainsail fell down, forcing retirement, meanwhile Sally jambed her finger between spinnaker pole and mast, forcing retirement also. When Simon dropped from 1st to next to last, he retired as well!
There was a better wind for second race no incidents. The Scottish Invaders were clear winners of the Team Trophy which Ian Preston had left at home. Neil Platt, last year’s recipient, awarded the Grotty Potty to Simon for a number of incidents that would take too long to mention. There was a very informal prizegiving held in the bar whilst the commodore was eating his Sticky Toffee Pudding….
Best of luck to Scumper and Zefer who are racing in the elite Endeavour Trophy competition at Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham on Crouch this weekend. Eight races, seven to count. Winds there are forecast to be somewhat lighter than Bass today for the five scheduled races which start at 10.30am
Joanie, Pat and Carol are plied with Champagne at Prescott sprint hillclimb in the Cotswolds by Alan whilst basking in the hot October sun, Keith took the photo but where is Toggle ?
Is Toggle the one on the right I wonder?
The problem with the Sailwave website has been rectified, and our results are back online.
[wpsqt name=”New Year’s Eve Party” type=”poll”]
This weekend five club boats travelled to Windermere for the GP Northern Championships.
AJ, sailing with Commodore Andy, has been good enough to report on the proceedings.
He starts with explanations for their overall 21st position out of 25
For the Saturday he says �I don�t do no wind�, as for the Sunday, he tells us the wind was not as strong as at Bass (perhaps he should ask Steve/Ruth how long they spent drifting on Sunday).
All weekend he said � I think Andy needed to remember the bit for the boat still in his garage� that he forgot to include with the boat initially, as there’s clearly no alternate explanation as to why �Hand in the Glove� was not in the top few boats.
To make matters worse he slept in the car overnight to be on time for Sunday racing, while Andy went home to the comfort of his own bed only to turn up on Sunday after AJ had rigged the boat.
AJ also ponders that it may be interesting to see what happens at the GP Open at Bass in three weeks without Andy crewing… Will the boat go better there when he won�t be crewing?!
At this point AJ decides to stop musing else Andy won�t talk to him again
Moving up the fleet, Val with Ken came 19th, and Mike with Sally 13th. Paul Bowmer was 3rd, and Dave/Lynn 2nd to winner Mike Senior.
Sunshine and a warm wind tempted out a good fleet of boats for a weekend series counting towards the club championship. Although there seemed to be a steady breeze coming down the lake, the sea breeze would have its effect from time to time.
Banter took the lead in his RS100 only to realise he didn’t remember the course properly, and when called back to re-round 3, he capsized in fits of laughter! Asked why he didn’t write the course down, it was because he lost his pencil last time he capsized… Although Robbie D won on the water in his RS300, Scumper was close enough to win on handicap, as he did in the 2nd race as well. Tog took 3rd place in the first race, but John/Janis sailed well to take 3rd in the second race.
Neil tempted Judith to make a guest appearance in the F15 and kept a strong lead, while Mike/Kayla chased Tim/Ian, managing to pip them on the finish line by the smallest of margins. Ian had a guest crew in the form of John Somerville, while Chris had daughter Kat as his guest crew. Chris opted to demonstrate the art of ‘polishing his keel’ on some soft ground at one stage – perhaps he shouldn’t have done it while racing?! In the lighter winds of the 2nd race, Mike/Kayla led throughout with Ian/John 2nd and Neil/Judith 3rd putting Mike in pole position overnight.
In the GPs, Kath also had a guest crew with Jack Hardie getting some practice in the front end of a GP; they won both races from Richard.
Although Pam built a strong lead in the Mirrors, problems with her spinnaker resulted in it slipping away to Mik with only minutes left in the race. Emma made a guest solo appearance in a Mirror, finishing 3rd. Mike was the only finisher in the 2nd race, so leads overnight.
The forecast higher winds for Sunday had the lake filled with white horses, despite some reluctance, there were several takers.
Jim and Peter opted to use storm sails on their Supernovas, while Scumper and Banter found crews and sailed their 400s. Banter/Alastair had a fantastic port on port start, but it went downhill from there, culminating in a prolonged capsize at the gybe mark. Scumper/Tog pulled out a big lead before trying the gennaker which resulted in a capsize at another gybe mark. The gennaker remained tucked away after that, but they went on to win on handicap, securing the series trophy.
Three F15s raced as well. Mike/Kayla led throughout, though Tim/Ian were in close contention for a while until they had to fend off Ian/John which they managed, albeit with the closest of margins. the result may have been very different if Ian/John had realised where the windward mark was and didn’t have to reach back downwind to round it!
Over lunch the wind has eased, but would it pick up for the final race? The wind did not strengthen but it did swing to the east, so a suitable course was set. However, as the fleet got closer to 5, Skiddaw created a shadow similar to the Sale Fell effect, and there was a lot of wallowing, tacking and gybing to find steadier winds.
Banter’s start was not as impressive as the morning – he managed to go between The Bates and the inner distance mark, despite them being tied together, so he had to untangle himself then do turns.
He was half way up the 2nd beat before before he was able to pull his gennaker pole in! Despite these problems he still beat Scumper on the water!
Steve/Ruth led the whole race, but the wind filled at the end resulting in him losing to Jim by just 2 secs on handicap.
In the F15s, The wind dumped Mike/Kayla in a hole, and they eventually retired, meanwhile Ian/John took the lead with Tim/Ian 2nd