What happened to the weather at the weekend, gone were the sunny skies and light breezes during the week to be replaced by grey skies and wind.

The weather did not put off all the sailors and some 15 boats competed in the AT cup series for the different classes. Two races on Saturday afternoon were sailed in shifty wind but every fleet had competition. The Flying Fifteens were led by Scott Beattie and John Somerville who won the cup overall with their two race results as F15s did not sail on Sunday.

By Sunday the wind was very strong and only for the serious (or should that be mad) sailors, with only the GP14 fleet taking to the water. The GP 14 fleet saw close competition at the front of the fleet and several capsizes , with only John Telford and Andy Smith keeping their feet dry all day. Philip and Richard Hodgkins at only 15 and 14 years old did very well to keep their boat upright during the first race on Sunday in such strong conditions and nearly got a second place.

Not all the races went John and Andy’s way when they were late for the start in the second race Phil Smith and Mike Cowan saw their chance and gained first place. However overall John and Andy won the series and the cup.

The Mirror fleet is building with more new members. Alistair Fletcher with Nia and Osion won the series and the cup, with two first places.

It was bright sunny skies that enticed 20 boats out on to Bassenthwaite Lake on Saturday afternoon for the third weekend of the season.� It was a splendid sight with boats sailing in five different fleets even if the wind was a little fickle causing some problems for the official starter Herb Telford.

With some members undertaking race training during the morning they were very keen to put their new skills into practise.� Scott Beattie and John Somerville led the Flying Fifteen fleet, but it was close racing all afternoon, and in the second race the three lead boats finished within one minute.

The GP14 fleet is proving very strong this year with several new boats purchased over winter and a new team of Phil Smith and Mike Cowan very keen to do well, this season could be very close.� With close racing and the lead changing hands it was John Telford and Phil Hodgkins both not sailing with their normal team, who won both races during the afternoon.� It was very pleasing to see the mirror fleet making a come back with several younger sailors.� First in the mirror fleet were Alistair Fletcher with his daughter Eleri, 2nd was Nick Wood and his son Ben, followed by Derek Poulton and his daughter Jenny.� The Handicap fleet saw many new boats joining the fleet with Steve Hunt and his son crossing the line first in both races. Tim Knowles launched his RS300 and had a very good race for the first sail in a new boat.

Sunday saw a very different day with lots of clouds and dizzy, but even if the wind was light and patchy it did not discourage 12 boats to launch to compete for the Jimmy Lancaster Memorial Trophy.� The day ‘s racing was enjoyed by all the sailors with the winning margin was very close.� The overall winner was John Telford and Phil Hodgkins in a GP14. With such a good start to the season both in terms of weather and numbers of boats all the sailors at the club can look forward to great season.

JIMMY LANCASTER MEMORIAL TROPHY 2002

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2 Pts
 1   13741  J TELFORD     GP           1   1   2
 2    3673  S BEATTIE     FF           3   3   6
 3    1049  S HUNT        RS400        5   2   7
 4   13331  P SMITH       GP           2   6   8
 5    3473  M MOORE       FF           4   4   8
 6    3332  W SOMERVILLE  FF           6   5  11
 7  161866  M SOMERVILLE  LAS          7   7  14
 8   93385  J HARDON      FF          10   8  18
 9     501  N CURRIE      RS400        9   9  18
10   91223  TBA           LAS          8 RTD  21
11    6905  N GARRISON    D 18        11  11  22
12    1180  R YARDLEY     VORTEX     DNS  10  23

                     Points for RTD = 12  13
                     Points for DSQ = 12  13
                     Points for DNS = 13

 2 races to count

Well it is now. The final days racing was held in a force 2-3 – not boat bending weather you may think. Well William and Mike Cowan were to find out otherwise. Two minutes before the start and Mike asked if the was enough outhaul on, yanked the cord and Ping! it just came off in his hand! A quick scramble on to the transom allowed William to lash up the outhaul. It was soon very obvious that the main was going to look as full as Bridget Jones’ knickers for the rest of the race. Apparently Mike Moore and Elaine Fairlamb didn’t have the correct timing for the start of the race and William used this to his advantage to cover Mike as much as possible. After two laps Mike slipped out of William’s windstream, took advantage of a better lift and by the time William had tacked back to take command again Mike had broken through to the lead. At this stage a piece of elastic on William’s pole system went twang and more repairs on the move were required! To top it all, on the final leg, his kicking strap gave up the ghost as well!

Ginge and Jose had a final(?) sail around the course in their GP before upgrading to a new Duffin for next season. No mishaps, no capsizes and Jose kept her knickers dry too – how uneventful! Not quite the same could be said for Tim Chittenden in his laser though – he underestimated the windstrength a little and found that the gusts made for excellent planing conditions but they always came just at the gybe mark! So the prize for the last capsize(s) of the year must go to Tim. Let’s hope his teeth stop chattering before next season.

As the race was on fleet handicap, Mike Moore won both the Bassenthwaite Burgee and the Flying Enterprise Trophy for being first Flying 15.

In fact, Sunday’s racing concluded the Tinker Trophy leaving one race and two prizes to be sailed for next week – the Bassenthwaite Burgee and the Flying Enterprise Trophy.

The morning race started in light airs with Bridget and Ginge crossing the line first while William and Mike Cowan re-rigged the genny, and Mike Moore and Elaine just couldn’t get to the line on time. However, Mike didn’t hang back for long and soon had a spectacular lead. When the wind faded, the gaps between the boats narrowed; William gained an advantage from the change of wind direction but couldn’t quite break through (or even get an overlap if you believe Elaine!). Although Mike broke away again on the final beat, the fickle winds enabled Ginge to catch up enough to take the race on handicap. Certainly, due to the lack of wind, it wasn’t to be the day that Jim Christie was to demonstrate his prowess ‘on the wire’ in his Laser Vortex.

For the final race, Ginge, Mike and William were all on equal points. This forced Bridget to take to the water for another race (instead of going home to finish that Secretary’s report!). William took the first beat, but Mike powered back off the wind to take the lead. The gap varied with the wind strength. With just two marks to go, William was just 50yds behind Mike, but Mike rounded the mark and escaped the wind shadow leaving William to be swallowed up in a hole. William, unable to close the gap suuficiently to rescue a place, subsequently retired. Ginge and Bridget battled on but the final results gave first place, and the Tinker Trophy, to Mike and Elaine.

Overall results:

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4 Pts
 1    3473  M MOORE       FF           3   4   2   1   6
 2   13142  A HODGKINS    GP           4 DNS   1   2   7
 3    3268  W CARRUTHERS  F            2   5   3 RTD  10
 4     530  K CLARK       FF           1   3 DNS DNS  13
 5   33434  S WATSON      MIR        DNS DNS   4   3  16
 6    2504  K THOMAS      FF         DNS   1 DNS DNS  19
 7   13161  S SPENCE      GP         DNS   2 DNS DNS  20
 8  102591  J CHRISTIE    LAS        DNS DNS RTD DNS  24

                     Points for RTD =  5   6   6   5
                     Points for DSQ =  5   6   6   5
                     Points for DNS =  9

 3 races to count

No, I’m not talking about Mike Cowan, who, it is reported, snores like a truck on the M6 (Mike Fairlamb confirmed that when he slept with Mike C he suffered just as badly!!) and who had been out with Andy Smith celebrating the return of the Phil from Oz.

Anyway, back to the point. Want another sneaky look at Bridget’s diary?

Saturday:
After the boys’ success at Annandale last week, let them use our boat. Of course, that meant Ginge and I were in that Red Shed. It puts the wotsits up me! Fall about the place, get bruised and I’m petrified of getting my Natsy’s wet yet again. Anyway, one race was enough. Managed to persuade(?) William and Alan to sail the shed to show themselves up. Didn’t soddin’ work did it!! Al’s spinnaker work wasn’t up to his usual standard and the boys pulled through and sat on them William for a while. The gusts came in and the shed fell further behind (tee hee). More gusts, the boys struggled, William and Alan crept past, the boys went for a swim! Robin and Becky also cooled off with a quick dip. William was second – why can’t we do that? At least he wasn’t on the same leg as Mike Fairlamb as he took the winners bell.

This years Flying 15 Viking Team Racing Trophy was held in mixed conditions. For those that may not sailed in the series before, the weekend comprises four straight races for which teams of three boats add together all their results to determine the winning team. Although there is friendly rivallry throughout the weekend one of the main aims seems to be not making such a drastic mistake that you qualify for the Grotty Potty!

In the first race, Mike Moore and Eric Smith went out on a limb on the first beat, sailing up to (or was it under?) Peel Wyke and were first to the windward. mark. Next beat John Hardisty and Roger Errington (Derwent) also thought it seemed like a good idea, promptly ran out of wind, dropped from 2nd to 16th and became first contenders for the Grotty Potty.

The wind had swung around to the North West for race two, and again the chancers had their moments. William Carruthers and Phil Smith having sailed up the western side of the beat had to deal with a slight header just before the windward mark, duck behind several boats, tack for others, almost collided with a reluctant port tacker (Howard Green and Jonathan Bullen to be precise) who fended William’s boat off with great vigour such that William was then moving backwards!! So from a potential first at the windward mark, William cleared it in about 12th position!

At the next mark, Neil Platt T-boned fellow team mates Ian and Andrea Preston and promptly had to do a 720 in failing winds. Another contender for the Grotty Potty?

After Race three, John Gerrard’s crew made an attempt at becoming a Grotty Potty contender by jumping on to a non existent submerged jetty. Just as well he was wearing a drysuit!

Final race and the winds again caused a stir by throwing one or two holes into the equation and then a lifeline to some of the tailenders. Not that he was a tailender, but this time John Hardisty took advantage of the situation and slotted himself into second position.

The unassailable champion of the weekend was Steve Goacher and Phil Evans who worked his way through to win all four races. Unfortunately, his team mates were unable to show their true colours. Ah well, perhaps another year (if Steve doesn’t pre-arrange his team).

Overall results:

                              R1  R2  R3  R4 Pts
Two Bottles 3702 T Crumpton    4   8   5   8     
 of Dog and 3636 J Hardisty   16   6   6   2  72   1
  a Currie  3330 N Currie      5   5   4   3     
----------------------------------------------
            3729 N Platt       2  11   2   4     
Crazee Boobs3593 I Preston    17  10  13  14  88   2
            3638 H Green       3   4   3   5     
----------------------------------------------
 Zee Gulls  3721 S Goacher     1   1   1   1    
 follow Zee 3268 W Carruthers  6  15   9  13 100   3
  Trawlers  3521 P Burnell    15  17  14   7    
----------------------------------------------
  Harrison  3640 P Wright     11  14  10   6    
    Ford    3737 S Robinson    8   7  12  12 107   4
 Lookalikes 3675 A Tatters     7   2   8  10    
----------------------------------------------
            3725 H Simpson    10  12  19  19    
Flying Scots3606 I Laidlaw    12   9  16  15 154   5
            3666 J Gerrard    13   3  15  11    
----------------------------------------------
            3332 M Somerville  9  16   7  16    
     3M     3473 M Moore      14  13  11  17 165   6
            3385 M Middleton  18  18  17   9    
----------------------------------------------

And as for the grotty potty, it went to Ian Preston for causing(?) his team mate Neil Platt to do a 720!

With the Southport 24 hour race being a week later than Sailing Secretary Andy Smith expected, the visiting Tinkers had to share the lake with some larger than usual club fleets.

High winds on Friday evening eased in time for Saturday racing and at least 20 of the visiting boats took to the water in some breezy airs. However, there was some relief as the course took the boats under the lee of the shoreline. The gusty winds continued throughout the weekend and all sailors enjoyed themselves.

Overall winner of the weekend was Ray Young with David Warren 2nd and Stewart Warden 3rd. Finishing 4th overall, and leading 2up, was Malcolm and Elaine Ellwood.

The Jim Reely Memorial Trophy for the most improved helm over the season went to Peter and Anne Cross.

Bank holidays are generally perceived to be family fun days at the seaside or in a popular tourist location in the warm sunshine and that was exactly what it was like at Bassenthwaite over August bank holiday. Lots of families sat and picnicked, some just content to watch but many joined in the races in the pleasant warm breezes.

Whilst the usual ardent competitors battled it out for various championships, many such as Sue Watson and Leila Cook from Whitehaven were much more relaxed and laughed their way round the courses in pursuit of the twins, Rob and Tim Smith (after mum Pat was sent home for their dagger board!!) in the mirror class with other mirrors popping in and contesting various races.

A good GP fleet of 10 boats was dominated by Lynne and David Lawson but it was great to see youngsters Richard and Phillip Hodgkins doing well in an outclassed older GP 14 boat then doing even better when they borrowed their parents newer boat. Watch out Ginge in case they claim it more often.

Mark Somerville again won the lasers from P Murray and Matthew Fairlamb who arrived home from university to find his parents away for the weekend and whether by accident or design had left him unable to get in the house or get his sailing gear. Good thinking Mike!

Flying fifteen fleet was won by Scott Beattie crewed by Nick Smith despite Nick forgetting his stop watch for counting down to the start gun and leaving the painter tied to the front of the boat and slowing it down for a lap or so. Bets were being taken as to whether Will Carruthers and Daddy Smith were taking a leaf from the match fixing cricketers and paying Nick a backhander, however, despite a lot of tit for tat pumping (nothing to do with Linda’s little **** machine) by Alan and son Nick , it was only on the final beat that Scott broke through to win with William in second place. Paul Burnell, the Lake District warden, must have been studying the wind patterns on the lake as he and David Woodhead finished in fourth place in the last race after narrowly losing out to Mike Moore just on the finish line.

Once again an excellent weekend and thanks must go to John Knowles who did a great job as a temporary starter and helped the OD�s set some excellent courses.

Titbits: Sunday’s racing could have been based on a LeMans start for some fleets – in the first race, for OD Ian Preston it was a case of starting ready or not, and several lasers and GPs (including the Dave Lawson) were only just on their way to the line when their race started!
Mike Parry having maintained a considerable lead for a long time in the first race, panicked on the final beat to hold on to a place, misjudged how long hid F15 was and collided with William’s transom.
Mike Moore eager to not give water at one mark, went around it the wrong way. (He used it to his advantage and promptly took back all three places that he lost on the next beat!)
Dave Lancaster tested his ejector seat and sent crew Steve Hannah for a swim when a gust hit them on an early reach!
Several late night drinkers tried out numerous designer drinks including Cheeky Vimtos and Strawpedoes – strangely they didn’t seem to suffer from Keith’s ‘food’ poisoning the next morning.

Final Results

FLYING FIFTEEN FLYING FREE TROPHY

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4   5 Pts
 1    3673  S BEATTIE       1   1   1   4   1   3
 2    3268  W CARRUTHERS    3   2   2   1   2   5
 3    3473  M MOORE         2   4   4   2   3   7
 4    3560  I CAMPBELL      6   3   3 DNS DNS  12
 5    3503  D LANCASTER     5   6 DNS   3   5  13
 6    3231  M PARRY         4   5   5 DNS DNS  14
 7    3521  P BURNELL     DNS DNS DNS   5   4  18
 8    2504  K THOMAS      DNS DNS DNS   6 DNS  24

          Points for RTD =  7   7   6   7   6
          Points for DSQ =  7   7   6   7   6
          Points for DNS =  9

 3 races to count

LASER AUGUST TROPHY

PN    Boat  Helm          1   2   3 Pts
 1  161866  M SOMERVILLE  3   1   1   2
 2  151286  P MURRAY      1   3   3   4
 3  169106  A SMITH       2   2   2   4
 4  131943  J ROWBOTHAM   4   4   4   8

        Points for RTD =  5   5   5
        Points for DSQ =  5   5   5
        Points for DNS =  5

 2 races to count

GP14 AITKEN CUP

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4   5 Pts
 1   13176  D LAWSON        1   1   1   1   1   3
 2   13326  R DAWSON        2   4   2   4 RTD   8
 3  169106  A SMITH         4   2   3   3   3   8
 4   13259  W ROBERTS       5   6   4   5   2  11
 5   12329  H GODFREY       3   3   5   6 DNS  11
 6   11679  R HODGKINS      7   7 DNS   7   5  19
 7   13142  A HODGKINS      6   5 DNS   9 DNS  20
 8   13013  N LEWIS       DNS DNS DNS   8   4  23
 9   13371  J RILEY       DNS DNS DNS   2 DNS  26
10   13118  V BELL        DNS DNS DNS  10   6  28

          Points for RTD =  8   8   6  11   8
          Points for DSQ =  8   8   6  11   8
          Points for DNS = 11

 3 races to count

MIRROR MIRROR MUG

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4   5 Pts
 1   69675  T SMITH       DNS   1   1   1   1   3
 2   33434  S WATSON      DNS   2   2   2   2   6
 3   69056                DNS DNS DNS   3 DNS  13
 4   48881                DNS DNS   3 DNS DNS  13

          Points for RTD =  0   3   4   4   3
          Points for DSQ =  0   3   4   4   3
          Points for DNS =  5

 3 races to count

Bassenthwaite provided a mix of weather and testing winds for OD Andrew Greenhalgh and sailors alike. However, the weekend ended in sunshine and steady winds.

Hon Secretary Jose Hodgkins, aka Bridget Jones, stood in to present the prizes on behalf of Commodore Miles Middleton.

Final Results

ENTERPRISE NORTH WEST AREA CHAMPIONSHIP

PN    Boat  Helm          Crew           Club             1   2   3   4 Pts
 1       1  MARK LUNN     CHRIS PARKER   WEST LOWE YC     4   1   2   1   4
 2   22905  PAUL PLESTED  SHARON PLESTED WINSFORD FLASH   1   2   1   3   4
 3   22525  EVAN DUNN     ANGELA MURPHY  LOCH LOMOND      2   3   3   2   7
 4   19980  RICHARD CORN  NIKI BURREL    WINSFORD FLASH   5   5   4   4  13
 5   22272  NICK MILLER   INNIS WILKINSO WINSFORD FLASH   6   4   6 DNS  16
 6   22885  MALCOLM LUNN  ALEX HALLIWELL LEIGH & LOWTON   9   6   5   6  17
 7   20116  JONATHON BRI  AMY HOLLAND    WINSFORD FLASH  10   9   7   5  21
 8   22344  MIKE BIRCH    VERITY BIRCH   WINSFORD FLASH   3   8 DNS DNS  25
 9   21101  PETER HEATON  DIANE CORNES   RUDYARD LAKE S  12  11   9   8  28
10   21983  J BERRY       J BERRY        ETHEROW        DNS DNS   8   7  29
11   22715  ANDY TAYLOR   KATHRYN HAYFIE DELPH SC         8   7 DNS DNS  29
12   22706  KAREN TAYLOR  ANDREW HAYFIEL DELPH SC         7  10 DNS DNS  31
13   21580  PATRICK MANN  JAN DAVIES     DELPH SC        11  12 DNS DNS  37

                                        Points for RTD = 13  13  10   9
                                        Points for DSQ = 13  13  10   9
                                        Points for DNS = 14

 3 races to count

LASER OPEN MEETING

PN    Boat  Helm          Club             1   2   3   4 Pts
 1  161866  M SOMERVILLE  BASS             1   1   1   4   3
 2  137629  MATT FAIRLAM  BASS             2   2   3   2   6
 3  151286  PHILIP MURRA  BASS             3   3   4   3   9
 4  138537  B SHAW        KILLINGTON     DNS DNS   2   1  12
 5    6372  K MURRAY      BASS             4   5 DNS   5  14
 6  169106  REBECCA DAWS  BASS           RTD   4   6 DNS  17
 7  160516  T CHITTENDEN  BASS             5   6 DNS DNS  20
 8  143097  P LAWSON      BASS           DNS DNS   5   6  20

                         Points for RTD =  7   7   7   7
                         Points for DSQ =  7   7   7   7
                         Points for DNS =  9

3 races to count

MIRROR OPEN MEETING

PN     Boat Helm       Crew       Club               1   2   3   4 Pts
  1   70010 G MCGILL   L MCGILL   SUNDERLAND         2   1   3   1   4
  2   70000 S BITHELL  J TOOGOOD  HOLLINGWORTH       1   2   1   2   4
  3   69417 G HUGHES   SAM        HOLLINGWORTH       3   4   4   3  10
  4   39970 D HUGHES   P MANNING  HOLLINGWORTH       4   3   6   5  12
  5   69164 C BIRREIL  A MITCHELL WINSFORD FLASH   DNS DNS   2   4  15
  6   33434 R HODGKINS P HODGKINS BASS               6   6   7   6  18
  7   39588 R HAIGH    J HAIGH    RWYC               5   5 DNS DNS  19
  8   69675 T SMITH    R SMITH    BASS               8   8   5   7  20
  9   68887 M SNAPE    L COOK     BASS               7   7   8 DNS  22

                                  Points for RTD =   9   9   9   8
                                  Points for DSQ =   9   9   9   8
                                  Points for DNS =  10

3 races to count

SINGLE HANDED MIRRORS

PN     Boat Helm       Club               1   2   3   4 Pts
  1   40984 T GATTI    YEADON           DNS   1   1   1   2
  2   66781 I SMITH    BASS             DNS   2 RTD RTD   5

                       Points for RTD =   0   3   3   3
                       Points for DSQ =   0   3   3   3
                       Points for DNS =   3

2 races to count

With a good mix of visitors and local boats, the open meeting seems to have been dominated by wins to Bassenthwaite helms (and crews). Congratulations to David and Lynne Lawson on winning through consisently good sailing.

Overall results

GP14 OPEN MEETING 2001

PN    Boat  Helm          Crew           Club             1   2   3   4 Pts
 1   13176  D LAWSON      L LAWSON       BASS             3   1   1 RTD   5
 2   13482  J TELFORD     A SMITH        BASS             1   9   5   1   7
 3   13326  R DAWSON      P SMITH        BASS             2   2   7   3   7
 4    8162  C AUBREY      K LIVESEY      BOLTON           6   4   2   7  12
 5   13526  A FOULDS      O DEWHURST     BURWAIN          4   7   9   2  13
 6   13680  N BROOK       A BROOK        HOLLINGWORTH     7  11   3   4  14
 7   13218  M BRENNAN     A KNOTT        HOLLINGWORTH     5   5   4   5  14
 8   13327  M FAIRLAMB    M COWAN        BASS            11   3   8   6  17
 9   13215  G KNOX        P BRAMWELL     HOLLINGWORTH     9  16   6   8  23
10   13322  R TAYLOR      S TAYLOR       RWYC           DNS  12  10   9  31
11   13190  C MASSEY      E MCKEE        DOVESTONE       10  10  15  11  31
12     254  M GREENHALGH  D GREENHALGH   BASS            12 DNS  12  10  34
13   13115  J WADDINGTON  C WADDINGTON   BOLTON           8  13  14  15  35
14   13075  R DIN         S GREY         HOLLINGWORTH    14   6  17  17  37
15     371  J RILEY       N LEWIS        BASS           RTD   8  11 RTD  40
16   13142  A HODGKINS    J HODGKINS     BASS           RTD  14  13  14  41
17   13616  G MASSEY      C MEYER        DOVESTONE       15  15  16  12  42
18   13110  S HEYWOOD     R HEYWOOD      HOLLINGWORTH    13  17  19  13  43
19   13338  A MONK        C MONK         GLOSSOP & DIST  16  19  18  16  50
20   13013  R HODGKINS    W LEWIS        BASS            17  18  20  19  54
21    6642  J SHARP       K HANKINS      BASS            18  20  21  18  56

                                        Points for RTD = 21  21  22  22
                                        Points for DSQ = 21  21  22  22
                                        Points for DNS = 22

 3 races to count