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

23/24 June comprised series of fleet pursuit racing. The tradition for the series when the prizes were initially awarded was that helms, together with their crews, would sail in someone else’s boat for each race so that top helms would prove that they could do well even when sailing a shed!! However, as the investment in boats increased there was a reluctance to throw your boat into the hat for just anyone to sail. Hence the format has evolved such that the better helms have to start later than the rest. So if you see some strange results below, that’s why.

After winds faded during Saturday’s first race, leaving Commodore Miles Middleton stranded for some time, race 2 was cancelled.

In the GPs, Robin Dawson hot footed it with his new bride Rebecca from their wedding ceremony to win the first race on Sunday. I’m assured it was only the handicapping that stopped them winning the second race! However, congratulations to the happy couple. Similarly, congratulations go to Val and Ken Bell on winning their first trophy in their new boat.

Some consistent sailing by Wendy Somerville and Elaine Fairlamb, enabled them to take the Bryson Helm Trophy while son Mark Somerville took the Foxtail Trophy in the lasers.

BRYSON HELM

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4 Pts
 1    3332  W SOMERVILLE    1 DNS   2   1   2
 2    3231  M PARRY         2 DNS   3   2   4
 3   93503  J SOMERVILLE  DNS DNS   1   4   5
 4     530  K CLARK       DNS DNS DNS   3   9
 5    3385  M MIDDLETON     3 DNS DNS DNS   9

          Points for RTD =  4   0   4   5
          Points for DSQ =  4   0   4   5
          Points for DNS =  6

 2 races to count

FOXTAIL TROPHY

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4 Pts
 1  161866  M SOMERVILLE    2 DNS   1   2   3
 2  167828  I MACPHERSON    1 DNS   2   3   3
 3  137629  M FAIRLAMB      3 DNS   3   1   4
 4   66942  TBA             4 DNS DNS DNS   9

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

 2 races to count

ROSSWEAR TROPHY

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4 Pts
 1   13118  V BELL        DNS DNS   2   1   3
 2   13326  R DAWSON      DNS DNS   1   2   3
 3   13142  A HODGKINS      1 DNS DNS DNS   8
 4   12682  E SMITH         2 DNS DNS DNS   9
 5    6642  J SHARP         3 DNS DNS DNS  10
 6   11679  R HODGKINS      4 DNS DNS DNS  11

          Points for RTD =  5   0   3   3
          Points for DSQ =  5   0   3   3
          Points for DNS =  7

 2 races to count

On 16/17 June the GPs were sailing for the Commodore’s Prize while the Flying 15s were sailing for the Mellor Mug.

A fresh north easterly breeze on Saturday before racing started frightened off some F15 sailors and left William Carruthers/Tim Chittenden to battle it out with Mike Moore/Ian Smith. The winds had eased by the start of the race; William was first to the windward mark and continued to increase his lead on Mike. This was helped somewhat by one of the intermittent gusts which left Mike somewhat water logged. In race 2 William again took an early lead but a windshift on the second beat allowed Mike to sail a course 20 degrees higher and take the lead which he held until the finish. On Sunday the wind was from the North with odd gusts swinging from either side. Those that stayed with the wind were on a winner. Mike Moore tussled with Ian Campbell/Tony Fisher throughout race 3 and took another first. William took the lead for race 4 but slipped into a calm patch for a minute and ended up chasing Ian all the way to the finish. So everything depended on the outcome of the final race. Mike followed the western shore, which he had favoured all weekend, and was first to the windward mark followed by William then Ian. This order continued to the finish and was, indeed, the overall result.

For the first race of the Commodore’s Prize, a strong fleet of GPs was lead by Andy Smith/Mark Somerville until the final beat when a windshift dumped them into 5th position. Mike Fairlamb/Mike Cowan took advantage of the situation, and held on to first place until the finish. David/Lynne Lawson took command of all four remaining races and won the series. As with the F15s, the top flight of competitors enjoyed some excellent racing for which the outcome was generally determined by the vagaries of the wind rather than poor sailing.

MELLOR MUG

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4   5 Pts
 1    3473  M MOORE         2   1   1   3   1   3
 2    3268  W CARRUTHERS    1   2   3   2   2   5
 3    3560  I CAMPBELL    DNS DNS   2   1   3   6
 4    3521  P BURNELL     DNS DNS   4   4   4  12
 5     530  K CLARK       DNS DNS RTD   5 DNS  17

          Points for RTD =  3   3   6   6   5
          Points for DSQ =  3   3   6   6   5
          Points for DNS =  6

 3 races to count

LASER ISEL CUP

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4   5 Pts
 1  137629  M FAIRLAMB    DNS DNS DNS   1   1   2
 2  131943  J ROWBOTHAM   DNS DNS   1   4   2   3
 3  152106  R STOREY      DNS DNS   2   2 DNS   4
 4  128898  O MASON       DNS DNS   3   5 DNS   8
 5   12324  D PRYDE       DNS DNS DNS   3 DNS  10
 6  160516  T CHITTENDEN  DNS DNS   4 DNS DNS  11

          Points for RTD =  0   0   5   6   3
          Points for DSQ =  0   0   5   6   3
          Points for DNS =  7

 2 races to count

COMMODORES PRIZE

PN    Boat  Helm            1   2   3   4   5 Pts
 1   13176  D LAWSON        3   1   1   1   1   3
 2   13327  MiFAIRLAMB      1   4   4   2   2   5
 3   13254  A GREENHALGH    5   3   2   4   5   9
 4  169106  A SMITH         2   5   5   3   6  10
 5   13326  R DAWSON        4   2   6   5   4  10
 6   13539  J CRUICKSHAN    6   6   3   6   3  12
 7   13142  A HODGKINS      7   7   8   7 DNS  21
 8   11679  R HODGKINS     10   9   7 DNS DNS  26
 9   12324  D PRYDE         8   8 DNS DNS DNS  30
10   13118  V BELL        DNS DNS   9   8 DNS  31
11    6642  J SHARP         9 RTD  10 DNS DNS  31
12   12682  E SMITH       RTD  10 DNS DNS DNS  36

          Points for RTD = 12  12  11   9   7
          Points for DSQ = 12  12  11   9   7
          Points for DNS = 13

 3 races to count

Bassenthwaite Sailing Club hosted an excellent weekend sailing for the Flying Fifteen Northern Championships on the 9th/10th June. Weather conditions varied from light winds in hot sunshine to strong winds with sudden squalls and even heavy rain for a short period. It was an event that proved to be a complete test of a well-sorted boat and efficient crew.

Officer of the day Andy Smith did an exceptional job, giving a variety of courses in the changeable winds that often characterise sailing at Bass.

A visiting fleet included former world champions Steve Goacher and Alan Bax (Northampton) along with Terry Crumpton (Derwent Reservoir), Neil Platt (Bolton), Chris Ducker (Windermere) and Tony Lee (Derwent Reservoir) so the competition was going to be fierce.

Neil Platt/A. Gerard (3729) stormed round the first race in strong conditions to notch up their first win with Goacher (3721) and Crumpton (3702) battling it out for 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Race 2 was held in even stronger conditions with some wild squalls screaming down the lake and during these squalls both Neil Platt (3729) and R Coates (3484) both lost their masts when standing rigging gave way with expensive results. Goacher won race 2 and Howard Green had just opened his birthday present from his wife and found inside a brand new fifteen (3734). He took his pal Ian Preston for a sail and ended up with second place. Lucky man Howard! Terry Crumpton was again 3rd � very consistent.

Sudden heavy rain lashed by stiff winds made race 3 rather unpleasant at times and after a good race Alan Bax posted a 3rd position to keep him in contention but with Goacher getting another win the championship was getting very difficult to win. D Douglas/A Weatherspoon (3590) separating the pair with Bass members Scott Beattie/ John Somerville (3673) in 4th. � After the days racing the B&B�s, hotels and pubs locally did some welcome business in what has been a very bad year for tourism and the visiting sailors were very pleased with the hospitality shown.

Sunday was a wonderful day, warm sunshine and good winds all day. Past Bassenthwaite member Martin Stott (3219) certainly enjoyed it, leading the fleet in race 4 for much of the time and the all female boat of Wendy Somerville/Elaine Fairlamb (3332) were right up finishing in an excellent 5th position just behind Alan Bax, Chris Ducker, Howard Green and once again, Steve Goacher. The classic boat of J Arnold/M Pearce (2663) was being sailed brilliantly and leading the classic /silver fleet easily.

The final race of the series was superb with good long beats followed by some varied spinnaker legs and places were swapping constantly. Neil Currie having sold his flying fifteen last years borrowed the ex-Goacher boat (3521) and was right up among the leaders with Paul Burnell crewing. They eventually finished 5th. Another longstanding FF stalwart Graham Kirkpatrick, having�recently sold his boat to Ireland, is considering a classic fifteen and so borrowed 2504 and managed to keep it in the top 10 until just pipped on the line. Andrew Dunning/Dave Lawson (3641) got into the groove and after battling with Terry Crumpton/John Mathie finished 3rd and 2nd respectively. � Howard Green/Ian Preston were 4th, Alan Bax 6th and William Carruthers/Alan Smith 7th. Scott Beattie was 8th after doing turns for hitting a mark and a further two turns for hitting Ian Campbell whilst doing turns! Goacher and Evans showed just how brilliant they are and this cheerful pair took line honours once again and thus retained another Northern championship in convincing style.

After the event it turned out that Terry Crumpton’s boat had not been measured and so he was disqualified from the championship.

An enjoyable event for all. The club has several other big events scheduled to take place and are hoping to increase dramatically the classic/silver classes in future events together with a much bigger prize list. Interested? Watch this space

Final results

FF NORTHERN CHAMPIONSHIP

PN Boat� Helm � � � � Crew � � � � � Club � � � � � � �1�� 2�� 3�� 4�� 5 Pts
1 �3721 S GOACHER � � �P EVANS � � � WINDERMERE � � � �2�� 1�� 1�� 1�� 1�� 4
2 �3638 H GREEN � � � �I PRESTON � � LEIGH & LOWTON � �4�� 2�� 5�� 2�� 3� 11
3 �3611 A BAX � � � � �J WYLING � � �NORTHAMPTON � � � 3�� 5�� 3�� 4�� 5� 15
4 �3673 S BEATTIE � � �J SOMERVILLE �BASS � � � � � � �7�� 3�� 4�� 6�� 7� 20
5 �3521 N CURRIE � � � P BURNELL � � BASS � � � � � � �5�� 4�� 8�� 9�� 4� 21
6 �3703 C DUCKER � � � R RIGG � � � �WINDERMERE � � � �6�� 6�� 7�� 3�� 8� 22
7 �3641 A DUNNING � � �D LAWSON � � �BASS � � � � � � 10� 10�� 6� 10�� 2� 28
8 �3590 D DOUGLASS � � A WEATHERSPOO DERWENT RESERV � 11� 14�� 2� 11�� 9� 33
9 �3268 W CARRUTHERS � A SMITH � � � BASS � � � � � � �8� 13� 11� 13�� 6� 38
10 3690 T KIRCHIN � � �D KIRCHIN � � LOCH LOMOND � � �15�� 7�� 9 DNS� 16� 47
11 3695 T LEE � � � � �G DAWSON � � �DERWENT RESERV �RTD� �8� 10� 20� 11� 49
12 3560 I CAMPBELL � � T FISHER � � �BASS � � � � � � 16�� 9� 20� 14� 12� 51
13 2663 J ARNOLD � � � M PEARCE � � �OGSTON � � � � � 12� 11� 13� 15� 24� 51
14 3595 P KITCHEN � � �D KITCHEN � � TEES & HARTLEP � 14� 19� 12� 12� 14� 52
15 3473 M MOORE � � � �I SMITH � � � BASS � � � � � � 13� 12� 16� 18� 13� 54
16 3281 M WATSON � � � D FIRTH � � � BASS � � � � � � 17� 16� 19�� 8� 21� 60
18 3219 M STOTT � � � �D BRITTON � � NOTTS COUNTY � � 18� 21� 15�� 7� 26� 61
17 3332 W SOMERVILLE � E FAIRLAMB � �BASS � � � � � � 26� 25� 18�� 5� 20� 68
19 3640 P WRIGHT � � � C CARRUTHERS �DERWENT RESERV � 19� 18� 23� 17� 17� 71
20 2504 G KIRKPATRICK �K THOMAS � � �BASS � � � � � �RTD� 24� 14� 24� 10� 72
22 3587 R DONALDSON � �N HEDLEY � � �DERWENT RESERV � �9� 17� 24� 23� 23� 72
21 3083 B GLOVER � � � N GLOVER � � �DRAYCOTE � � � �DNS� 23� 17� 16� 18� 74
23 3470 S MACLEAN � � �I MACLEAN � � ROYAL FORTH � � �22� 20� 21� 22� 15� 78
24 3385 M MIDDLETON � �P HODGKINS � �BASS � � � � � � 25� 15� 26� 21� 22� 83
25 3232 S ROBINSON � � D VASEY � � � DERWENT RESERV � 20� 26� 22� 19� 25� 86
26 3237 S THOMSON � � �C NEWMAN � � �WINDERMERE � � � 21� 27� 25� 25� 19� 90
27 3729 N PLATT � � � �A GERRARD � � BOLTON / WEST � � 1�RTD DNS DNS DNS� 97
28 2741 D DANDO � � � �P METCALFE � �TEES & HARTLEP � 24� 22� 27� 26� 28� 99
29 3484 R COATES � � � R WALKER � � �TEES & HARTLEP � 23�RTD� 28� 27� 27 105
30� 193 J ASPIN � � � �M FULLARD � � S WINDERMERE � �DNS� 28 DNS DNS DNS 124
31 3724 P BROWN � � � �C BOOTH � � � NOTTS COUNTY � �RTD DNS DNS DNS DNS�126

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �Points for RTD � 30� 32� 29� 28� 29
Points for DSQ � 30� 32� 29� 28� 29
Points for DNS � 32

4 races to count

On Saturday there were two races contributing to the Max Joule Memorial Trophy.� All classes started together, the results being calculated on boat handicap. �

In the first race, the wind was light and shifting round to the north.� The windward mark, buoy zero, often has shifts, but Saturday�s were exceptional.� As the boats neared the mark, much to the consternation of the sailors, those who had gone up the left hand side of the leg were lifted about 20 yards from the mark, as were those who had gone up the right hand side of the leg!�

Consequently, no-one could tack for the mark.� Andy Thomas (Branthwaite) somehow managed to pick the perfect line and was first round the mark in his laser.� The two flying fifteen boats had gone via Keswick and were well down the fleet.� However, by the third leg, the fifteens were back in front, followed by Andy Thomas and a couple of GP 14s sailed by Robin Dawson with Phil Graham (Wigton) and Mike Fairlamb (Deanscales) with Mike Cowan (Maryport).� First across the finish line was Tim Smith (Harrington) in a club topper � the light winds allowed him to sail a lap less than the rest of the fleet.� Dave Lancaster with Steve Hannah (both Cockermouth) were next to cross the line, but lost out on handicap to Robin and Phil.� Andy Thomas was third on handicap. �

The wind then picked up to a good blow for the start of the second race.� Mark Somerville (Carlisle) sailed an excellent first leg to take the lead ahead of the two flying fifteens sailed by Mike Moore (Preston) with Ian Smith (Harrington � but no relation to the other Smiths!) and William Carruthers (Carlisle) with Alan Smith (Harrington). William and Alans� hard work putting on new sails and adjusting the rig tension while the first race took place, paid off and they took a considerable lead.� The wind then decided to drop and shift through 180 degrees before picking up again.� Fortunately, there was still a beat in the course.� William and Alan crossed the line first, followed by Mike and Ian.� These places stood even after handicaps were calculated.� In the light winds, the lasers and GPs were trying their hardest to roll tack and make use of what little wind there was.� Unfortunately, Andy Smith tried a bit too hard and got wet! � There were lights winds again on Sunday, but they were a bit more consistent.� In the first race (part of the championship series) Dave and Steve in their fifteen took an early lead but were caught by Ian Campbell (Papcastle) with Tony Fisher (Carlisle) and also by William and Alan. Ian managed to get well in front, but William kept catching him.� However, William could not get close enough and Ian won the race.� The laser race was closely fought between Ian Macpherson (Brampton) and Hugh Godfrey (Whitehaven) with the lead changing every lap.� Ian was the eventual winner. �

The GP14 race was much closer with four boats going round the first mark together with Mike Fairlamb and Mike Cowan in the lead.� They held this lead for a couple of laps, but were overtaken by Robin and Phil who won the race.� Andy Smith and Mark Somerville had exchanged their lasers for a GP in this race, but were notable by their absence from the front of the fleet.� Apparently it was a bit warm for them and they decided to go swimming! �