As forecast, the blustery winds have passed through leaving good racing conditions for the fleet and their early start (Shame Jim Christie thought he was starting at 10.30 too!)

A fleet of 13 boats are taking part in this year’s event, and according to our F15 fleet captain, they had the worst start ever!

The wind proved to be very changeable, with bursts of strong winds coming through for minutes at a time before easing to fairly light conditions. The gusts that did come through caught out various sailors – there were a couple of F15s that capsized as well as numerous club boats!

Keith Thomas and Ian Campbell had a couple of problems to deal with. Firstly they trawled their kite at the windward mark, but as it went under the boat they had to come ashore to re-rig it. Then when they came ashore before the final race, Ian slipped off the foredeck and went for an untimely swim!

The day turned out to be one for jousting with two separate competitions going on. Firstly Steve Peck had a tussle with a F15 and snapped his jousting stick (aka gennaker pole), and Toggle skewered Alan Jones sail with his mast.

In the team racing, although there were clear winners with the key Derwent team, 2nd place place was hotly contested. Even though the Bass team, supported (or should it be propped up by?)by Steve Goacher, had to include three DNFs, there average points just pipped the 2nd Derwent team by 0.17pts to finish second overall.

Commodore Dave Nicholson said a few words of thanks to the competitors (Don’t think that anyone noticed Pauline hadn’t dressed him properly by giving him odd socks!) and the prizes were presented by Pauline. Overall winner of the open meeting was Steve Goacher and Phil Evans, who were celebrating(?) 20 years (to the day) in a Flying 15. The winning team, Chasing Jenga, from Derwent Reservoir also had the winner of the Grotty Potty – awarded by the previous recipient Phil Evans. It went to Paul Averley for his inability to abide by the rules of Jenga in the pub last night!

There She Blows!

There has been a good forecast for this weekend for several days – 12/13 knots is just what the F15 sailors need for some good team racing. However, when the wind strength is doubled with regular gusts, and you’re looking into the E wind from the club house, it all seems much less inviting.

When Mike Moore and Steve Goacher up sticks and go home you realise that there’s not much point in hanging around.

The proposal is that the team racing will start at 10.30 in the morning, by which time the winds should have moderated.

Strange how the gusts passed through and the conditions seemed so much more sailable by 3pm!

This weekend we are hosting the GP14 Inlands. The rain has passed over and there is a forecast for a good southerly breeze all weekend.

There is a fleet list of 42 boats all ready and waiting for some excellent racing, and that is what they got!

Neil Marsden walked away with the first race and Steve Goacher the second, each having broken away by the end of the first beat.

The southerly breeze held steady and the fleet had a 28min beat to the bottom end of the lake for the third and final race of the day. There were various capsizes along the way. This time Shane MacCarthay led the fleet but the reaches and long run back to the finish proved to be testing with various position changes taking place. It was to be Mike Senior that won, and took overnight lead. Steve Goacher was second and lies third overall with Neil Marsden getting third and lying second!

Bass tales include the discovery of a killer shrimp in the lake – must be true because they were nibbling Mike Moore’s backside while he was practising his capsize drill (shouldn’t really do it through a race though!). Word is that the capsize was due to crew Kayla not getting her leg over fast enough! Best Bass boat was Dave Lawson with Toggle crewing – clearly continuing his successes in the Masters at Windermere recently. Sally started the day badly when she broke a crown on the crispy bacon bap! It went further downhill when she was hit in the face (guessing by a spinnaker pole). Tim Knowles unfortunately capsized just after finishing, caught his main on another boat and ripped it, Bad enough in itself, but the fact that the main was new last weekend, and was only on its second outing, exacerbates the situation somewhat!

On Sunday the wind was still a southerly, significantly lighter than Saturday, but it was easing as the fleet prepared for the first start for which there was a general recall. The black flag for the subsequent start kept the competitors back from the line and they had a clean start at 10:45.

As Mike Senior approached the leeward mark it seemed unlikely that he would maintain his lead as he was being blanketed by the fleet in light winds, but he cleared the mark and started beating on what turned out to be the final beat. However, the wind was not as kind to the rest of the fleet as they approached and rounded the leeward mark in drifting conditions as the wind swung through 180 degrees. Spinnakers were hoisted in an attempt to catch the occasional zephyrs of wind which remained unkind. Mike Senior was to have a 17min lead over the next boat, and unfortunately with a 20min finishing time limit on the race there were only three more boats that finished the race. But the 36 DNFs were in the good company of champions such as Steve Goacher and Neil Marsden!

As a result Mike Senior was in an unassailable position and had won the Championship. A disappointed fleet were sent ashore for lunch in the hope that the breeze would settle down for the fifth and final race.

A slight breeze did cause ripples across the lake over lunch and the OD went out to start a race, but it was not settling and racing was cancelled.

Prizes were awarded by the Commodore’s wife Pauline following a few words of thanks by Commodore Dave Nicholson. Mike Senior thanked the club on behalf of the visitors.

Dave Lawson’s finish in the morning race secured his position as best Bass boat (and first amateur!) finishing 4th overall.

Mike and Liz Senior
GP14 National Inland Champions 2010

This weekend the lake was taken over by RS 200s, 400s and Vareos, all sailing as separate fleets. As they are all asymmetric boats, the courses were windward/leeward.

With eight races scheduled, all the races were to be short and sharp. Unfortunately the wind was not been as strong as forecast, but there was certainly enough to get them round the course.

The wind did freshen from time to time, but the shifts occasionally took away the true windward leeward as well.

With four races in, there appeared to be some clear winners emerging, but who could tell what Sunday would bring?!

Well a wet Saturday night lingered throughout the morning. There were some good gusts that resulted a couple of capsizes, and racing generally remained very close.

With another two races completed, the sailors stopped for lunch.

The rain stopped for the afternoon racing, and veered more to the NW, but there were occasional bands of wind that helped (or hindered) boats by a significant amount at times, but after eight closely fought races the winners were confirmed. Toggle led the fleet home in the final race having been on the wagon after an enthusiastic start to the weekend. He had led the previous race for a while but slipped back when Scumper got his act together again! Tog’s consistent placings enabled him to secure a strong second behind Scumper.

Vice commodore Stephen Kirkpatrick thanked the competitors and presented the prizes.

RS400 – Wayne Fletcher/Deb Fletcher	RS200 -� Chris Pickles/Laura Westell	RS Vareo – Mark Somerville

Sunday

Shunty realised there was a bad omen for the day when The Bates wouldn’t start due to a lack of diesel! So it was duly towed to the start line by a Dory which he tied to The Bates. Unfortunately his knot didn’t hold and it drifted off! Having set a course for a NW breeze, just after the sequence began the wind swung to the W so Shunty opted to change the course. He eventually restarted the sequence and the wind, of course, swung back to the NW! C’est la vie!

Although the wind freshened as the morning went on, there were still various lulls. William and Raf took the lead, but the off wind legs were not kind in terms of strength and they were unable to sufficiently break away from the other fleets. As Tim and Ian caught up in their F15 their main halyard broke and they dropped out of the race. Paul Bowmer led the rest of the fleets the wrong way around the course, which helped William increase his lead but not enough to win on handicap. Mike Fairlamb’s win was sufficient to secure the Tinker Trophy.

Perhaps the wind direction would settle for the afternoon, aided by a sea breeze – or was that wishful thinking?! Fortunately the wind did strengthen and held. At last Shunty’s course was more suited to the asymmetrics and William squeezed in a win, only just, by 4 secs a lap!

In the Tinker rally, Malcolm Ellwood was the new overall winner, from long standing winner David Warren, with Stewart and Barbara Warden 3rd. For a pleasant change they had good winds, without being too strong, all weekend. Prizes were presented by vice commodore Stephen Kirkpatrick

Saturday

Another glorious afternoon’s sailing, though the wind was not as strong as predicted.

While a fleet of 16 Tinkers are holding their annual rally again, club racing comprised� mixed fleet handicap series for the Tinker Trophy. Though William and Lesley were able to break away, from the rest of the fleet, the lulls in the wind prevented them beating the GPs when handicaps were calculated. While Tim and Mike each won a race, William had to settle for two 3rds. Mike and Eric are overnight leaders.

Hi

Just to say a great big THANK YOU to everyone at your club for making Bass Week such an enjoyable week for us.

You have a fantastic club, with a great team working together to make Bass Week such a success, making everyone very welcome and everyone friendly and helpful.

The facilities were spot on, and I know this was down to the team you have there keeping a check on everything.

The sail training for the kids was excellent, Peter was fantastic with the kids. A special mention to Des for all of his help with the boats.

The atmosphere in the clubhouse is great, with Kayla and Gary, and all of their helpers being superb on the bar. The whole weeks entertainment was fantastic.

A special thanks also to Andrea, who was on top form {roger roger!} all week and is a great asset to your club.

We all made lots of new friends and our first experience of both Bass Week and camping certainly wont be our last. We are looking forward to next year already.

Thanks again and keep up the good work

See you all next year

Ange Graham, Neve, Zak and Marnie
Sunderland Yacht Club

A healthy fleet of 25 boats took part in this year’s NW Area championship. The wind conditions will have been challenging for some competitors, and as they were forecast to increase on Sunday an additional race was sailed on Saturday.

Andrew Green from Leigh & Lowton SC sailed consistently to secure four wins and the overnight lead from James Asquith from Redesmere SC.

As expected, the forecast gales came in, with various showers, and racing was cancelled on Sunday leaving the results as the overnight position. Congratulations to Andrew Green on his clear win.

Final Results

There was again an abundance of wind for the Mirror, Laser and Handicap open meeting being held over the weekend. Although the forecast wind strength was perfectly sailable, there were numerous squalls passing through double the strength to about force 5. Pam Bath in her Mirror was the first boat to be caught out by the gusts.

A total of 19 boats entered, 11 Mirrors and the balance in the Handicap fleet.

The gusts continued throughout the afternoon, and there were a couple of casualties in each fleet in the first race – the most uncomfortable one being Jon Miller breaking a rib whilst crewing an Osprey! The stronger winds suited the doubled handers in the Mirrors with David Coady winning and Jack Lawson 2nd.

The visitors continued to dominate the results in the 2nd race which was won by Roy Platford, and David Coady 2nd, giving David the overnight lead.

Scumper and Zefer, took two wins in the Handicap fleet to take overnight lead. Toggle with a 2nd and 3rd was lying 2nd overall!

On Sunday, the wind strength varied almost as much as Saturday, albeit from a much lower baseline of practically nil! This has caused various frustrations, and fluctuations in position. Robbie D opted out after the first race, which Scumper which went on to win ahead of Mike Moore. The conditions favoured Stephen Kirkpatrick in his Vago in the 2nd race (or was it being in the right place at the right time?) and he took pole position ahead of Mike Moore (always the bridesmaid?…). The final outcome was a win for Scumper with Mike second.

Mike Fairlamb tried his hand at the helm of a Mirror again and secured three firsts, but it was Roy Platford from Wigan that won overall from Jack Lawson.

Saturday’s forecast was not great for wind, if the webcam had been working you would have noticed that the forecast was correct!! The lake was mirror like most of the afternoon. Racing was postponed until 1030hrs on Sunday. It was due to be a lot more overcast, but there with a reasonable breeze.

Sunday’s earlier than usual start enabled the F15 fleet to get their first race in before club racing started at 1130hrs. As forecast, the day was overcast but there was a SW breeze. Although the OD assures us there was a beat in the first race, using the same beat for the second race failed miserably!

The lack of a beat for club racing kept the fleets together (handicap wise) and it depended where you were, at what stage, as to whether you were in a position to take advantage of the various gusts that came through, and strengthened as the race went on.

After two races, and despite mixed fortunes, Mike Moore and Sally were in the lead in the FF open at the lunch break during which drizzle moved in. Would that kill the wind? Well, effectively it did! The afternoon racing� was held in light airs, with a quite a mix of the leading lights such that only 4 points split the top half of the fleet. It was Andy and Rob Smith that came out on top, beating Mike Moore by a point. Andy’s team mate for the series was Ian and Pat Priestly from Ullswater, who by securing third overall ensured that they won the team racing part of the event.

Robbie D and Big E secured a good lead in both races added two wins to his collection in the series. His closest rival is son Ethan with 34 pts