After the vicissitudes of the preceding week, competitors were relieved to find that conditions were benign on the morning of the RS Open at Bassenthwaite SC. The sun shone; the sky was azure, and a pleasant F2 to 3 ruffled the waters with an inviting caress. The general consensus was, ‘Sorted!’

Unfortunately, through the course of the morning the breeze gradually evaporated. Just before the scheduled start time the breeze filled a little, and steadied, and the Race Officer elected to take the fleet afloat.

Ten boats set out to contest the RS Vareo Northern Championship, whilst the RS 200 Northern Tour event had nine entrants. The quality of both fleets was evidenced by the fact that each contained a National Champion. Mark Somerville from the home club is the recently crowned RS Vareo Champion, and Mike Saul and Meg Fletcher, from Yorkshire Dales are the reigning RS 500 Champions.

The conditions were frustrating and demanding in equal measure, both for the sailors and the Race Officer alike. When the leading Vareos reached into the windward mark with their kites flying, at the conclusion of the opening windward leg of the first race, the die had been cast. The Race Officer, proving that patience is a virtue, managed to get three races sailed in the most demanding of conditions. His timing was impeccable as the moment after the last boat had finished the last race, the wind completely evaporated and the lake mirrored.

In the Vareo fleet Mark Somerville showed his pedigree with three straight wins, but for the others consistency was to prove more elusive. Hugh Godfrey from the home club scored 6,2,3, to lie second overnight, with Mike Cowan, also from Bass, recording 3,8,2, to take third place. The first visitor was Andrew Cutting from Ullswater SC who managed a very creditable 2nd in the first race, only to fall to 6th and 9th in the next two.

In the 200 fleet it was a similar story. Overnight, Chris and Laura Pickles headed the leaderboard with a 4,1,1 score line, with Phil and Naomi Smith, from Bass, in second place with 2,2,3. Richard Whitley and Lucy Wade from Ripon were in 3rd place overall with a 1,4,4, scoreline.

On Sunday the forecast SE appeared on cue and the Race Officer took the fleets into the southerly end of the lake to take advantage of the stronger breeze. Conditions were radically different from the previous day, with the fresher breeze creating an appreciable chop running down the length of the lake. Despite a much stronger gradient breeze there were distinct holes which appeared from time to time leaving the unfortunate bobbing haplessly up and down – and going nowhere. Three races were sailed before lunch, the last in a suddenly building breeze which reached 20 or so knots on the final leeward leg, and was the cause of many capsizes.

Chris and Laura Pickles cemented their position at the front of the 200 fleet with three first places, whilst Keith Escritt and Anne Saul, also from Yorkshire Dales, prospered in the stronger breezes and moved up into second place overall, pushing Phil and Naomi Smith down into third.

In the Vareo fleet it was business as usual for Mark Somerville who cemented his overall position with two firsts and a second. A good battle was developing for the other podium places between Mike Cowan and Hugh Godfrey, with Mike coming out on top in each of the three races.

After lunch the wind had eased again and the final two races were sailed in similar conditions as had prevailed for most of the morning. Chris Pickles and Mark Somerville both sailed the first of them, ensuring victory, and then gracefully retired to let the others fight over the minor placings.

Keith Escritt and Anne Saul secured second place in the 200s with a 1st and a 3rd, with Phil and Naomi Smith finished 3rd and 4th to take third overall. Hugh Godfrey improving with every race, as he spent more time in the boat, reversed the fortunes of the morning and secured the runners up spot in the Vareo Fleet with a 2nd and a 1st, leaving Mike Cowan in a very respectable third place.

 

RS200 winner Chris Pickles	RS Vareo winner Mark Somerville

 

A reasonable wind, though variable, together with some sunshine led to some good sailing for clubs boats and visiting Tinkers.

Overall the results for the day were consistent – Val/Ken’s thread bare main halyard held out and they secured two 1sts from Jim Christie in his Supernova. Alan crewed for Eric in a F15, and they too were consistent with two 3rds. Peter continued to try and get to grips with his Vareo, but his gennaker continues to have the better of him when it comes to taking it down – several more capsizes it was for him!

Sunday’s forecast was for wind and rain – lots of both! As it turned out, there was a good breeze but the rain was much lighter than expected. There was a lack of enthusiasm to venture out, until Ethan arrived that was, as that meant Jim had someone to sail against, and Val/Ken would have to go out to defend their position in the series.

On the water, Val wanted to tack towards the windward mark, but Paul/Emily were in the way. Val seemed to drop to leeward with the expectation she would tack behind Paul. But no, when she tacked she was still ahead of Paul, though not far enough to cross him. Paul tacked on to port and Jim promptly shouted starboard forcing Paul and Val back. After all that kerfuffle there was no sign of anyone doing any turns! Jim did break away to get a good lead over Val, and Paul wasn’t too far behind them at the finish. On handicap, Val beat Jim by 8 secs, securing the Tinker Trophy, and Paul was 3rd.

A prize giving was held for the Tinker Association. Overall winner Malcolm Ellwood was represented with the Bass Plate that he won last year. David Warren was 2nd and Alistair Parker 3rd out of a fleet of 11 boats.

Malcolm Ellwood receiving his Trophy from Elaine Hunt

Yet again the forecast for the weekend is abysmal, and it seems to put off many regulars. Also, the visiting Tinker fleet was slightly reduced with just nine boats taking part. An early start for the Tinkers allowed them to ‘enjoy’ lighter, but shifty, winds due to the shady influence of Sale Fell. Even so, one Tinker did get caught out, and capsized. By the time club racing started the wind had swung to the forecast SSW direction, and had picked up considerably. The Tinkers opted not to race any further, leaving only four single handers to try their best to master the conditions. There were numerous capsizes by all. The lead boat (Tom Gosden?) led the fleet astray by taking them round an extra mark, not that it affected them sailing the proper course. Although Tom started the 2nd lap, he retired shortly afterwards, leaving Joe Watkins to sail the lap on his lonesome, as Jim Christie retired when his main started to slip down, and Peter Ballard limped across the finish line after just one lap after suffering numerous capsizes. So Joe leads, with Peter 2nd.

Although there was some (minute) interest in racing again, the OD opted to abandon racing for the day.

On Sunday morning the gusts were more vicious, though there were general lulls which seemed more sailable than Saturday. However there was a lack of enthusiasm to race. The Tinkers opted to pack up and called it a day. Club members trickled in, and overnight leaders Joe and Peter were not rushing to take to the water, even with Jim Christie getting changed and encouraging them to race! So racing was cancelled, and the overnight results stand for the series.

This weekend we hosted the above event.

The forecast was for some great winds, and hopefully only light showers, and that is what the fleet got. The various gusts passing over the lake, not only gave rise to some great planing conditions, but created shifty conditions on the beats.

Andy/Rob Smith were first off the line in race 1 and he took and early lead, but despite some great racing his lead slipped away. He was in a strong position on the final beat to hold 2nd place behind Simon Potts/Peter Gray from Blithfield but it was not to be when he lost two places on the line to David Young and Neil Platt.

After a short break racing recommenced in the strengthening breeze. Andy put in another good race in race 2 finishing 2nd to Neil Platt, with David Young 3rd. Although Alan/Sue capsized and subsequently retired, he was keen to point out that he didn’t actually get wet, though Sue seemed to be left getting cold in the water….

In race 3 the wind continued to increase, but also shift more to SW. Andy again took the lead by the end of the first beat, and Dave/Lynn Lawson were close on his tail, but the shifty conditions took their toll, and Simon Potts broke through to the lead. With a few good reaches, Simon broke away, winning by a large margin. Yet again Andy lost a place to Gary Deighan on the final leg as the wind backed a little more. Blustery conditions at the first gybe mark resulted in several capsizes, surprisingly including Neil Platt.

Overnight results had Simon leading with Andy, on equal points, 2nd

Sunday arrived, along with rain showers, and a lighter, but good, breeze.

Andy again led the way to the windward mark on both races, and he managed to hold on to his lead in race 4 to win, and keep him in with a chance of the overall series even though at that stage Simon had a strong lead comprising a 1st and two 2nds.

The quality of the racing and competition was such that places were regularly changing. In the final race Andy had a good lead that disappeared in the final few legs dropping him back to 5th on the line. Conversely, Neil Platt found a good route up the final beat moving him up from 5th to 1st, and a potential 2nd overall. However, a protest held over from Saturday resulted in Neil’s disqualification and his position slid back to 8th overall. With Andy out of the picture, Simon’s overall winning position was secured.

Some consistently good sailing by Gary Deighan over the weekend resulted in a deserved 3rd overall.

Dave/Lynn Lawson had some better results in the lighter conditions. Their 3rd and 2nd earning them 4th overall.

With racing over, the rain clouds disappeared, and the sun came out enabling the prize giving to be held outside. The Commodore thanked the competitors, and all concerned in putting the weekend together, and the prizes were awarded by Claire Kirkpatrick.

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Competitors for the RYA NWJTT and Topper NW Area Championships were confounded, on arrival, to discover that the wind was blowing from exactly the opposite direction to that which was forecast. Shortly before the scheduled start time the SE breeze faded – and then gradually reappeared from the NW. It was, however, light and patchy for the first race of the NWJTT event.

Three ‘Youths’, two ‘Juniors’ and two Optimists contested the event with, Reece Tomlinson, in his laser, the only sailor able to complete two laps of the course in the light airs. Reece won the Youth division, Sam Errington from Chester won the Juniors and Rebecca Coles from Annandale took the gun in the Optimists.

After a short break the Race Officer took the fleet afloat for their second race. They were joined by the 27 competitors of the Topper NW Area Championship fleet. The next race was sailed in a steadier and building breeze. Consistency was the name of the game in the NWJTT, with each division being won by the same boat as Race 1.

In the first race of the Topper event Thomas Wallwork, from Redesmere, showed early form, winning by a margin from Nick Devereux from Budworth.

With the breeze finally established and blowing a pleasing F – 3, the next race was sailed back to back. In the NWJTT both Sam Errington and Reece Tomlinson achieved perfect scorelines by winning the final race, whilst in the Optimists Rebecca was second to Drew Gibbons from Redesmere, but still won overall.

For the Toppers the second race brought different boatrs to the fore. Zac Gibbons lead from the start, hotly pursued by James Grummett, Thomas Wallwork and Lucy Mearns from Leigh & Lowton. The four enjoyed a close battle throughout the race. Lucy picked the shifts better in the early part of the last beat and gradually closed on Zac Gibbons as he tacked to cover her. Eventually she was able to break through only to find herself on the wrong side of the last shift, and to finish second. James Grummet from Burwain was third with Thomas Wallwork in fourth.

In the last race of the day Zac Gibbons again took the gun, with James Grummett in second and the consistent Lucy Mearns in third

On the Sunday morning, with a forecast predicting a building breeze peaking at 30 mph, the Race Committee decided to sail all three remaining races back to back.

The breeze did indeed build, and conditions became increasingly testing, particularly for some of the younger sailors. At the front of the fleet James Grummett and Lucy Mearns showed good tactical awareness and great technique to maintain their challenge, in conditions that favoured the older and heavier competitors.

In the first race of the day Zac Gibbons took the gun with James Grummett in second and Thomas Wallwork in third. Lucy Mearns could only manage sixth.

In the second race competition was becoming fierce and a fascinating duel ensued at the front of the fleet. Zac Gibbon�s boat speed took him to the front but Lucy�s tactical awareness kept her in contention, and allowed her to take the lead for periods. Eventually Zac took the gun with Lucy second, James third and Thomas fourth.

In the final race Zac and Lucy both suffered reverses. James Grummett won the race with James Chasty from Redesmere second and Thomas in third. Lucy finished seventh and Zac eighth. However, following a protest, Zac retired after finishing.

This was not to be the end of Zac�s woes as a subsequent DSQ from Race 5 dropped him from first to seventh in the overall standings. James Grummett was, therefore, the very deserving winner with Thomas Wallwork in second and the tenacious and improving Lucy Mearns in third.

At the prize giving the diminutive Isabel Wallwork who had impressed everyone with her fierce determination to complete every race won a special award for endeavour. Similarly, Lucy Mearns, who had impressed with her tactical skills and her consistently fair sailing, also received a special prize.

NWTAC Winner
James Grummett Burwain