It nearly didn�t happen! Only Bass member Mark Hunt turned in for safety but Neil saved the day giving up his Laser sail to drive the Rib. They successfully dealt with John capsizing his Solo on the way to the start and a later long inversion of Steve & Simon�s L2000.
There was a good entry of 17 boats for this round despite it being overcast with a threat of rain. The wind was WSW 3-4 and the OD set 0-1-5-4 which was long for a Thursday but ok in the prevailing conditions.
The first leg saw the usual group pull away and continue their lead positions during a short mid-race shower. But, as the rain stopped so did the wind! James & Jenny were left with none at 0 and dropped from first to fourth after which they retired to the Clubhouse. Val & Ken profited most moving up to have a tight battle with Mike & Eric. John and Rory in their Solos were also in the group and Nigel & Glenys�s GP not far astern.
The lack of any usable wind also created a problem for the OD (and for Sazzie / Hazel on food who kept asking when crews would be ashore!). It was decided to shorten immediately although some boats including Joe Blease�s Radial had drifted across the line before Flag S was hoisted. Richard Hughes� Radial got three successive hoots � two for shortening and the third for a finish!
More by luck than judgement wind came back and all had finished within the hour.
As the fleet of 17 boats, in which it was great to have so many young sailors, prepared for the Mirror Inland Championship, the lake had numerous calm patches which the forecast didn’t instil confidence in many that they would disappear. However, shortly before the scheduled start the wind did settle and fill the lake.
As the nights draw in after the summer solstice, the high pressure left us with clear skies and light variable winds.
With less than a week until the longest day, it shouldn’t be too surprising that the temperature has improved and the sun is shining. Add a good force 4 from the SW and you have near perfect conditions for Saturday racing.
A failure to closely watch the flags had only Paul Gannon on the handicap fleet start line, with other stragglers some minutes behind! There were several capsizes, and a couple of subsequent retirements. On handicap Paul came a close 2nd to Rich Critchley in a Solo. Despite not knowing the course, and almost being misguided by Neil, Rich won the afternoon race as well with Hugh 2nd. Neil had been lying 2nd to Hugh, but rounded mark A incorrectly, trying to call Hugh back. It was only when Tim said he should have rounded it to port that he returned, and then capsized, losing two places in the process! Ethan capsized his RS100 with his kite up which he struggled to release the halyard. When he did eventually right the boat, he was shattered and called it a day.
