Another Sunny Saturday

October is here, the autumn is setting in, but with the sun shining again, there was a fleet of 15 boats across various fleets for the first races in the Autumn Saturday series.�

Alex took the lead in his RS100, but failed to properly note down the course so was keen to double check it as he pass the committee boat! Neil’s Laser sail was somewhat floppy as he forgot to put battens in it!

Bob managed to get entangled on the committee boat’s anchor warp – AJ was keen to point out that he had never done that. Watch this space!

There were occasional planing conditions, but generally the wind was relatively light with the inevitable wind shifts to contend with. It was good to see Joan/Jack back on the water (for the first race at least), and they haven’t lost their form finishing 3rd on handicap.

Alex’s strong performance, earned him two wins on fleet handicap. Mike/Kayla and Dave/Lynn each had a 2nd position. On personal handicap, Alex took the first win ahead of Joan/Jack, while Mike Cave won the second race, with Bob Gate 2nd

Sunday had a forecast of high winds which would increase� through the day, and that is what happened. Though there was a good breeze when sailors arrived, various� persuaded themselves it was best to use smaller Laser Radial sails, or in Paul’s case Topper sails! The wind did increase even by the time racing was underway.

With no OD to hand, racing was started from the finish line transit at the race office. The simple, trapezoidal course, was no appreciated by Mike/Kayla because there was a true dead run, and without using a spinnaker they were nose diving from time to time. The gusty conditions were too much for all the single handers as they all capsized, as did Val/Ken.

The heavy keel on Mike/Kayla’s F15 worked to their advantage in the heavy winds, enabling them to win by 40 secs on handicap ahead of Dave/Lynn in their GP. Having caught up with Val/Ken when they capsized, AJ/Sue were disappointed that they had to sail one more lap so retired.

Although the wind seemed to settle over lunch, the sailors had warmed up, got comfortable, and opted not to venture out again, so it was an early finish and home.

Next weekend the annual F15 team racing event takes place starting at 1pm. Club racing will run as usual, starting at 2.30pm.

September Sunshine

29 September, 2018

September is drawing to a close, and the temperature dipping, but the sun shone for an afternoon of medium winds to power the fleets around the course. With a couple of incidents before the start Nigel didn’t actually make it over the start line… First of all Paul got his Laser’s mainsheet caught around the bow of Nigel’s GP, causing Paul to capsize, and then be towed backwards! Then, just before the start Nigel capsized, righted the boat and capsized again getting the mast stuck in the mud, so it was all over before he started. Despite this, Nigel’s overall results were sufficient to beat Val/Ken, who won both races,� by a couple of points to win the Autumn Cup.�

In the F15s Mike/Kayla took an early lead from Ian/Tim who sailed well on the run to take the lead for a while, but Mike broke back through on the following beat, and held it through to the finish. The finishing order was the same in the second race. Mike/Kayla’s results gave them a clean sweep to win the Dawson Trophy, with Ian/Lezli-Ann 2nd.

After some soul searching, Joe was pleased to have opted for his Radial sail in the blustery conditions. He led the handicap fleet, winning on handicap from Tog and Paul Gannon, with the same results in the second race. This maintained Joe’s clear lead in the Skiddaw Trophy, with Paul 2nd.

With no racing in the slow handicap fleet, Mik kept his lead to win the MT Bates Trophy.

Please note that Sunday’s racing will start at 11.30 am as usual, rather than� 14.30 hrs as incorrectly stated in the handbook

Sunday’s showery start put Mike F off preparing his boat for a short while until it stopped! At the start he held on to his lay line, AJ/Sue were hoping a gap would amazingly appear, it didn’t, so they squeezed between the starboard start pin and the Bates, got caught on the anchor warp and had to re-round, giving the rest of the fleet a 75 sec head start!

Jeff, with novice crew Hannah, were caught out by a gust after unravelling a wine glass twist in their gennaker. After taking a while to extract their mast from the mud, they made an early trip back to shore. John/Tim had gear problems and had to retire too.

Mike/Kayla led the fleet and built up a 4 min lead on Val/Ken which was cut back to just 15 secs when the handicap was applied. As the race was part of the two race Fleet Challenge, it meant all was to race for in the afternoon race.�

The second race started without incident, but AJ/Sue soon realised that they had rigged the genoa incorrectly wrapping the halyard around the spinnaker halyard, so they cut their losses, and retired. Mike built up a bigger lead this time, securing another 1st place to win the Fleet Challenge, with Val 2nd.

A Bit of Tinkering

8 September, 2018

News Racing No Comments

A brief wet spell on Saturday didn’t put off the Tinker fleet of 11 boats from having an early race before scheduled club racing.

John Reekie’s son planned to sail his Oppie but perhaps needs a little more training on tying knots…�

There were only three boats for club racing, but with Jonathan retiring there were only two finishers, of which John Reekie took the honours with Ant/Jo 2nd.

Jo was keen to practice her life on the trapeze wire, but there were no others takers.

Sunday’s winds were lighter than forecast and there was a better turnout of boats. Mik kept the course out of the way of the Tinkers race area but it resulted in using 8 which was in the shadow of Sale Fell so there were some big shifts, down draughts and holes to contend with.�

Even though Jo didn’t get out on the trapeze again, they still managed to win the morning race a minute ahead of Steve/Ruth in their Merlin. Although Ant/Jo were leading the series, the overall result would depend on final race.

Don’t often see this, but it’s good when we do!

Steve didn’t help his chances capsizing 30 secs before the start, and giving the fleet a 5 min head start! Although he pulled up to 2nd on the water, it was Dave who won in a Laser Radial, with Ian/Tim in a F15 2nd. Ant/Jo’s 3rd turned out to be a discard as they maintained their overall lead to win the Tinker Trophy.

Malcolm Ellwood won the Tinker open (again!)

A group of club members competed in the Southport 24 hour race in an Enterprise finishing 34th overall. Even after the rain had passed, some were getting wet, especially when the changeover didn’t go to plan…

What Happened There?

2 September, 2018

Championship Racing No Comments

While the rest of the country enjoyed more sunshine, the lake was cloud covered all afternoon, though there was no sign of showers that were evident just a matter of miles away. There was a promising southerly force 2 breeze when the start line was set, but the risk of a swing to the south west came to fruition much sooner than expected when it affected boats on the first beat! The Sale Fell effect continued throughout the race causing holes in the wind alongside large shifts.

It seems that some of the later starters were able to benefit from the major shifts/changeable conditions. Neil Garrison in an Enterprise, started on the starboard end, took advantage of the lift from the SW and went on to take the lead, finishing a matter of seconds ahead of Joe on the finish line. In the GPs, Nigel/Glenys had to restart after being OCS giving Paul/Vicky a head start. That order is not one that many would expect to change but Nigel managed to reverse it! Mik took the honours in the Mirrors ahead of Paul/Evelyn, and leads the series.

With the wind ‘more’ settled in the SW, the results of the second race were more as expected with Paul winning the GPs (though Nigel leads the series), and Joe the Handicap fleet, strengthening his lead in the series.

Celebrity Glass final results

Sunday’s weather didn’t offer the wall to wall sunshine that other parts of the country enjoyed, but there was a southerly breeze which picked up to force 2-3 just before racing started to offer some champagne sailing conditions!

It is clear that very few sailors had read the handbook to determine the format of the morning’s pursuit race, and of the two that did, Mik opted out of racing with the wind picking up, so the first start time had no takers. The next start for most of those racing would be 11 mins later, but with three Laser Radials lining up there was a Laser that thought it was their start too! Calling back the Laser confused the GP that should have started with the Radials… Last year’s winners of the race Mike/Kayla knew the format, started at the correct time, and went on to win! Their win wasn’t straightforward though, having had a contretemps with Neil regarding water at a mark, and they ended up doing a 720. Perhaps miracles do happen? What a morning…

The afternoon race was the Banana Stakes pennant sailed around the lake which is, of course, where Hugh ‘Round the Lake’ Godfrey sent the fleet of four boats. The beat took Mike/Kayla 40 mins, and a further 30 mins to get back to the finish. His closest competition was Neil Garrison who failed to finish correctly due to rounding the finish mark the wrong way. There was similar confusion with the others but it was Paul Gannon that was next to finish correctly, finishing 2nd on handicap to Mike/Kayla.

Banana Stakes final results

The race counts towards Sandra’s Salver for female crews. Kayla being the only crew, and female, strengthened her lead in the series

Sandra’s Salver latest results

Congratulations go to Andy and Phil on winning the Scottish Nationals at Loch Lomond this weekend, and secured the 2018 GP14 super series as well.

August Bank Holiday

26 August, 2018

Championship Racing No Comments

The long weekend of activities started on a showery Friday when there was a splash day for junior sailors to have organised fun messing around in boats.

The rain showers had passed through by Friday evening, and the good weather continued through Saturday, although the temperature had noticeably dropped. There was a good turnout of almost thirty boats sailing in Saturday’s races with shifty, variable winds.�

There was a couple of rare husband and wife partnerships in the RS400s with Scumper/Kirstie and Banter/Emma racing. The shifting winds caused a few capsizes. Ant/Jo tried to demonstrate a dry capsize technique but failed miserably when their boat flipped straight over again and they were both dumped in the lake.

The Hunter’s held their charity curry night in aid of Super Sam Brain Tumour Charity, and was followed by a bingo evening from which the proceeds were donated too, raising a total of �555

Sunday was wet and windy, with white horses and waves dampening everyone’s enthusiasm for racing. After an initial postponement, racing was later cancelled for the day.

Monday’s forecast was for stronger, and gustier winds, but it was not to be. Having swung to the west, the winds were variable in strength, gusty and shifty, but proved to be sailable, and some took the precaution of of using smaller radial rigs, or even changed fleet to sail a Topper!

Nigel and Glenys were up to their old tricks and practising their capsize techniques, including Glenys falling out after successfully righting the boat, but they weren’t the only casualty of the day as Val and Ken, Hugh, Banter, and others, were caught out by the gusts/shifts as well.

Dave/Lynn won both races and the Aitken Cup ahead of Val/Ken in the GPs, while Bean/Naomi won the 1st handicap race in their RS200, and Scumper the 2nd in his RS100 which was enough to beat Zefer in his Laser Radial who had two 2nds. There was no racing in the F15s, or Mirror/Topper fleets.

Where’s the Summer Gone?

19 August, 2018

The weekend after Bass Week typically has a dearth of sailors, so on Saturday the Lakeland triathlon was operated from the club with approx 350 competitors split over short and long courses. Grey, overcast weather was accompanied by winds that whipped up a few waves for the swimming part of the competition, and making the cycling and running more challenging into various head winds.

Congratulations to all those that completed the courses between two and five hours!

Sunday started with uninviting mizzle over the lake, but there was a small contingent ready and raring to get on the water, apart form the race management team that opted to start proceedings from the shore. Sailing sec Joe led the fleet across the finishing line, winning on handicap and cementing his lead in the series.

The afternoon race was the Jimmy Lancaster Memorial Trophy pennant, typically raced around the lake, the course kept the fleet in the bay. Some close racing by the GPs concluded with AJ/Sue nipping in ahead of Nigel/Glenys, and winning on handicap

The race counts towards Sandra’s Salver for female crews which Kayla currently leads despite not sailing today

Thursday Racing

13 August, 2018

For anyone not sailed out after a full programme of racing during Bass Week, you will be pleased to learn that the Night Jar series continues this Thursday, and Neil will be cooking the evening meal

Time for Change?

28 July, 2018

With a new weather front moving in, the long hot spell was blown away by high winds overnight. The blustery winds continued into Saturday, and brought in numerous showers, but with little enthusiasm for sailing apart from Ant and Jo, racing was cancelled.

Although Sunday was not quite so windy, it remained showery with a lack of willing sailors, so sailing was cancelled again.

The GP14 Worlds are being held in Mounts Bay this week, and Bass have three boats entered Andy Smith/Phil Hodgkins, Dave Lawson/Joe Roberts and Alan Jones/Sue Watson. All the boats will have GPS trackers so it will be possible to track live racing action on the following link

Championship Weekend Series

21 July, 2018

Championship Racing No Comments

There may have been a few showers through the week, but the lake and grounds show little sign of benefitting from them, with the lake at its lowest for many years. There was no rain on Saturday, and the sun broke through the clouds every now and again too.

The F1-2 SW wind strengthened throughout the afternoon more consistently towards F2, and although it was regularly swinging, it veered more to the W as the afternoon went on. In the first race this caused the beat to be a bit one sided, but the shifts still proved to challenging, especially for anyone on the wrong side of the shift/curving wind!

Nigel/Glenys were on the best lay line in the GP start, and gave AJ/Sue good warning that there was no room. AJ called their bluff, but didn’t manage to keep out of the way and had to do two turns (although he initially seemed to lose count all too quickly!). Nigel� wasn’t able to hold his lead, which he lost to Mike/Eric. Mike won the 2nd race as well, with AJ 2nd.

In the F15s, Ian/Lezli-Ann took the initial lead in both races, but the strengthening wind conditions suited Mike/Kayla, taking two wins, while Neil, with sister Liz crewing, got two 2nds.

Steve/Ruth in their Merlin pulled out a good lead in both races, but on handicap lost out to Tony in a Solo in race 1, and Joe in a Laser in race 2.

The Mirrors/Toppers were pushing the start line in race 2, with the Simpson brothers in a Mirror, and visitor Oliver in a Topper, both being OCS and had to return. Bean/Oliver won both races.

Sunday’s wind should have been stronger than Saturday, but it wasn’t to be, and there were light patches from time to time, and little sign of the sun.

With just two F15s racing, Mike/Kayla took no chances and covered Ian/Lezli-Ann whenever they could. Although this gave them wins in races 3 and 5, winning them the series Ian did manage to break cover a couple of times in race 4, and went on to win it, and finishing 2nd overall.

There was some close racing in the GPs in race 3, with AJ nipping into 2nd place ahead of Val/Ken on the final beat, but the series was won by Mike/Eric a clean sweep of with five wins, and AJ/Sue 2nd.

The lighter conditions proved challenging for Steve/Ruth in their Merlin, but they did finish the day with a 1st and 2nd, finishing 2nd overall behind Joe in his Laser who added two 1sts to his Saturday results.

Bean/Oliver finished the day with a couple of wins, and the series trophy, helped by squeezing others off the line in the first race. Mik was 2nd overall.