Dampened Enthusiasm

Some light airs on a wet afternoon were just enough to tempt four boats to the water for the next race in the long MG series. The official starter, aka Herb, opted to have a shore start to minimise exposure to the rain showers.

The handicap fleet comprised Dave L in a Laser and Mike F in his Streaker, and they have a keen, clean start. AJ/Sue and Nigel/Glenys in the GPs also had a clear start, though it wasn’t quite as keen!

The light airs lasted long enough to complete the first lap, just, so the race was shortened and a show of hands (or lack of them), brought racing to the end for the day.

Dave took the honours in the Handicap fleet, and AJ in the GPs.

MG Series Latest results

Sunday started with a light southerly, though with the wind forecast to come from the SW the OD fully expected the wind to swing around Sale Fell and cause some light patches until the true wind settled in.

There was a good turnout of 21 boats over all four fleets, and although the wind was swinging, with some holes, most boats were on the second lap before the wind disappeared. Various zephyrs teased the boats along the course which was shortened 2/3rds around the second lap. Bean/Oliver noticed where the course was being shortened without losing too much ground as they were heading for the wrong mark, but it would be another half hour before Mik finished. Dave/Lyn won the GPs, and Ian/Lezli-Ann regained the lead to win in the F15s. Zefer in his Laser won the Handicap fleet 30secs ahead of Robin/Erin in a RS200.

The wind didn’t look at all promising during the lunch break, but suddenly filled in from the North so the committee boat went out to set a start as the wind started to swing to the NW. The wind held, but continued to swing more to the West (no, not the first sea breeze of the season!).

There were only two fleets racing; Dave/Lynn won in the GPs and Alex/Olivia took their first win of the season in the Handicap fleet ahead of Mike F in a Solo, whose crewed had jumped ship over lunch due to the lack of wind.

BL Series latest results

Easter Holiday

31 March, 2018

Championship Racing No Comments

An Easter easterly helped reduce air temperatures for sailors and campers alike. Fortunately the forecast gusty winds on Saturday eased late morning to encourage a few more boats to race.

Banter/Tim were out in a RS400 and powered through the start line a few seconds early to claim the first individual recall of the season! At the next start AJ/Sue had nowhere to squeeze through as they approached the line but they unsuccessfully tried to duck Mike’s stern with which they collided and had to do the first sets of penalty turns of the season.

The wind was shifty, and the gusts did increase through the afternoon, resulting in a few capsizes. Oliver Smith was well wrapped up with three sets of joggers, but it wasn’t enough to keep him warm enough to continue through the full race so dad Phil opted for an early retirement.

At the end of the afternoon Dave/Lynn lead the GP Spring Cup with two 1sts, Zefer leads the Handicap Barf Trophy with a 2nd and a 1st, and Sandy/Douglas the Slow Handicap Red Sails Trophy, also with two 1sts.

Weekend series final results

The evening entertainment started off with a bring and eat meal for the kids followed by a film, all to be repeated for the adults later

Sunday started busily with an Easter egg hunt, and there were plenty of successful finds

The temperature was only 5C but felt so much warmer than Saturday, and the winds, still from the East were not quite as gusty as Saturday, though there were plenty of shifts about to catch out helms on the beats.

After three races, all to count, some consistent sailing puts Ian/Lezli-Ann in the lead for the F15s, Dave/Lynn lead the GPs with two 1sts, and a bit of a mash-up in the handicap fleet has Tony King leading with 13pts and new member Stan Barton just a point behind (did Stan give a position away when he forgot about the leeward mark as he head for the finish?). Only one race has been sailed in the slow handicap, but it is led by Banter/Oscar.

The annual egg dump competition was as strongly contested as ever. Fortunately, or otherwise, this year no kids made it to the final only to be intimidated and have their egg cracked by nasty adults. Peter Winfindale was up against Wendy Somerville in the final, but he was no match for the canny Scot who took the honours!

The forecast for Monday was not good, and a wet morning with a blustery easterly was not sufficient to entice anyone to race, so racing was cancelled, and campers dodged the showers to pack up and leave after the long weekend.

Duty Roster

11 February, 2018

Every Club expects its members to do their fair share of duties.

With the sailing programme complete duties for OD and safety have been allocated and uploaded to Dutyman.

Please check your inbox for an email from Dutyman, and review the duties that you have been allocated to make sure you are presently available to undertake them. If not, please use the links provided in the Dutyman letter to try and arrange a suitable swap with another member. It is your responsibility to find a replacement, not the Sailing Secretary, or Webmaster.

Thank you for your co-operation with this

Another Season Closes

19 November, 2017

Winter Series final results

Despite a small contingent vying for the opportunity to race to secure the first trophy for next year’s prize giving, there was no wind, and as it had not appeared after a short postponement, racing was cancelled bringing the season’s racing to a close.

The results for last week’s racing were calculated and showed that Jim Christie had won the Winter Trophy on fleet handicap with Mike Fairlamb 2nd, and Paul Gannon on a personal handicap basis with Jim 2nd.

The prize giving is being held at Hundith Hill on Saturday, and the AGM will be held in the clubhouse at 2pm on Sunday. Come along and have your say!

With the season atva close, don’t put off coming down to take your boat away, or make sure it is positioned above typical flood levels and securely tied down against potential winter storms.

Sun Soaked Sunday

5 November, 2017

On Saturday evening we celebrated bonfire night with a large bonfire and great array of fireworks, complete with hot drinks and hot dogs.

Sunday’s forecast was for some gusty winds, but it started off mirror-like and slowly filled in with a cold NW wind, which was pleasantly counteracted by a sun-filled sky throughout the day.

After losing so many days sailing recently, and with only three days racing left, sailors were keen to get back on the water, and we had a complement of 11 boats. Paul in a Laser had a flying port on port start, and kept ahead of Neil’s Laser for two full laps. Mike/Eric in a GP won the first race ahead of Mike/Kayla in a F15 with Jim in his Supernova 3rd.

After lunch, some holes in the wind bunched the fleet up a little, and although Mike/Kayla finished 1st on the water ahead of Banter/Jonathan in a 400, on handicap Jim took the honours, with Mike/Eric 2nd.

Blown Away by Brian

21 October, 2017

A poor forecast on a damp Saturday afternoon, and the threat from Storm Brian, all resulted in no contenders, despite the conditions being sailable.

Despite the risk is that Sunday’s conditions would be worse, Brian was on his way and left some good sailing conditions, but no one was tempted so racing was cancelled and the six rescue and race management team had another early finish.

Flying Fifteen Team Racing

14 October, 2017

Opens Racing No Comments

A mirror like morning lake was not reflecting the longer term forecast, but the wind quickly filled in for the 18 boats racing in the annual Viking Trophy which is awarded to the best performing team of three. However, the wind quickly filled in to provide some great racing conditions, though a squall during the first start made everyone wonder how many races we would manage to get in.

The squall did pass through, but the base wind level remained force 4. The gusts flattened one or two boats, and consequently shredded a spinnaker! No one chanced flying a spinnaker on the reaches, not that there was a need to, but they were flown on the runs, with some spectacular planing conditions.

The first two races were led by Simon Longstaff/Jon Denwood and Neil Currie/Rory Yardley, but Steve Goacher/Tim Harper quietly pulled through to win both races, and he led the final race from the start, with Mark Somerville/Mike Cowan securing a good 2nd place. Not surprisingly, Steve’s team are overnight leaders.

[lg_slideshow folder=”album/17sundry/F15 team racing” display=”slide”]

As can be seen, Sally thoroughly enjoyed herself, and never gave a thought to her panda eyes!

Would the winds be kind so we can get the two remaining races in? No chance! If Steve Goacher says it’s windy, is anyone going to challenge him?! So the overnight results stand, despite Simon Longstaff trying to manipulate an alternate resolution…

FF Team Racing Team Scores 2017
	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
Best and the Worst	12	11	18			41
The Committee	20	17	16			53
The Octonauts	21	23	18			62
King’s Team	29	34	31			94
The Old Codgers	45	42	44			131
Tower Boys	44	47	45			136

After packing up their boats, there was an early prize giving in which everyone was a winner. In a close run contest, Ian Preston would have been awarded the Grotty Potty for having his boat pre-launched (well the tide came in to almost have it floating), but he was disqualified by not entering, so Athol King antics of falling out of his boat four times put him in pole position ahead of Mike Moore who was knocked out of the boat, hung on by a leg and holding the tiller, but struggled to pull his head out of the water!

Ian Preston got another mention from his friends at Blackpool and Fleetwood for failing to provide the breakfast bacon baps they had travelled all this way to enjoy!

In support of Countryfile’s nationwide ramble for Children in Need, all the sailors sponsored Jon Denwood who has gone for a ramble around Sale Fell with Neil Currie. Contact him if you want to sponsor his efforts.

Autumnal Weekend

7 October, 2017

The blustery winds that were forecast did not come to fruition, resulting in good sailing conditions for the select few that raced, albeit in cooler conditions that in recent weekends.

Val/Ken in their GP led the races generally, giving Neil in a Laser a run for his money, making good use of the intermittent planing conditions. Neil finished first on the water in the first race, and though Val crossed the line first in the last race, she hit the mark, and had to re-round it, letting Neil get through in the meantime. New member Mathis had a tussle with the start mark, getting caught up in its mooring rope, giving the rest of the fleet a bit if a start!

On handicap, Val won both races on personal and fleet handicap basis, with Neil 2nd.

Sunday’s forecast was for light airs and the risk of rain, but with enough ripples on the water to get racing underway. However, the wind was swinging considerably, so a hopefully middling beat to mark 1 was set. With 1 relatively close to the shore, it was partly shadowed from the wind making the beat a little slow and challenging for some. Though the first lap was slow, it would have been too short to stop for lunch, so the fleet continued for another two thirds of a lap to finish at mark 0. Though it was fine for the leaders, led by Neil/Rory in a F15, the wind faded and the tail enders had a slow return home.

The breeze returned for the afternoon, but remained light. Neil led the fleet but it was a day for GPs, though Dave/Lynn had to work to pull back and win on a fleet handicap basis ahead of Joan/Jack. On personal handicap, Paul/Emily won the morning race, and Jim/Poppy had a better race winning the afternoon race.

Fortunately sunshine won the day and the rain did not appear, but the flies in the race office did!

Dave/Lynn presently lead both the fleet and personal handicap Sunday series

Sunday Best

1 October, 2017