Some blustery conditions on Saturday morning eased to leave near champagne racing conditions in the (slightly) warmer weather with sunny intervals. Today’s racing is for the final weekend series of the championship season, but as the winners have already been determined, numbers on the water were lighter than usual.

Dave Lawson led Val Bell in both GP races, but they shared their crews with Ladies v Gents in the second race.

Steve/Ruth led the handicap fleet in the first race taking 1st on handicap with Jim/Poppy 2nd. In the next race, Steve took the lead but failed to notice that nobody was following him up the 2nd beat because the course had changed! By the time he realised three boats had got away, and he finished 4th with Scumper 1st and Jim taking another 2nd. Bob had similar problems following the course after the one he’d written down had been scuffed off.

In the slow handicap fleet, Mik in his Mirror won the first race, but in the next race there was a dead heat with Paul in a Topper.

Sunday stayed dry with another mild southerly breeze, but it didn’t encourage any more on to the water. With no GPs sailing, the Stables Prize goes to Saturday’s overnight leader Dave and Lynn Lawson, who opted to try their hand in the handicap fleet and give Scumper a run for his money, which they did very successfully as he was unable to break far enough ahead, and they won race 3 on handicap. Joanie had had enough sailing for the weekend, so Tog retreated to the Solo only for the gooseneck to break soon after starting.

After lunch the wind eased slightly, but results on handicap were consistent with a finishing order of Scumper, Dave, and Tog. The trophy goes to Scumper, with Tog (aided by Joanie) 2nd and Dave/Lynn 3rd.

Paul Gannon won races 3 and 4 with John Roberts 2nd. Although the positions were reversed in the final race, Paul had sufficient good results to win the trophy.

Final results

Congratulations go out to Vice Commodore Naomi Smith and husband Phil on the birth of their daughter Lucy, a brother for Oliver.

Congratulations go to another Smith, Naomi’s brother in law Andy after his stirling performance with Phil Hodgkins at Derwent Reservoir over the weekend winning all races to win the GP14 Northern championship!

So the meteorologists think it’s now Autumn, just as well they didn’t tell the weather! A windless, sunny morning filled in for the afternoon racing, though with the wind from the SSW it couldn’t settle as to which side of Sale Fell to come from. Though a little shifty in the first race, the wind was so much less predictable in the second one with 45 degree shifts between boats just a few lengths apart. Ian/Lezliann in their F15 benefitted from one such shift helping them break away from Neil/Judith, though the continued shift almost turned a reach into a beat that threatened to rob Ian of his lead, but he held on until the about 5 boat lengths from the finish when he had to tack off and gave Neil the commanding position that won him the race. However, Ian/Lezliann had done well enough to win the Dawson Trophy.

The middle segment of the second race, despite the course being out of the shadow of Sale Fell, had the most unexpected shifts and hollow spots. Joan/Jack revel in such conditions and took the lead, but Dave/Lynn fought back taking their 2nd win of the day, and the Autumn Cup.

In the handicap fleet Steve/Ruth won both races in a Merlin Rocket, ahead of Jim in his Supernova in the 1st race, and Toggle/Joanie in their RS200 in the 2nd. Steve’s wins were just enough for him to win the Skiddaw Trophy from Joe.

No racing in the Mirror fleet so the MT Trophy goes to Jonathan/Henry.

The sun continued throughout Saturday afternoon.

Final DW results

Wind and rain was the forecast for Sunday, and it was partly correct with a good southerly, a heavy swell and some white horses. Again, there weren’t many that turned up to sail, but conditions did not put them off. There was a bit of hanging around waiting for Tog who had been delayed rodding drains! During that wait, the effects of Sale Fell were felt as far down as mark 3 with down draughts, flat spots and major shifts, and the race started on a tight fetch, though it did revert to a beat closer to windward mark 6. The Lasers had plenty of capsize practice, and both subsequently retired. Indeed Paul capsized so much he was eventually taken into the rescue boat, while AJ jumped aboard to sail the boat back to shore. It wasn’t long before he capsized too!

Toggle had gear failure on the start of his final lap and retired, leaving just three finishers, led by Stave/Ruth in a Merlin, then Dave/Lynn in a GP, positions which they held on handicap. Being the final race of the series, the results did not affect the overall results with Mike Fairlamb winning the Dodd Cup. The Blencathra Trophy for F15s was won by Ian/Lezliann, Mustard Pot for GPs won by AJ/Sue, and Mirror AB Cup by Bean/Oliver.

Final results BL etc

Although having enjoyed the challenges of the morning race, there was no enthusiasm for another race so it was another early finish. Despite the forecast, the rain contained itself to just a few spits and spots.

Though there’s one weekend series to go, finalising two series has shown that the Club Champions for this year have already been determined. Congratulations go to:

Flying 15s – Ian Campbell/Lezliann Pearson
Handicap – Mark Somerville
GP14s – Dave/Lynn Lawson
Mirrors – Phil/Oliver Smith

Latest Championship positions

For some people that have been camping since Thursday, Saturday marks the middle of their weekend break, and they have been joined by the Southport and GP14 cruisers. With a good westerly breeze, and some sunny spells, there was an excellent turnout with over 30 boats, including 11 Mirrors. The Smith family had a large contingent in the Mirror fleet and it is not surprising that they were amongst the flurry of boats over the line and caused a general recall!

Results wise, it was a day to confuse the sailing secretary when it came to recording the results as there were numerous swaps between helm and crews (Olivia/Alex, Amber/Robin, Izzie/Ben) NB Ant/Jo weren’t in that list just yet, though they did swap to Ant’s RS200 and had various problems including their mainsail slipping down. Also, there were some new faces in the Mirrors with Graham, Alan and Keith trying their hand, while Scumper sailed with Matthew in a F15, and Emily went back into a Laser for the first time in many years!

The winds afforded some good planing conditions at times, and there weren’t many capsizes, not that was Dave Lawson’s excuse for getting wet as he missed his toestraps and took a quick dip.

To top all this off there was some good racing and close finishes.

Latest results DW etc

Sunday ‘s expectation of light winds was not to be. As the morning race went on, the wind increased together with the number of capsizes. All in all it proved a bit too much for some and they didn’t venture out after lunch.

 Though there were no recalls throughout the day, some starts were busy, and not without incident, and penalty turns had to be done. Just to prove that miracles can happen, Simon was seen to be one of those boats doing his turns! However, it didn’t stop him from working his way back to the front of the F15s and taking another win.

The overnight leaders are Simon/Jon in the F15s, Mark/Banter in the Handicap fleet, Dave/Lynn in GPs, and Andy in the Mirrors. The Bank Holiday wind was slightly less than forecast and expected so there was only a handful of takers, especially as the expectation was that that the wind would increase and the rain would descend.

A simple triangular course gave competitors some good reaches and the gusts provided great planing conditions. There were no capsizes, and all those that sailed completed the course, and were pleased to have raced, though no-one was interested in the final race. Final results remained as overnight.

The early finish enabled tents and awnings to be packed away dry, and me to cut my lawns before the the onset of rain!

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Final results August Bank holiday etc