This one was held in very light airs. Many crews felt sure it would be cancelled and didn�t bother to rig. But the OD found just enough of a breeze near the Armathwaite shore. It was northerly so the course was a gentle beat from A to B, a drift inshore to 3 and a slow run on the return to A. Seven boats made the delayed start � well, some of them were a little late, but at least they crossed the line.

Joan & Jack led on the outward legs and then made some shrewd light weather moves, firstly by reaching away from the lee shore and with it the flat water, and then by placing the crew on the foredeck behind the sail, the helm balancing at the shroud and the transom clear of the water. They built up a good lead and, by mutual agreement, were finished after one 20 minute lap.

There was a close contest between Peter & Neil in an Enterprise and AJ & Sue in their GP. It looked like a build up to Southport! Sue tried flying the kite but, when it refused to fill, she dropped it and was accused of rocking � or was it ooching! They reached the finishing line in second place but with the Ent close astern.

Further back, Harry was also benefiting from having David on the foredeck of his Topper. He was next to finish ahead of a mixture of boats. Hazel was in a Feva with Izzie as crew, Lottie in the family Radial and Rosie in her Topper.

All either sailed, paddled or were towed back to the Club where another excellent meal was served.

FH results were the same as the positions on the water except that Peter was classified ahead of AJ and Rosie ahead of Lottie. On PH it was Joan & Jack taking the win with Peter again coming an excellent second. Neil reckoned he was giving Peter on the water training but, with the wind as it was, it was not thought that he contributed much to the result!

Latest results PHFH

Despite a forecast with 30mph gusts, 15 boats took to the water and enjoyed some exciting racing in gusty, and shifty, conditions for the start of another weekend series.

Simon/Jon led the way in the F15s in both races, with Ian/Lezli-Ann keeping Mike/Kayla at bay in the first race and vice versa in the second.

Similarly Dave/Lynn won both GP races. AJ/Sue recovered from a prolonged capsize on the first beat of the first race and sailed on to finish 2nd. Val/Ken were Dave’s only competition in the 2nd race.

Robbie D/Izzie took two wins in the Handicap fleet with Alistair Richards 2nd in his Laser and Trevor 3rd in his Dart in each race.

As forecast, Sunday’s winds were significantly lighter, and although the day was sunnier there was no sea breeze to pep things up through the afternoon.

The wind direction backed a little after the line was set for the morning race and, surprisingly, did not veer back again. However, conditions throughout the course continued to be shifty. Dave/Lynn and Simon/Jon bagged another win strengthening their leads, while Ian Hall in his Solo beat Robbie D/Izzie, and Mik beat Pam in the Mirrors/Toppers.

Gary/Lottie in a F15 seemed to have a personal battle with AJ/Peter (Lottie’s dad) and fought hard to stay ahead (Sorry I can’t remember if they succeeded!)

After lunch a further two races were scheduled. The F15s continued their over eager starting and Neil/Judith were recalled, while Mike/Kayla’s conscience got the better of them and they started to return too! Although this did Mike no favours, he did work his way back up the fleet to win, but Simon couldn’t be beaten and didn’t sail the final race in which Neil/Judith claimed their first win of the weekend.

Joan/Jack took an early lead in their GP, but Dave worked to gain another win, and the series trophy. Val/Ken won the final race.

In the Mirrors, Pam led both afternoon races but Mik managed to take the lead for the final race and win the series. Hazel secured two 3rds to finish on equal points with Jenny, but the tie was split in Hazel’s favour, and she finished 3rd overall.

Although Robbie D had to make do with a day of 2nds, when combined with his 1sts from Saturday, he had a clear overall lead ahead of Alastair in a Laser.

Final results

Another blustery evening with a Force 4 Southerly wind and choppy water which put a few people off. Others took their time in deciding to launch which delayed the start for a while. Will need to be on time on the next two Thursdays or we will be finishing in the dark.

The course was 0-8-A-B which could have been better as it gave a slow reach in the lee of Sale Fell and ended with a quirky second beat into 8. Never mind, there was more than enough wind on the A-B leg!

Dave and Lynn took the lead of the eleven boat fleet followed by John Crosbie in his 400. Gary had not taken the FF out in such heavy conditions and was struggling, so he & Kayla headed ashore. And John was caught out on the exposed and gusty third leg and ended up with a fair length of his mast embedded in the mud. In fact there were numerous capsizes and the two safety boats were continuously at work standing by and assisting.

Hazel, Lottie and David in the three Toppers had taken a considerable time to negotiate the Sale Fell wind shadow and, with the wind strengthening further, they were finished in that order at the end of lap 1 having endured 25 minutes of hard racing.

At their finish at the end of lap 2 it was the GP�s of David & Lynn, Val & Ken and AJ & Sue ahead of the Radials of Paul, Peter and Nigel. And that was also the finishing order on Fleet Handicap.

AJ & Sue took another win on Personal Handicap and are virtually assured of winning the Series. Peter was an excellent second and there were, somewhat incredulously, identical corrected times for third place between Val & Ken and Paul.

Latest results FH PH

The Night Jar series resumed on a wet and windy day which was enough to put anyone off sailing. But, as the Webmaster often says, Bass has its own micro-climate and it was down to a force 3 westerly and almost sunny by the race start.

The OD chose a course with two beats. With the start boat just upwind of B, the course was 0-2-1-B. Twelve boats took to the water although Kath & Glenys had the rudder come off their GP on the way out and were extremely late starting.

At the front of the fleet the GP�s of AJ & Sue and Val & Ken were involved in a close battle and were being shadowed by Mike in his Streaker and Neil in the Radial. By the end of the second lap Val had pulled out a reasonable lead and, with the wind dropping, Lottie in her father�s Radial and Harry�s Topper took the shortened course flag.

Kath & Glenys worked hard to make up for the time lost, passing fellow GP helm Mike Cave, Jon Anson�s Radial and finally Paul�s Clark�s Radial when he tacked for the line and they continued to finish at the port end. Toggle & Joan finished third on the water to the two lead GP�s, their Asymmetric 200 seeming to loose out when going inshore to gybe on the long run to 2.

Fleet Handicap results showed Val & Ken ahead of AJ & Sue with Mike�s Streaker third. On Personal Handicap it was AJ / Sue ahead of Richard Broughton�s Solo and Neil�s Radial.

With many members taking part in The Lord Birkett open meeting at Ullswater this weekend, club racing was slightly quieter than usual and started with another race in the Celebrity Glass pursuit series. Pam and Mik got away keenly, but the slightly blustery conditions caught Pam out at the windward mark and she capsized while tacking round, leaving Mik to take the lead. The GPs proved to be the strongest competition and, although Mike/Eric had a good lead, taking the right hand side of the beat turned out to be the wrong side as John/Nigel took the left side, wiping out Mike’s lead, before moving on to wipe out Mik’s lead too!

Ian/Lezli-Ann and Ian/Elaine had some close encounters, firstly on the start line when Ian C was forced over and had to return, through to the finish when Ian M was in the lead until crossing the line in a dead heat.

Latest results

In the 2nd race both F15s had some spinnaker problems, though Ian C came off best and held the lead through to the finish

The Toppers had a good turnout and surrounded Mik, but Mik won on handicap from David and Jenny. Mike/Eric held off Alan/Sue to take another win and the current lead in the series.

In the handicap fleet Jim won in his Supernova ahead of Terry in a Laser, maintaining his lead in the series

Latest results

Sunday started off with light zephyrs crossing the lake, and AJ asked for it to be sorted. By the time racing started the wind had filled in! However, it did ease towards the end of the race which slowed down proceedings a little. Hazel’s persistence in her Topper helped her maintain her lead in the MIrror/Topper series – well done!

Latest results

As soon as most boats had finished the wind returned, and held for the afternoon race which, unusually, was a pennant race in aid of the Jubilee Sailing Trust but held as pursuit on a fleet handicap basis.

Pam, in her Mirror, led the fleet down the lake to 10, but not having seen next mark 15 kept on going. Unfortunately she had noted the missing mark before the OD who sent the rescue crews to advise boats to use 7 in lieu of missing 15, so she lost out on the extensive lead that she had. Jim opted not to use his H12 and raced in his Supernova, concentrating intensely to secure a lead (that wife Ann couldn’t believe!) which he maintained to the finish. The following four boats, though some minutes behind, were all closely grouped. A couple of Lasers lost their way, missed out a mark, and subsequently retired.

OD Nigel had a barrage of claims that, if the race hadn’t been shortened, their boats would have been taken ashore and wheeled around mark 15, which presently lies in the back camping field, on their trollies. Not certain that Tog would have approved, and there being no formal protests, the results stood.

Jubilee Sailing Trust results

As for the Boats that travelled to Ullswater for The Lord Birkett Trophy, congratulations to Mike and Kayla who finished 10th overall, and 1st F15 despite the changeable wind conditions

Lord Birkett Results

With a SSW force 4 wind blowing and 15 boats competing, having two fully crewed rescue boats on the water was essential. There were numerous capsizes and six retirements. Richard Broughton and Peter Winfindale went synchronised swimming and pulled out of the race as did Joan & Jack Hardie who had ended up with mast in mud.

The course was 0-4-2 which gave a long beat followed by broad and tight reaches. The sting was in the tail as a very tight rounding of 2 was essential to cross the line inside the starboard end pin and a tack meant a beat up the biased line without actually crossing it. This left a number of competitors pinching and loosing time by ending up head to wind.

Trevor Morton in the Dart found the stronger conditions to his liking finishing second on the water to the Skiff and winning on PH. The GPs of Mike & Eric and AJ & Sue were next up, the former winning on FH and the latter coming second in both series.

The Toppers handled the conditions superbly with only one of the five starters retiring. Hazel Newport finished fourth on PH and sixth on FH while Rosie Hogg was seventh in both series.

After numerous masts had been cleaned of mud it was inside for another excellent meal, provided on this occasion by Neil.

Latest results FH PH

Well, this is one round that nearly didn�t take place! At Start -15mins there was little wind and, what there was varied from E to SW. The beat was to be B-0 but it turned out to be B-A. Well B wasn�t actually in the eventual course which was A-4-1 and a finish line around B. Sounds confusing but it worked ok!

All except the 5 Toppers did 2 laps with John Crosbie�s 400 pulling out a lead on the water from Joan & Jack Hardie�s 200 on the first despite doing turns for touching 1. The fun stared at 4 on lap 2 with a 90 degree shift which brought a raft of boats together. Jim Christie�s Supernova seemed to fare best but a further shift at 1 changed the order again and Joan crossed the line second with Nick Bell�s Seafly and Kath Davis/Janie Britcher�s GP in close contention. David Roger led the Toppers home on this occasion.

It was a relatively short race with a delayed start waiting for wind and a shortened course in case it died again. This gave more time to enjoy Debbie Binns� excellent meal and for results to be calculated.

Kath took the PH win which moves her into the lead of that Series while Ian Hall in his Solo took the FH race win.

Latest results FH PH