The second evening series, Night Jar B, got underway in light airs. The GP helms seem to have taken a stranglehold of the lead positions (1st, 2nd & 4th), and the first 4 positions were the same on both a personal and fleet handicap basis. Without a crew to hand, Mike Fairlamb sailed Val’s Solo and took the honours, from Paul/Vicky Bowmer by 15 secs, with Joan/Jack Hardie third and Val/Ken Bell 4th over 7 mins later.

There has been a wet and windy week following Bass Week, and the lake has risen somewhat. A Triathlon competition was again held from the club grounds and proved very popular on Saturday, and Sunday started wet, but by the time the sailing got under way sailors were in for a dry sailing with some good winds.

Harry Binns was racing his Topper in the morning race and even before reaching the start he had capsized, something he was to do numerous more times during the race (and after it too!).

With Roy’s sail slipping down he opted out of racing before he even started, leaving Banter Phil to sail the course on his own for a win. Though Mike and Kayla led the MJM race from the start, her knot tying skills, or lack of them, resulted in their spinnaker coming down on the second leg, and not to be rehoisted until the halyard had been rethreaded between races. With Val OD, and Ken Bell not required on rescue, he opted to sail the Solo, an experience which he found somewhat challenging, but he had a good race with Kath and Glenys in their GP. Though Peter Ballard had a good race in his SuperNova and beat Mike Fairlamb/Eric Smith in a GP by a couple of minutes, it was not enough to beat them on handicap, and they went on to beat him by almost a minute.

In the afternoon, the winds strengthened a little, and there were some good planing conditions at times. There were a few more capsizes including Peter Ballard, Alan Waugh. Mike/Eric took command of the first beat, and it was to be almost another two legs before Mike/Kayla broke though to the lead. Despite their slow start, Mike/Kayla went on to win on handicap from Tom Gosden in his Laser, with Mike/Eric 3rd. We had a new helm in a F15, Chris and Julie Rolle, who was racing well and giving Mike a run for his money at times, but slipped back to 5th on handicap, behind Ethan Dawson who sailed competently� in the conditions. Ken again found the Solo testing, and in his eagerness to shoot the finish line he stalled the boat as he tacked and only just managed to beat Kath/Glenys to the finish line.

In the Asymmetric fleet, Toggle came out to give Phil some competition, though Toggle did break away and secure a strong lead of 7 mins by the finish.

A fantastically sunny weekend came to a close with a pennant race that typically takes the fleet around the lake. The webcam seemed to show light winds at the start of the race, and looking at the finishing times, it is unlikely that it picked up!

Robbie D and Ethan in their RS200 led the fleet home after 1hr42mins, but with Dave/Lynn Lawson in a GP just 25 secs behind, they were certain of victory. Mike Fairlamb/Eric Smith another 5 mins later ahead of a flurry of five boats, and they were to beat Robbie D too.

Alan Waugh took over 2hrs 23mins to complete the course, finishing 11th out of the fleet of 15 boats.

Mike/Kayla’s 8th overall gave Kayla a 3rd female crew position towards Sandra’s Salver, and keeps her in the led for that trophy.

As if you hadn’t realised, Bass Week starts next Saturday, so get on your prayer mats for a more of this great weather!

With a mass of rain and high winds overnight, it was a pleasant surprise that the winds had eased and rain stopped by the time sailors arrived at the club. The wind held, and again there was some good gusts at times to take advantage of. Big E was one of the few to capsize. Scumper and Toggle made the most of the conditions getting two 1sts and 2nds respectively, and the same for their overall series position in the Grisedale Cup. Big E matched William/Lezli-Ann on points but his 1st yesterday broke the tie in his favour to finish 3rd overall.

Mike/Kayla sailed well in the first race, taking advantage of Simon’s poor starting (Simon’s words), they won the race and the Ullock Mug, with Simon finishing 2nd. Kath Davis had her first sail/race in a F15 when she crewed for Ian Campbell in the final race.

In the GPs Andy/Rob Smith won the morning race and took the McMillan Cup, while Val/Ken Bell gave Mike/Eric a run for their money beating them in the morning race. During lunch Mike decided his old sails were no longer up to scratch and put on new new sails for the afternoon, not that it did the trick as Val won, Tim/Rob Smith took 2nd, and Mike/Eric 3rd. Overall Val was 2nd and Mike 3rd.

No Mirrors sailed, so John Telford won the Round Table Tankard.

It will be noted that across all fleets, the winners had a clean sweep counting minimum points by winning all races to count.

After a miserable wet start morning across the country, the rain suddenly cleared leaving a tempting lake, with lighter than forecast winds, for the weekend series. The OD set a technically brilliant course, encompassing all the key legs of sailing – shame it didn’t translate into an enjoyable course for the race! It seemed that as soon as the handicap fleet started the wind picked up enabling crews (and helms if you’re being picky) to sit out. Offwind the gusts came through in bursts, so it was important to make best use of them when you got one.

Neil Garrison raced his Dart, and soon took the lead in the freshening winds, but he was to finish 5th on handicap. Scumper was next, but finished 2nd on handicap behind Big E in his Laser. The course for the second race was a simple triangle, but proved much more exciting, especially as there was a a great spinnaker reach on the final leg. Neil Garrison led the fleet again, followed by William/Lesley Drummond, but with Scumper catching on some offwind legs, he was able to win on handicap and leads the series overnight. Toggle secured 2nd in the race, but Big E lies 2nd overnight.

In the F15s, Mike/Kayla got off to a flying start and was cover tacking Simon Longstaff/Jon Denwood up the first beat, but it was not to last as Simon took the lead until Jon missed his toestraps whilst tacking and fell overboard. The time it took to recover Jon effectively gave Mike a chance to win that he wasn’t going to give away. In the 2nd race Ian Campbell took to the water for the first time in his new acquisition, crewed by Lezli-Ann Pearson. Having held back the race for a short while as he completed a slight modification, he was lying 2nd up the first beat behind Simon. However, it wasn’t to last as he continued to sort through teething(?!) problems, and Mike passed him. Hard to believe maybe, but Jon was to fall overboard again when a toestrap worked free as he was flying the spinnaker on the tight reach – catching his foot in a sheet you’d have thought he was trying to water ski behind the F15. Again Mike ceased the opportunity to take the lead, and won the race with Ian 2nd. Mike has overnight lead.

In the GPs Andy/Rob Smith sailed consistently to take two wins from Mike/Eric. Val/Ken retired from the first race when their kicking strap failed, enabling Alan Jones/Sue Watson to take 3rd place, but Val beat Alan in the next race.

Although John/Jack Telford won both races in the Mirrors, Mik and Alan Waugh had a much closer race such they had a dead heat in the first race, with Mik beating Alan in the second race.

The first Night Jar series of the season came to an end this week on another lovely summer like evening, with light winds.

Joan/Jack Hardie in a RS400 led the fleet around the course and won, just 9 secs ahead of Tim Knowles/Martin Statter who led a group of five GPs. Notably Robert Cruickshank had an excellent race, and finished 6th overall in a fleet of 22 boats. The total number of entrants in the series reached 50, and Joan’s win secured her the series. Neil/Judith Currie were 2nd and Val/Ken Bell 3rd.

In the personal handicap version of the results, Alan Jones had a good race securing another 1st, clearly winning the series with 7pts for the seven races to count. Alan – wave bye bye to your handicap! His closest rival was Joan Hardie with 24 pts, then Val/Ken Bell 3rd.

Another glorious day with a reasonable wind better than forecast. The Jimmy Lancaster Memorial Trophy was Sunday afternoon’s race which took the fleet around the lake, and with a SW wind, as ever, Sale Fell had its effect on proceedings.

Steve Hunt/Ruth Critchley in a Merlin broke away from the fleet early and secured a good lead, however taking the middle route down the lake proved not to be the way when the wind died on them, and Joan/Jack Hardie in RS200 took the lead. Well for a while at least, because on the way back, it was Mike Moore/Kayla Sheard in F15 that were first boat back into the Northern bay, and they held the lead to the finish.

Having sailed her Solo in the morning, Val Bell had a change of boat and, unusually, crewed for Keith Thomas in a F15.

When the fleet handicaps were calculated Mike had beaten Joan by 40secs, with Steve 3rd and Scumper 4th

The 1st for Mike also counts towards Sandra’s Salver for his crew Kayla, putting her in the lead in that series, which is specifically for female crews.

Another glorious evening tempted 17 boats out to race. Neil/Judith Currie led the fleet round the course, followed by Robbie D/Ethan Dawson in an RS200, but it was the GPs that made best use of the winds with Tim Knowles/Martin Statter winning on handicap, narrowly beating Dave Nicholson/Sarah Wilkinson by just 2 secs, with Robbie D 3rd 25 secs behind. Joan/Jack, having to count their 6th position have slipped into 2nd position in the series, 0.5pts behind Neil Currie with just two races left.

Alan Jones secured another 1st on personal handicap, with Nigel Lewis 2nd and Dave Nicholson 3rd, each about 25 secs apart. Counting just 6pts, and one more race to count, Alan lead in the series in unassailable – he can say bye bye to his handicap! However, 2nd/3rd positions are still up for grabs and being fought for by Joan/Jack, Nigel and Val/Ken.

47 entrants to date, will it top 50 by the end of the series?