and it’s sunny! Not as much wind forecast as the last couple of days, but many could be relieved at that.

Although the lake was flat at 9am, the breeze covered the lake in patches, and eventually filled in shortly after the start. However, it proved to be the bet race of the day, because in the afternoon, the wind died, then it seemed a if a sea breeze was to be the saviour. When the race started, there had to be a general recall, and there was a further delay. It was 1545 before racing got underway, then the wind disappeared again, so it was a long haul, but the series results were all depending on the final race so most persevered.

Mike Moore and Sally Roberts took the honours in the F15 from guest helm Mark Ninnim with Ian Preston. Martyn Stephenson had been impressed at not coming last in the morning race (he was second last!), but more impressively he finished second in the afternoon race 🙂

Dave and Lynne Lawson, won the GPs with three straight wins from Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith.

Robbie D and Big E secured the handicap series from Mrs and Mrs Bean

The Mirror results were consistent through out the series with Mik Chappell winning from Alan Waugh.

At least it was a sunny afternoon to be drifting around waiting for wind!

Sunday

The wind is blowing with some strong gusts passing through – but it’s sunny! Will it all last? The brief answer is yes! The beats tended to be blustery, with associated shifts, and several boats capsized as a result, but there were some enjoyable spectacular spinnaker legs while the gusts were passing through.

The wind eased over the lunch break, but while the fleet were waiting for the committee boat to test out an unusual way of mooring the boat to windward of the anchor, it freshened again. There were more capsizes, including Dave and Lynne again, and some excellent gusts to take advantage of on the reaches. However, the fleet were a little disappointed that racing remained in the bay when it was felt that the wind was ideal for sailing around the full lake.

Saturday

A showery start to the day, but it stayed fairly dry throughout the afternoon racing. The winds held, with some strong gusts passing through that caught out many of the single handers, and, unusually, Dave and Lynne Lawson at one point!

Mark Ninnim and Emma Smith did a little bit of mark repositioning when they got their mainsheet caught on a mark. Although Robbie D had already rounded the mark, the rest of the fleet benefited from broader reach from 0 to 1.

More of the same for tomorrow?

For the second weekend in a row, there has been a round the lake pennant race which counts towards Sandra’s Salver – clearly a keenly contested award, which goes to the top lady crew over the seven race series, as various women make a special effort to compete. With one final race to go, Elaine Hunt is still in the lead. The pennant race itself was as frustrating as round the lakers get. Although Robbie D and Big E broke away from the fleet early on, at the leeward mark, after 40+ mins, his lead had been reduced to 1’20 from Mike and Kayla in a F15, William and Elaine in a Rs400, and Steve and Ruth in a Merlin Rocket. The return up the lake seemed to have many more holes than the beat down! With spinnakers going up and down like a yoyo, Mike and Kayla got the spinnaker sheet wrapped around their keel, and each time they tried to fix it something else occurred. Mike assures us that Kayla didn’t swear (audibly?!). At that stage Robbie D broke away from Mike and others caught him up. However, it was not until the lead boats were through Scarness that the fleet properly split up, albeit too late for some of the faster handicap boats to beat Mike. Scumper had a stormer of a leg back up the lake, closing the gap on overall winner Robbie D to just 33 secs on adjusted time. Positions 4 – 7 were just 60 secs apart after 90 mins racing.

An current update of the championship positions are posted below.

There was a wealth of experience in the committee boat – two trustees and all three past commodores – must be more than 100 years sailing experience, and probably 200 years in age! But did it help?

Racing was delayed waiting for some members held up in M6 traffic. Mike Moore made it, but his crew had already been borrowed by William.

With a good SW wind, the courses all seemed to hug the shadow of Sale Fell, so there were inevitable dull patches throughout the course. However, there were some good reaches at times to make up for it.

It seemed to be a day to keep the rescue crews on there toes, with most, if not all, of the single handers capsizing at some point in the afternoon.

There were a couple of minor gear failures that caused helms to capsize – Dan Marskell went in on the start line when his main sheet went, and former member Andrew Nuttall had a spectacular capsize on a reach when his toe straps broke. What a fun way to get back to grips with the sport!

Tomorrow should be sunny and slightly less windy – let’s wait and see whether the forecast is right!

Well almost! With Bass Week over and the grounds cleared, there was a one day triathlon run from the club on Saturday before normality returned with racing on Sunday.

Well almost! The weather had other ideas. Fourteen boats took to the water for the morning race, the course was set, the start signalled and off they went. But nobody got very far as the wind died completely and there was no alternative but to signal that the race was abandoned. Competitors were towed back to the Club by the safety boat crews to start an early lunch.

A sea breeze set in at around 1.30pm and the race officer correctly decided that it was sufficient go around the complete Lake. The race was the Banana Stakes named after the prize of a bunch of bananas presented annually to the winner in the distant past by the late Bill Anderson who was a wholesale fruiterer. It was sailed on personal handicap with all boats starting together.

So, in light winds and glorious sunshine, competitors headed to the Keswick end of the Lake at which point the RS400�s of Steve and Elaine Hunt and Neil and Judith Currie were leading on the water. These boats were to stay ahead for the remainder of the eighty minutes it took them to complete the race but the crews then had to wait to see how the later competitors � some taking two hours to complete the course – had fared. And it was a crew who were sailing on the lake for the first time in 2010, Stuart and John Brookes in their Flying Fifteen who were declared winners. The GP14�s of Nigel Lewis and Claudie Black and Dave and Lynn Lawson took the next positions ahead of the Mirror of Alan Waugh.

The race was a round in the Sandra�s Salver series for lady crews and Claudie Black�s result moves her into third position in the standings behind Elaine Hunt who leads the series from Michaela Sheard. There are two rounds remaining in this competition of which the next one will be contested this coming weekend.

The Youth Squad have again had some dedicated races, but could be better attended.

Although Ethan mastered the conditions on Saturday, he found his match against Robin Crawley in Sunday’s racing. Despite this, Ethan leads the Sunday series, while Luke Howarth is leading the Saturday series

A gentle breeze with various gusts at times led to a pleasant morning’s racing. The wind in the afternoon eased as the race went on, but it was still reasonable racing conditions. The close racing at the front of each fleet led to the series results being dependent on the last race, so they had everything to sail for.

Mike and Eric secured two more wins to take the series from Paul Bowmer.

Robbie D and Scumper again shared wins in the handicap fleet, but Robbie’s win in the afternoon won him the series.

Similarly, Telf and Andy had some close racing but, Andy’s afternoon win gave him the series.

The morning gusts had eased by the time racing started but there was still a good sailing breeze to keep the sailors happy. A shift in the wind took resulted in a somewhat biased beat for a while, but such is Bass!

Neil and Judith Currie were tempted back on to the water by the lighter airs, but at one stage Judith missed her toestraps and was dragged along with the boat as she clung on to her jib sheet. Neil soon had her back in the boat and they continued with the race. Scumper and Robbie D with Big E each had a win on handicap. Jim Christie lost his rig when a U bolt gave way, but no real damage done.

Gary Mansell fought his fears and went out for a brief sail with William in the RS400. One beat was enough as a taster but he will be back for more….

While Andy Smith waits for his new GP, he took to the water to give Telf, Mik and Alan a run for their money in the Mirror fleet. Telf and Andy each had a win a piece

Kayla went out in Mike F15 with Tom – each thought the other was helming! Anyway, they had a pleasant sail and no incidents.

In the GPs Mike and Eric shared the honours with Paul Bowmer and his wife, with Paul taking overnight lead.

Overall some close racing across all of the fleets. The series concludes tomorrow.

As the hosepipe ban continues, the lake is filling up – not because water is being saved but due to the amount of rain!!

The day started windy with intermittent showers, but the wind eased during the prolonged start sequence for the pursuit race! The lack of Mirrors meant the other fleets had an undue wait. Even with the long wait, Scumper managed to be several minutes late in his Vareo. Mike and Kayla quickly broke away and won the race with Tim and Ian 2nd.

The 2nd race was fleet racing – no-one in either fleet was particularly pushing hard for the start line! Scumper had a clear win from Jim Christie in the handicap fleet, while Mike beat Tim in the F15s.