On Sunday, there were two races for the appropriately named Starters Prize. With the morning’s wind strength at 18mph gusting 40mph (gale force 8) it was not surprising that there were only six competing boats.

The honour of being the first boat on the water went to Tim Chittenden crewed by Carl Arthur in their stable Flying Fifteen keelboat. Jim Christie capsized on the way to the start.

After the start was signalled it was the turn of the RS400 of Robbie D and Big E to capsize whilst Toggle retired with rig failure. This allowed Bean and Naomi Smith to secure first place in their RS200 from Scumper in his Laser.

After lunch they were back out and Robbie D broke his rig, capsized and retired leaving Bean to take a further win and, with it, the series victory. Scumper again finished in second place with Toggle third.

The fresh on shore breeze thinned out numbers for Thursday’s Night Jar. It was the newcomers to the series that came out best on handicap – Mark Ninnim was first and Rory Yardley second. Just three races left in the series.

For the second week in a row, the weather changed in favour of some pleasant sailing. Although light, the day was dry and tempted twelve boats on to the water for the morning race, but a couple dropped out of the afternoon race. Wind was ultra flukey at 9 and Alan Nicholson, Jim Christie and Jo Watkins in close company all had big moments there on first lap. They didn’t heed the warning and Alan crashed in on lap 2. Jim was just behind, got prepared for the shift, and was thrown in the other way! He continued, but Alan was in the mud (again!) and needed rescue to extract his Solo.

With another first in the bag due to beating Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith in their GP, and now having sufficient races to qualify, Joan and Jack Hardie in an RS200 have taken the lead on the fleet handicap series from Jim Christie in his Laser, who still leads the personal handicap series. Tim Knowles in a GP won the afternoon race from Alan Waugh in his Mirror.

Good to see Steve Hannah back on the Lake after a good few years out – trying out a FF with Martyn Stephenson at the helm.

After the wind and rain of recent weeks, pleasantly, Sunday’s forecast was for a dry and bright day, although not a lot of wind.

However, 14 boats were tempted to the water, and were able to enjoy some pleasant sailing conditions – not planing conditions, but enough to keep the boats moving and the crews to sit to windward! After lunch the breeze eased as the race went along.

The weather was so pleasant that Mark Ninnim, with Rob Smith, broke a 20 year habit of not sailing in November to finish 3rd on fleet handicap, and 1st on personal handicap in the afternoon race.

It was Joan and Jack Hardie that mastered the conditions to take two first on fleet handicap, beating Mike Moore and Martyn Stephenson in the morning race, and Mike Fairlamb in the afternoon – perhaps that could be called taking the Micks?!

Having sailed all four of the races to date, Jim Christie remains in a strong position and leads the table

A wet and windy forecast but some hardy sailors still turned up, though they were surprised to find any wind at all as Bass seemed to be enjoying its own micro climate compared to nearby villages where there was rain but no wind.

After some umming and arrhhing, three helms decided to sail – Jim Christie, Peter Ballard and Neil Garrison. Then as the wind increased, Neil Garrison changed his mind. While watching the boats get ready the wind quickly eased and Neil opted to sail. Although he was on the water by the 3 minute signal, it took him over ten mins to cross the start line between the race office and zero! The wind eased, and swung, and by the third and final leg back to zero boats were beating. The November series is sailed on a fleet and personal handicap basis, but the distances between each boat meant the results were the same as the finishing order.

After a short lunch break, the terrible trio were eager for more. Again within minutes of launching the weather started to change as the wind started to fill in from the West.

As there was a shore based start, the boats started on a broad reach with a gybe at the first mark, at which point Jim and Peter each capsized! They righted and continued but as they reached the leeward mark the gusty conditions caught all three boats out and they capsized. OD Toggle was all for abandoning racing, but opted to allow the race to be shortened at the end of the first lap – Jim and Peter made it to the finish. Toggle did double check with the rescue boat whether Neil had retired although it was a little obvious by the fact that he was being towed, had taken his main down, and in the process of dropping his jib!

The handicap results matched the finishing order, so Jim leads with two firsts.

The end of the October coincides with the end of the championship season. The weather forecast brought things to an early conclusion due to force nine gales on Saturday. John Crosbie launched his laser, enjoyed some spectacular planes, intermingled with capsizes, but racing was abandoned for the day.

Saturday night marked the end of British Summer Time so the recommendation was to make the most of the extra hour in bed due to the clocks going back, especially as Sunday’s forecast is for MORE for the same!

However, the wind was not as strong as forecast, and sailing did take place, but the gusts were vicious enough to stress boats to the limit.  In the first race, the final round of the Handicap Fleet’s Skiddaw Trophy, both the Supernova of Peter Ballard and the Jim Christie’s Laser suffered rigging damage leaving Scumper to take an easy victory in his Laser.

The afternoon race was the Bassenthwaite Burgee, the final pennant race of the season.  It was supposed to be sailed around the Lake but the race officer wisely decided to restrict it to the marginally more sheltered northern area.  John Crosbie belatedly decided to compete and took the victory from Mike Turner/Sue Watson.  This result won Sue the Sandra’s Salver award as best lady crew in the seven pennant races held during the season by just a single point from Elaine Hunt.

Last weekend saw the final championship weekend series of the season. Gales had been forecast but did not materialise and there was good sailing weather on both days.

On Saturday in the handicap fleet, Robbie D and Big E in their RS400 got off to a good start with one first and one second place. Scumper held second spot overnight in his RS400 before changing to a Laser for the Sunday racing! Alan Nicholson was just one point behind in his Solo after winning the second race.

Sunday’s morning race saw another win for Robbie Dawson with Joan & Jack Hardie second in their RS200 and Scumper third. The wind was gustier for the final race and this suited different competitors. Two helms from Dean took the lead positions with Sam Hall in his Laser leading home the F15 of Tim Chittenden with Ian Macpherson crewing. Winners of the series and the Comet Trophy were Robbie D with Scumper second and Tim Chittenden third.

The GP14 class sailing for the Stables Prize was won by Mike Turner and Sue Watson  from Dave and Lynn Lawson. Although both helms had two wins each and equal points overall the Trophy went to the winners of the last race. An identical situation applied to third place with Kath Davis/Glenys Kett leading home Tim Knowles/Martin Statter.

The Mirror’s Single Handed Trophy went to Mik Chappell. Alan Waugh finished second overall in his pristine boat now fully repaired after scrapes earlier in the season. His win in the final race narrowly secured the place from Nick Orton despite the latter posting two second places during the series.