After another drizzly start, the day brightened and the breeze picked up somewhat before racing got underway such that Roy, and Toggle, went for early swims (or so I thought – apparently Toggle was undertaking some running repairs). The blustery conditions continued after the start to the extent that William took the cautious route (having beaten the fleet to the windward mark!) and took Elaine ashore. Roy and Kirstie retired soon afterwards. There were a couple of near misses at the windward mark as Hugh and Rhonwen started to realise that F15s will not bear away as readily as GPs (especially when they’re healing over!) but William and Shunty, though distracted by the incidents (and Rhonwen screaming tack), escaped unscathed.

Though in the lead, Shunty and Ruth put in an enthusiastic gybe and went for a brief swim dropping him back to 3rd on handicap. 1st place honours went to Dave Lawson, with Sam Hall 2nd

The afternoon race was for a pennant in aid of the Jubilee Sailing Trust, and in the usual tradition the course took the fleet around the lake. After the blustery breeze in the morning, racing was a lot more tame. William had mistimed the start by a mere 3 mins but realised just in time to not throw the race away because anything can happen in a round the laker (and it usually does!). The NW breeze allowed the fleet to run/reach (in the occasional gusts) all the way down to 12. Shunty had broken away but was becalmed for a while and the bank of boats crept ever closer. He tried to call rank on William and Elaine as they reached past his transom with that uncommon sailing term ‘Do you know who I am?’. No worries though because William gybed into the lake and found a hole of his very own allowing Shunty and Mike Moore to break away. Although it took the fleet 50 mins to get down the lake, all classes were so close together at 12 it was as if they had only recently started. With Shunty and Mike heading back up the lake on the eastern shore, William initially opted to stay left. Unfortunately every time he tried to cross over the winds were against him so he just HAD to continue up the A66, getting lifted all the way. In the meantime, Shunty and Mike again wallowed in a calm patch while William held the breeze. By 7, William was ahead of Shunty, but the breeze had filled in for Shunty so it became a race to the finish. To Shunty’s dismay wife Elaine was to beat him (again!) after the 30 min beat back. William reckoned that the only thing that could have topped beating Steve would have been doing the same to Neil Currie! On fleet handicap basis, it was to be Dave Lawson in his GP that won overall.

The first day of September started somewhat drizzly, especially for those on the training course being run by Nigel Lewis. Not sure what has happened this week, but many seem to have opted for go faster haircuts (Ginge, Jonathan, Shunty, William) – when you see the results it’s clear they don’t work! As for attire someone was out of step – William sailed in polo shirt and shorts while everyone else was in steamers/drysuits, and even woolly hats!

It was not as windy as the forecast had predicted (unusual for the beginners as it usually blows!). The wind did come through in waves and it depended where you were as to the benefit, or otherwise, obtained. William and Jonathan had managed to break away with one of the gusts in the first race, but 1½ laps later the wind conspired against them to close the substantial lead that they’d secured, and Shunty, with Ruth, broke through to the the lead. Then when the gennaker jammed it was Neil’s turn to take another place! In the second race, there was place changes due to mishaps. Andy and Emma hit a mark (as did Scumper and Toggle) which slowed them down for a while; Shunty tried gybing off but went backwards; also, he had problems when the kite halyard jammed causing him to lose a place. Mark Rimmer should have been on capsize drill the number of times he tipped it in. An incident in the first race led to a protest between Scumper and Shunty, but the protest committee couldn’t determine what had happened so the results stood. Mustn’t forget to mention Roy, with Kirstie, who’s back in his capsizing way. Elaine had a practice comeback to sailing in a brief session(?) with William to help blow away a few cobwebs (well apart from the one that seemed to be lingering afterwards in the bar) – depending on Sunday’s weather she may be back for more! As for Shunty’s comment, Jane said we’d only find out when he does something naughty!? Apparently Bridget didn’t sail because she was under the doctor… On handicap, it was Andy and Emma that secured wins in each race

In the GPs Dave and Lynn Lawson sailed consistently with two wins from Hugh and Rhonwen, as did Toddy who took both races from Mik

More pics to embarrass…

Due to a busy weekend camping the the mass of helicopters observing our activities over the lake were obliged to use nearby Armathwaite Hall – apologies for the inconvenience! This morning the long weekend seemed to be taking its toll with many people yawning their way to the changing rooms. Andy S came out (not literally, but from the changing rooms, somewhat overdressed I may add) in a dry suit which, it was suggested by his friends(?), was more fitting for his heydays in the GP.

As for the sailing, the winds were better than Sunday but still a little inconsistent in terms of wind strength. The occasional holes and twin wind directions meant sailors had their work cut out to maintain, or in several cases, regain positions and resulted in the handicap and GP series being decided on the last race.

Quite a weekend – Southport boats capsize on purpose to experiment going turtle (somewhat difficult in our northern end) and was the salt out of their fittings. Bass boats capsize (no reason [or name] given), collide and cause some damage. Emma showed Sally the way around the course in her first ever race helming a topper (screaming continued to be the order of the day). Comments let slip about men wearing knickers. Barbeque lovers were not put off by the odd shower, or naked chef (or was that just a myth?). Also, there was the couple spotted leaving Derwent Lodge sometime after breakfast (in separate cars!). Silence started to rein in the webmaster’s presence (I wonder why?!)

With over 40 boats (+Southport visitors) racing, overall it proved to be an excellent weekend and the overcast weather encountered on Saturday seems to be just a distant memory…..

At last, the sunny weather has found its way through the clouds, and brought along with it some wind to keep the boats moving most of the time (at least). At times, there were some gusts that allowed the boats to plane, but with no capsizes the rescue crews were able to concentrate more on the sunbathing rather rescuing! In the evening there was a quiz to test if anyone was still alert. Despite a slight error in adding up Neil Currie and Co still came out on top with 53/70. There were many red faces in the evening, but we’ll assume that was down to the sun rather than the cocktails, wine, lager, etc, etc!

Big E is still getting to grips with driving a laser – on Saturday his attempts to launch were interesting, as co-ordinating putting down the rudder, and centreboard, pulling in the sails, and avoiding obstacles such as the jetty seemed beyond him for some moments! He’s a clever lad, so no doubt he’ll catch on quick. He reckons he doesn’t want to upset Toggle by beating him too soon – although he’s kept his word to date, how long will that last?

Rule books were out at lunchtime when Dave Nic protested Ginge, but it came to nothing when it was thrown out for failing to comply with the required process (sounds interesting, but it wasn’t really)

Life on the campsite is as interesting as ever, with a naked cleaner pressure washing the gents toilet walls (only due to mould nothing more nasty!). Squatters were noted taking over spare caravans and tents, and became known as the borrowers for all the bits ‘n’ pieces that they acquired for their stay. Shunty was awarded a new nickname for the delayed pick up of various conversations – welcome Digi Steve.

Reason # 69: As I don’t like Baileys I’ll never have one of them!!

Normally the OD would get three points for race organisation, but in today’s pursuit scheduled OD Rory Yardley was substituted by Mike Moore which allowed Rory to race. As with other pursuit races in this series, the finish was very close, and various places changed in the final minute or so of the race. A beat to 0 enabled three RS400s to break through pushing Rory into 4th place. Scumper’s 1st puts him in pole position in the series but equal on points to Hugh, and a point ahead of Shunty.

The sunny weather on Friday meant many started the weekend early by camping on site, together with 12 visiting boats from Southport SC. So there were several barbeques ablaze, together with scented candles to try and dissipate the midges! One not so rowdy group broke into cocktail mode slightly ahead of schedule, and, as ever, there was the odd sore head to be nursed this morning! Of course there were tales to tell of missing bags – Rich Hodgkins had managed to leave a bag on a train when changing trains at Preston. Virgin were very good at locating it but could do nothing other than let it travel on to Manchester and get it sent back to Lancaster. It’s a shame that Rich had already travelled up to Penrith to be picked up by mum Bridget, so Bridget, who had hurriedly finished her barbeque before going for Rich had an extended trip to Lancaster to pick up the bag. This all resulted in a 80min trip being extended to 4 hrs! Bridget kept on smiling though, and the not so rowdy group stayed up to crack another bottle of wine with her.

The second race of the day was part of a long championship series. They same time waits for no man, and OD Mike Moore seemed to take this to heart. As soon as he had set the line and the course he started the sequence whether or not everyone was on the water – indeed, some had stiil to put their sails up. At the time the handicap fleet started, there were still six boats a couple of minutes from the line, so they endured what could be described as their second pursuit of the day catching up with the rest of the fleet. William and Lesley were one pair that had to do this – they managed to secure a clear second to Shunty and Ruth on the water, but on handicap came 4th.

With Bass Week over and done with, many tend to have a rest from sailing or go for a holiday, so this weekend is typically quiet, to the extent that no sailing was scheduled for yesterday (That didn’t stop Herb turning up for duty though!).

Today, despite a reasonable forecast for wind, the wind was as shy as the number of sailors. A late arrival by a Tim Smith enabled the mirrors to have a separate start, but Dave and Sarah Nicholson had to join the handicap fleet for their racing. Scumper didn’t have a crew, or a gennaker, but at the last minute took the opportunity to sail Robbie D’s RS200 with Ethan. The wind had plenty of holes in it, especially down the western shore, but the fleets kept moving sufficiently to complete the race in an hour.

The wind for the afternoon race didn’t look too promising, but the course was set where the wind was, and it picked up sufficiently to sit out at times. William and Jonathan were in the only RS400 for the race, and were maintaining a good lead until the main halyard snapped – so much for a 4 month old piece of string!

It was to be Joan Hardie that won the race on handicap from Robbie D and Ethan

As Andy Smith is neither a lady, nor a crew, I assume dad Alan won the race with Andy crewing – well done – use Club update for full results. So much for making assumptions – it was Emma that won – Well done!

What a difference a day makes. The sun shone all day, the wind blew enough most of the time, and there were shifts that made all the difference (if you were on the right side of them!).

First of all an apology to Toggle – there may have been a one sided tale told about his efforts in the Lord Birkett, and the bit about the training was a joke – there aren’t actually any places available until next year, but Tog doesn’t really need to attend. Apparently, he was caught out in the massive squall that brought the fleet back from the islands, fell, or was washed out of the back, and broke his tiller necessitating his tow back by the gin palace.

In the GPs Hugh and Rhonwen had two wins, but they had to work hard for it as Mike Fairlamb with Sam Hall kept taking the lead, though in the 2nd race Mike retired after rounding a mark incorrectly. Ginge and Bridget were making hay while the sun shone, and then cooled off with a capsize. Ken Bell clearly wasn’t making hay, came for a sail and finished second with Val.

Tim Smith beat off competition from twin brother Rob, and secured another couple of wins.

In the handicap fleet, there were ups and downs. William, with second crew of the weekend Sally, was several minutes late for the start, but had some good luck with the winds to pull back on Roy and Kirstie to such an extent that he had to avoid Roy when he capsized just in front of him on a gybe mark. Apparently, a 50 degree wind shift on the start line prevented Shunty and Neil from being able to cross the line. Confusion over the course (which may well have changed after it was first displayed) meant Shunty lost out several hundred metres by heading to 9 instead of 0. Although Neil and Judith won on the water, the wind suited the RS200s best of all, and honours went to Andy and Emma.

Roy was left behind for the start of the second race (apparently retying his battens), leaving William, Neil and Shunty to have some good racing. Although William mastered the beats (or was it make the most of some incredible shifts?) to take the lead a couple of times, he lost out off wind to Neil and Shunty. The wind faded somewhat towards the end of the race allowing the RS200s to catch up. Robbie D and Ethan would have easily won had they not got their gennaker stuck, so it was to be Andy and Emma that again won on handicap.

The Mirror Northerns are to be held at the club next weekend