A cold, bleak and blustery day greeted the few hardy sailors that were prepared to venture out for the start of the Max Joule Memorial Trophy series that commenced this weekend. Several people couldn’t believe their eyes when William again turned out in his shorty – but was there method in his madness, as after racing so many women came up and said your legs must be frozen (well they did look a funny shade of blue!) that they had to have a rub of his legs! That seemed fine until Toggle had a rub as well!

As for the racing, Steve Hunt and Ruth Critchley were the first to come a cropper after realising that it’s best to uncleat the sheet when tacking in such windy conditions. It was not long before Ginge and Jose were standing on their centreboard trying to get the mast out of the mud. Meanwhile, Mark and Kirsty had an excellent first beat, but Kirsty was too petrified to risk flying the genniker, which enabled William and Lesley to break through into the lead for what should have been a very short race as OD Roy Blackburn had not indicated there was more than one lap when the course was displayed. However, as if by magic at the end of that first lap, the course was suddenly x4 laps. Roy tried to assure everyone that it had been amended before the start, but some of us are not so sure! So on with the racing it was. This gave Steve Hunt to pull back through the fleet, Rich and Phillip a chance to capsize on the beat, and then follow in father’s footsteps and get their mast stuck in the mud, John Telford and Andy Smith retired because they had a loose screw (sounds fun?!), and Nigel and Laura were the third boat to get their sails covered in that blue clay.

The second race was somewhat tamer in that the wind had eased, but there was some close racing with Mark and Toggle powering up the beats only to lose out to Steve and Ruth off wind. William and Lesley tagged along, but didn’t quite get the wind at the right time. Ah well.

The weather may not have been very summery – a mixture of rain, hail, thunderstorms, sun and high winds, but it did not stop Wednesday’s production of a TV special. Yes, those old faithfuls, Compo, Clegg and Nora Batty will be appearing in a Border special about adventures on the river Derwent, with a particular slant on Bassenthwaite! It is understood that Sid and Ivy could be making an appearance as well.

As for the casting, well it is a Border special, so you’ll just have to watch this space to find out more!? You can’t be certain that these photos give you any clues because you wouldn’t expect ‘darlings’ to get wet/take chances, so stand ins were used

Adrian’s first sail of the season on Saturday, after the handicaps were calculated, resulted in a win with 14 secs to spare, but would it continue? The changeable winds over the course of racing resembled polos somewhat (due to the holes in the middle?!), but the warm airs made many people (apart from Ruth who seemed to reckon she was suffering from frostbite in her toes!) feel overdressed as they became very hot and bothered. It could be why tensions were high in the GP14 fleet, with various post race discussions concerning the rulebook, and Dave Nicholson’s new boat suffered its first two collisions – the first is always the worst.

Sunday morning looked as if there was going to be a good southerly to take us through the day, but all of a sudden, half an hour before the scheduled start, the wind eased and started to veer to the south-west. Racing got underway, with the wind easing and continuing to veer. By the windward mark some boats that had headed for the western shore were able to fly their spinnaker into the mark! Pockets of wind came and went, but it didn’t stop Steve Hunt in his RS400 breaking away from the fleet, but Dave Lawson in his GP was not far behind When OD.Nigel Lewis decided to shorten course, Steve had had enough and just headed for home (not even because Ruth’s feet were cold).

After lunch the wind had filled in and settled in the South West, which meant there was going to be a long hard beat down the lake for the first pennant race of the season. It was Steve Hunt, Neil Currie and William Carruthers in their RS400s that were first to the windward mark, and apart from Neil taking a detour under Sale Fell they would have held those positions all the way down the lake. At the southernmost wing mark confusion reigned with Steve rounding it to starboard, William to port (well it was what Lesley had written down, and the logical way to go round it!), and then Neil, having recovered from his detour, confirmed that the course required a starboard rounding. As usual, Steve disappeared on the downwind leg home, but William and Neil had a good battle to the finish. Believe it or not, there were other boats in the fleet, and Mike Moore at one stage realised that he hadn’t been taking best advantage of the shifty winds when Adrian (in his Fifteen this time) appeared alongside. Final results were calculated on a personal handicap basis, with first position going to Dave and Lynn Lawson.

CALVERT TRUST PENNANT

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1 Pts
 1   13176  D LAWSON      GP           1   1
 2    3473  M MOORE       FF           2   2
 3     937  W CARRUTHERS  RS400        3   3
 4   69960  M CHAPPEL     FF           4   4
 5    1140  J CHRISTIE    VORTEX       5   5
 6    1210  S HUNT        RS400        6   6
 7    1148  N CURRIE      RS400        7   7
 8   13327  M FAIRLAMB    GP           8   8
 9    2324  R BLACKBURN   LARK         9   9
10    1146  P BURNELL     RS400       10  10
11  167828  I MACPHERSON  LAS         11  11
12  130338  RiCRITCHLEY   LAS         12  12

                     Points for RTD = 12
                     Points for DSQ = 12
                     Points for DNS = 13

 1 races to count

After a busy start to the bank holiday weekend, many were shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death on Easter Sunday of a long time friend of the club, Dave Ovington. Dave and his family have been to Bass Week for as long as we all care to remember, one of the few holidays he took from his busy boat building business. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

When Emily turned out for the first race of the season in a shortie William was accused of child abuse! – just because William (as well as Andy and Phil Smith) always wears one, was it appropriate for his 13 year old daughter? Ok, the water is still cold, but is anyone really planning on going for a swim in it, I think not.

Indeed, although there were some near misses, no-one has yet claimed the prize for the first capsize of the season.

Bridget, realised that when her son said her drysuit had a leak he meant it! She only found out when she went out for a sail and found she was getting wet (but not her gnatsy gants!), so it was a trip to Nichol End to spend Ginge’s credit card (which he happened to leave there!) – word is he could be getting more than an Easter egg this weekend.

As for the sailing, the turnouts were indeed eggseptional for the start of the season, especially in the handicap fleet which has been strengthened by the arrival of Paul Burnell with an RS400. Visitors from Leigh and Lowton topped up the fleet as well (even though they don’t appear in the results – mean aren’t we?).

Although it was a bit overcast, many sailors turned up for the first race of the season, as did the wind. As many sailors realised that their sailing kit had shrunk during the winter, others sailed in shorts – not a sight everyone welcomed! 18 boats made it to the start line to compete for the Starters prize, although with a good wind blowing it was more a case of who would capsize first. After two good races the first trophy of the season went to Robin Dawson (Cockermouth) and Mike Cowan (Crosby) and everyone was still waiting for the first capsize of the season.

Easter Sunday saw the breeze strengthen for the start of the club championship, and this led to the first capsize of the season by Phil Hodgkins (Brigham) and Jon Sedgwick (Cockermouth). The youngest sailor of the weekend � Katrina Knowles, aged 8 from Brigham took to the water with her dad on Sunday, although the strong breeze meant that she didn�t complete the race.

After a delay on Monday while the wind filled in the racing continued and with positions all to race for strong sailing continued. After four races the Flying Fifteen trophy was won by Mike Moore and Ian Smith (Whitehaven). The GP14 fleet Bass Tankard was won by Dave and Lyn Lawson (Kendal) with Hugh Godfrey and Rhonwen Bryce (Whitehaven) in 2nd place. The handicap fleet was won by the Vice Commodore Steve Hunt and Ruth Critchley with Neil and Judith Currie (Cockermouth ) in 2nd place.

In total 24 boats were on the water over the weekend, and of course, there were some tales to tell.

First there was Andy and Phil Smith who unfortunately holed the hull of their 49er after a slight accident – no it wasn’t wiping out another boat, or trying to leapfrog the pontoon, they just didn’t get the boat lined up on the trailer!

Following in Mike Moore’s footsteps, Sally Roberts wondered why she couldn’t do her drysuit properly until she realised she still had a coat hanger in it!

If you know of any other incidents, don’t forget to let me know as we love to share them with everyone else.

STARTERS PRIZE

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2 Pts
 1   13749  R DAWSON      RS400        1   1   2
 2   13839  H GODFREY     GP           2   2   4
 3    1210  S HUNT        RS400        3   3   6
 4    3473  M MOORE       FF           4   4   8
 5   13327  M FAIRLAMB    GP           7   5  12
 6  213142  R HODGKINS    GP           5   8  13
 7   13259  J ROBERTS     GP           9   6  15
 8    1148  N CURRIE      RS400       10   7  17
 9    2324  R BLACKBURN   LARK         8   9  17
10   69960  M CHAPPEL     MS          OD DNS  22
11   13238  D NICHOLSON   GP          11  12  23
12     501  J CROSBIE     RS400        6 DNS  25
13     400  T KNOWLES     RS300      DNS  10  29
14    1049  M SOMERVILLE  RS400      DNS  11  30
15     562  A SMITH       49R        RTD RTD  30
16   13142  M CLAYTON     GP          12 DNS  31
17     937  W CARRUTHERS  RS400       13 DNS  32
18   13733  A HODGKINS    GP         RTD DNS  35

                     Points for RTD = 16  14
                     Points for DSQ = 16  14
                     Points for DNS = 19

 2 races to count

FF EASTERLY TROPHY

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4 Pts
 1    3473  M MOORE       FF           1   1   1   1   3
 2   92504  J HARDON      FF           2   2   2 DNS   6
 3    2504  K THOMAS      FF         DNS DNS DNS   2  10

                     Points for RTD =  3   3   3   3
                     Points for DSQ =  3   3   3   3
                     Points for DNS =  4

 3 races to count

GP BASS TANKARD

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4 Pts
 1   13176  D LAWSON      GP           1   3   1   1   3
 2   13839  H GODFREY     GP           2   2   3   2   6
 3   13749  R DAWSON      RS400        3   1   4 DNS   8
 4   13327  M FAIRLAMB    GP           4   4   5 DNS  13
 5   13789  J TELFORD     GP         DNS DNS   2 RTD  16
 6   13259  J ROBERTS     GP           5   5 DNS DNS  20
 7   13238  D NICHOLSON   GP         RTD   6   6 DNS  20
 8   13733  A HODGKINS    GP           6 RTD DNS DNS  24

                     Points for RTD =  8   8   7   4
                     Points for DSQ =  8   8   7   4
                     Points for DNS =  9

 3 races to count

EASTER TROPHY

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4 Pts
 1    1210  S HUNT        RS400        1   1   1   3   3
 2    1148  N CURRIE      RS400        2   2   3   2   6
 3     937  W CARRUTHERS  RS400        5   3   6   7  14
 4    1146  P BURNELL     RS400      DNS   5   8   4  17
 5   20181  M NINNIM      ENT        DNS DNS   2   1  18
 6    2324  R BLACKBURN   LARK         3 DNS   4 DNS  22
 7    1049  M SOMERVILLE  RS400        8 DNS   9   5  22
 8    1140  J CHRISTIE    VORTEX       7   4 DNS DNS  25
 9    9558  P HODGKINS    RS400        4 RTD DNS DNS  25
10     501  J CROSBIE     RS400        6 DNS   7 DNS  28
11     400  T KNOWLES     RS300      DNS DNS  OD DNS  33
12  130338  RiCRITCHLEY   LAS        DNS DNS   5 DNS  33
13     515  E HUNTSTON    BLAZE      DNS DNS DNS   6  34

                     Points for RTD =  9   7  10   8
                     Points for DSQ =  9   7  10   8
                     Points for DNS = 14

 3 races to count

The final race of the season got underway in light winds, Bill Smith in his RS800 took an early lead, and promptly headed for a wrong mark (as he does!), and ended up having his final capsize of the season. Heading for the wrong mark seemed to be a bit of a trait for the day, since with unused marks being removed, Michaela and Nigel mistook mark 4 for mark 3! Nigel also lost ground on the final leg when they lost a hat overboard and had to go back for it. First to finish was Rory Yardley, and followed shortly after by Alan Nicholson in an RS300. Jim Christie in a Vortex was slightly ahead of Nigel in his GP.

On handicap, it was Alan Nicholson that won the race from Nigel Lewis. However, this result did not affect the overall result for the 2004 Winter Trophy which was determined last week following Steve Hunt’s win.

Another glorious, but cold, Saturday with clear skies, meant Sunday was to be bitterly cold, but some early morning cloud turned to drizzle, which left various roads, including the M6, like skating rinks due to black ice. Who would drive 120 miles in such conditions for a sail – you’re right none other than next week’s speaker at the annual dinner, Steve Hunt!

So was it worth it hold back the other two main contenders for the Winter Trophy? Surprisingly there was a reasonable breeze (in the middle of the lake at least), but the drizzle had turned to rain. It was so uninviting that Neil Currie opted out of sailing (before Judith changed her mind?). By the time racing started the rain had gone and the wind was doing most peculiar things in that it was seemingly coming from about three directions at once! The wind didn’t settle down during the race, resulting in some unexpectedly close racing, with only a couple of minutes between 1st RS400 and last GP after 50 mins of sailing. This gave another first to Malcolm Clayton, and kept him in the running for the trophy.

The wind picked up before the start of the next race, but suddenly stopped about 30 secs before the start signal. However, Steve Hunt was on the line and got well away with the course side breeze. In fact it was another 2 mins before the next boat even reached the start line! Steve continued to carry his luck and by the end of the 1st lap he had a 7 min lead. However, while Steve disappeared into the distance, William Carruthers and Lesley Braddock fought it out with Jim Christie up to the windward mark, with Malcolm still struggling to cross the line. Suddenly, within what seemed like a couple of mins, William was just rounding the mark when Malcolm seemed to be back in contention. Within 10 mins, William was 2nd and trying catch up with Steve, Jim had given up the ghost and retired, and Malcolm was still only 50 yards from the windward mark!

On the 2nd lap it seemed as if William was carrying the luck when with a good 2nd beat he reduced Steve’s lead by 2 mins. He continued to nibble away at the lead until he was within 4 mins of Steve. But the final leg opened up the gap by nearly 1 min which turned out to be crucial as when the results were calculated, Steve had won by 40 secs on corrected time.

So what does this all mean? Basically, Steve can get legless next Saturday (preferably after giving his speech) and not worry about having to venture out as he has bagged the first trophy for next years prize giving!

WINTER SERIES

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4   5   6 Pts
 1    1210  S HUNT        RS 400       1   1   2   3   4   1   5
 2     937  W CARRUTHERS  RS400        3   2   1   2   2   2   7
 3   13142  M CLAYTON     GP           5   4   3   1   1 RTD   9
 4    1140  J CHRISTIE    VORTEX       6   5   7 DNS   3 RTD  19
 5   13839  H GODFREY     GP           4   3 DNS DNS DNS DNS  33
 6    1148  N CURRIE      RS400      DNS DNS   4   4 DNS DNS  34
 7    1049  M SOMERVILLE  RS400      DNS DNS   5   4 DNS DNS  35
 8   13655  N LEWIS       GP         DNS DNS   6   6 DNS DNS  38
 9     400  T KNOWLES     RS300        2 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  41
10    3560  I CAMPBELL    FF          OD DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  42
11     103  A NICHOLSON   VARIO      DNS DNS RTD   7 DNS DNS  42
12  913789  A SMITH       49R        DNS   6 DNS DNS DNS DNS  45

                     Points for RTD =  7   7   9   8   5   5
                     Points for DSQ =  7   7   9   8   5   5
                     Points for DNS = 13

 4 races to count

With ice in the cover, and sailing gloves that have been left in the boat with fingers frozen together, you wouldn’t think anyone would still be sailing in shorts, ah well, you’d be wrong.

After a glorious day on Saturday, Sunday started overcast and patchy wind. However, by the time racing got underway the breeze was generally strong enough for both helm and crew to sit out. Mark Somerville, having had a practice sail with Kirstie in their RS400 last weekend, was keen to get into racing mode. So keen in fact that he managed to pull his genniker halyard out of the mast! Not a problem though, by the time rescue facilities were sorted, Mark and stand in crew Robin Dawson were ready to go. It was Neil and Judith Currie that took the early lead until Steve Hunt and Ruth Critchley got their act together to power through into the lead. This left Mark and Neil to have some close racing that was going to continue into the afternoon race.

The wind did get up sufficiently for Alan Nicholson to get caught out and capsize his RS Vario. Similarly, Jim Christie in his Laser Vortex went for an unscheduled swim.

In the afternoon race Steve Hunt was not going to hang about and left the other three RS400s to battle it out, with some close racing for the first lap, until they shook off William Carruthers. Neil and Mark continued the close racing, and regularly passed each other, but it was Neil that came out ahead at the finish. With results being calculated on a personal handicap basis, Steve Hunt wonders how far ahead he has to be win – why was 1� laps not enough to beat Malcolm Clayton on handicap? Perhaps, that’s one of the mysteries of sailing that he can ponder when he prepares his speech for the forthcoming annual dinner!

�

Into November and racing is held only on Sundays for the Winter Trophy. There was an air of reluctance to get on to the water, but the OD was not going to wait! While Elaine Hunt was trying to work out what else was going to be wrong in William’s boat (she’d already noticed the cunningham, and genniker downhaul, incorrectly rigged), the race started with Steve Hunt, William Carruthers and Bill Smith still some minutes from the line. Steve and Ruth Critchley worked their way through the fleet of RS 300, RS400s, RS800, Vortex and GP14s to eventually win the race on personal handicap.

Bill Smith in an RS800 tried his usual trick of sailing fast, but not for the marks that he was supposed to going for, so he lost ground returning to the correct mark. A capsize after finishing the race was one capsize too many and he didn’t reappear for the second race.

Despite the dropping temperatures, there continues to be a select group in shorts/shorties – brave (or should that be foolhardy?) chaps, but they couldn’t match the hardiness of two swimmers that swam from Ouse Bridge to Mark 4!

The OD opted to have the races back to back (if you can call a 40 minute gap back to back). Again, he didn’t� wait for everyone to be at the line before starting. Andy and Phil Smith brought out the 49er for this race, and ended up having a close race with Steve Hunt and pulled out such a lead that both boats had to sail all four laps while the remaining fleet just sailed three.

The nights may drawing in, with the winds more fickle (is that really possible?), and the water’s getting colder, but there were several hardy individuals that took to the water this weekend (with one or two still in shorts!). Saturday saw the end of the GP14 Autumn Cup, with Ken and Val Bell hopeful of another trophy, but sailing secretary Hugh Godfrey’s appearance on the water resulted in them being pipped at the post – both had 5 points, but Hugh had the best results and secured the trophy.

The handicap fleet found the conditions very testing, and Steve Hunt was in the unusual position of being beaten! However, he got his act together for the second race, to take pole position and the series.

Sunday’s racing for the October Series was on a personal handicap basis. The winds were again challenging – Neil Currie couldn’t work out why he couldn’t take more advantage of the split wind coming from the North and East, while most people were just glad they at least some wind to take them around the course. It was the GPs that came out best on handicap, with Leila Cook and Sue Watson in the lead up to the final weekend of the series at the end of the month.

Next weekend is the final weekend series of the championship year, so turn out and and see if you can improve your position in the championship – that prizegiving isn’t far away!

AUTUMN CUP

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 Pts
 1   13839  H GODFREY     GP          OD DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS   1   1   5
 2   13118  V BELL        GP           1   3 DNS DNS DNS   3   2   2   5
 3  913326  L COOK        GP         DNS   2 DNS DNS DNS DNS  OD DNS  14
 4   13238  D NICHOLSON   GP         DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS   3   3  16
 5   13749  R DAWSON      RS400      DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS   1 DNS DNS  21
 6   13733  A HODGKINS    GP         DNS   1 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  21
 7   13327  M FAIRLAMB    GP         DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS   2 DNS DNS  22
 8   13326  S WATSON      GP           2 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  22

                     Points for RTD =  3   4   0   0   0   4   4   4
                     Points for DSQ =  3   4   0   0   0   4   4   4
                     Points for DNS =  9

 3 races to count

SKIDDAW TROPHY

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 Pts
 1    1210  S HUNT        RS400        2   1 DNS DNS DNS DNS   3   1   7
 2   13749  R DAWSON      RS400        1   2 DNS DNS DNS DNS   2 RTD  12
 3     937  W CARRUTHERS  RS400        4   4 DNS DNS DNS   1   4   4  13
 4  167828  I MACPHERSON  LAS        DNS DNS DNS  OD DNS DNS   5   2  30
 5    1140  J CHRISTIE    VORTEX     DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS   2   6 RTD  35
 6    1148  N CURRIE      RS400      DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS   1   3  44
 7   69960  M CHAPPEL     MS           3   3 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  46
 8     103  A NICHOLSON   VARIO        5 RTD DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  51
 9  125514  R BRYCE       LAS        DNS DNS DNS   1 DNS DNS DNS DNS  61
10   13327  M FAIRLAMB    GP         DNS DNS DNS   2 DNS DNS DNS DNS  62
11   13733  A HODGKINS    GP         DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS   3 DNS DNS  63
12   13655  N LEWIS       GP         DNS DNS DNS   3 DNS DNS DNS DNS  63
13    2324  R BLACKBURN   LARK        OD DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  63
14     400  T KNOWLES     RSFEVA     RTD DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  67
15      17  P HEMMINGWAY  TOP        DNS DNS DNS RTD DNS DNS DNS DNS  68
15     382  G HEMMINGWAY  RSFEVA     DNS DNS DNS RTD DNS DNS DNS DNS  68
15   40894  S HALL        TOP        DNS DNS DNS RTD DNS DNS DNS DNS  68
15   40892  J HEMINGWAY   TOP        DNS DNS DNS RTD DNS DNS DNS DNS  68

                     Points for RTD =  7   6   0   8   0   4   7   7
                     Points for DSQ =  7   6   0   8   0   4   7   7
                     Points for DNS = 19

 4 races to count

OCTOBER SERIES

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4 Pts
 1  913326  L COOK        GP         DNS DNS   2   1   3
 2   13467  P MAYHEW      GP         DNS DNS   1   5   6
 3    3521  P BURNELL     FF         DNS DNS   4   3   7
 4     937  W CARRUTHERS  RS400        1 DNS   7   7   8
 5    1210  S HUNT        RS400        3 DNS   5   6   8
 6    1148  N CURRIE      RS400      DNS DNS   6   4  10
 7  167828  I MACPHERSON  LAS        DNS DNS   3   9  12
 8   69960  M CHAPPEL     MS         DNS DNS   8   8  16
 9    3268  B WILCOX      FF         DNS DNS DNS   2  17
10   13176  D LAWSON      GP           2 DNS DNS DNS  17
11   13238  D NICHOLSON   GP          OD DNS DNS DNS  18
12    1140  J CHRISTIE    VORTEX     RTD DNS DNS DNS  21
12   12324  L BUGLASS     TOPPER     RTD DNS DNS DNS  21
14   13655  N LEWIS       GP         DNS DNS   9 DNS  24

                     Points for RTD =  6   0  10  10
                     Points for DSQ =  6   0  10  10
                     Points for DNS = 15

 2 races to count