Sunday
The wind is from the SE again – will OD Ian make use of the southern end of the lake in his courses?
The answer was yes! A beat to 13 took approx 35 mins, but with the wind freshening as forecast, the reaching back down to 2 only took just under 20 mins!! Gybing in the stronger winds took out various boats including Toggle at 14, and just after his spinnaker block fell apart (for which he was probably grateful as he could no longer fly it!). Steve and Ruth in their Merlin had a couple of spectacular capsizes, one due to Steve slipping in the boat (another burgee donated to Neptune!). Martyn and Steve capsized their F15 and were merrily bailing out on their way ashore. Other casualties were, Ethan, Nigel (his burgee was battered, but survived unlike his tiller which proved not to be strong enough to stop him falling out of the boat!), Jim and Alistair.
The offwind legs enabled William and Tom in an RS400 to catch Neil Garrison in a Dart (though he did have three on board). William’s lead was sufficient to win the race on handicap.
Mike Moore failed to cover on the last beat and paid the penalty as Tim pipped him at the finish line to win the Scarness Cup with three straight wins, and that determined that they would take their boats off the water before lunch!
Dave and Lynne also won the GP Graham Cup with their third win from Mike and Eric.
The wind did not relent over lunch, so racing for the afternoon was cancelled. However, Steve and Neil did opt to go out for a bit of a blast in the Dart, and Steve was surprised at the speed!
With no racing, Toggle took the Wythop Series with his two wins
No Mirrors sailed so Alan Waugh, as overnight leader won the Reflection Trophy.
Saturday
The school holidays may be over, but Summer may have returned (temporarily)! A wonderfully warm southerly greeted sailors, and OD Ian Preston opted to make best use of the wind by sending the fleet all the way round the lake. It may have been a hard slog to the bottom in the first race, but the breeze held for the spinnaker legs back. There were a couple of lasers that capsized, but they still made it round.
In the second race, the main fleet just went to 10, again in a steady wind, although it had eased from the first race. William’s crew Alistair hadn’t crewed for 15 years, never sailed an RS400, or flown a spinnaker, and was pleased to lead the racing (they were even in front of Robbie D and Ethan when they had to retire as the main halyard gave way). However, the downwind legs were not sufficient for them to break away from the rest of the fleet, and with the wind filling in from behind (as it does!) Toggle was able to scream into the leeward mark and take lots of ground, winning him the race (as he did the first).
In the F15s Tim and Ian led Mike and Kayla in both races.
Dave and Lynn beat Mike and Eric in both GP races, while Mik and Alan each shared a win in the Mirrors.
More wind tomorrow!