Sunday’s forecast had been for less wind than Saturday, but we are talking about Bass! The wind strength made sailors build up a good appetite before lunch, especially as the race was slightly longer than usual. There were capsizes again, and though Joe was mastering his boat better than on Saturday, his strength had been zapped by the end of the race and suffered a couple of capsizes as the wind increased before lunch. Tim and Big E, both in Lasers, also had their fair share of capsizes – one of Big E’s took him the wrong side of the mark, but he dutifully unwound his error before continuing.
Banter Phil’s only competition in the Asymmetric Cup was from Joan/Jack in their RS200. After the first lap, he got to grips with the gusts and opened up a strong lead only to capsize and risk it all. Fortunately he recovered in time and stayed far enough ahead to win on handicap. In the afternoon he took an early lead, again capsized, but so did the Hardies. Unfortunately for them, they got the mast stuck in the mud, and they decided to call it a day, but the OD opted to let (make?) Banter continue to the end of the race! Two wins in one day was sufficient to catapult Banter to be series leader (for the rime being) – Well done!
In the MJM Trophy, Mike/Kayla led the fleet but it was the GPs that performed well on handicap with Dave/Lynn taking two 1sts, maintaining their lead in the series, while Mike/Alan shared a 2nd and 3rd with Mike/Kayla. Ethan persevered and completed both races, taking advantage of Joe and Tim’s capsizes to beat them in the morning race. In the afternoon, Joe bowed out and went in a rescue boat while Tim found a crew and raced his F15 – obviously too many capsizes for one day.
Tales for the day include the warning that the habit of using your teeth to hold a sheet can be risky in windy weather, especially when the sheet snatches and breaks your tooth as Mike Moore can vouch for!
Toggle loves to get a mention, so he was keen to point out hat there was an erroneous tweet (never!) on Saturday claiming that Banter had pipped him at the post when in fact it was Hugh.. Ah such is life.
If any of Saturdays sailors discover that they have an extra race timer, it is probably the club’s as one mysteriously disappeared…
Apologies to Mik that the webcam problems have forced him to use the Armathwaite Hall webcam to keep an eye on sailing over the weekend. Normal service has been resumed (for the time being), and Mik will keep be able to keep his eagle eye on events
Next weekend may be somewhat quieter with several boats away at open meetings, including the Lord Birkett at Ullswater. The present forecast is for little to no wind – just what you need when in a fleet of 200 boats!