The breeze for the evening sail was light, but the fleet of 17 boats kept moving. As the series draws towards a close, Alan Waugh secured a 2nd and opened us his lead from Neil and Joe and won the series

Sun and a steady SSW breeze greeted sailors on Saturday – though rain was scheduled to move in late afternoon!

The breeze held, was relatively steady, and the rain held off. The beat was relatively steady and there were some good gusts for planing at times. The conditions led to some close racing by the RS400s and the F15s.

Scumper and Big E sailed well to secure a first and a second, and Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith, with no competition in the GPs sailed well to finish 1st and 3rd, giving them 2nd overall overnight. Neil and Judith had to retire after Neil sat on, and broke, his extension during a gybe.

Tim and Ian shared the winning honours with Mike and Sally in the F15s, leaving Mike as overnight leader.

Similarly in the Mirrors, Mik and Toddy each shared a 1st and 2nd, leaving Mik as overnight leader

Would the rain pass through overnight, and would the wind blow on Sunday?

Sunday arrived, and with no chance of Sunday Sun, even though it was a muggy morning, the waterproofs were on – just as well as the rain moved in as the fleet launched, and then came back again with a vengeance as the racing finished!!

Things were a bit crowded before the handicap start and three port boats passing through a narrowing gap of two starboard boats preparing to start was not going to be a struggle. Unfortunately, Mike Fairlamb ended up with a hole in his port side in the melee.

The course took the fleets partly under the shade of Sale Fell which, together with the varying gusts passing through, meant a lot of ground could be won and lost on that leg. Bean and Naomi were able to use that to their advantage and won the race from Steve and Ruth who had been having a good battle with Robbie D and Big E. Toggle fell foul of the changeable winds and fell out to windward at one stage when the wind dropped, but was quickly back in the boat and racing again. William and Elaine had been having some close racing with the other 400s but were left standing in light airs when the other two planed away from the windward mark.

In the afternoon, the gusts freshened, and they proved challenging with mega shifts as well! Three boats were squeezed off the line and had to return – Steve, William and Tony/Rosi Flinn in their Martin 16. Bean got off to a flying start and led the fleet for the first two laps, although he was eventually passed by William after a big shift during the beat, he stayed close enough to win the race on handicap. Robbie D and Steve thought better of trying to catch Bean on the tight offwind legs and retired early. Scumper sailed his laser and had to work hard to pass Sam Hall, but they finished 2nd and 3rd, with William 4th. Bean’s win gave him the series from Scumper.

In the GPs, Mike Fairlamb sailed on despite the damage to his boat, and won both races and the series. Ginge and Jose sailed the first race but that was enough for them. Jose said one race was enjoy, two would be endure! She did mention some other things but there would be too many red faces!

Mike and Sally won both F15 races from Tim and Ian with some close racing, winning the series overall.

The Mirrors did not race, leaving Mik the winner

After some heavy morning rain, the day dried up and a SW breeze was the order of the day (well for the morning at least!). The winds tended to gust through all day and there were some good reaches if you were in the right place at the right time.

In the handicap fleet Bean and Naomi generally remained in the right place for the wind and secured wins on handicap in both races (flying their gennaker on the beat in the afternoon race may have proved to be something of an advantage!). Neil and Judith held off William and Elaine in the morning race, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. The gusts had proved a little too much for Judith so they opted out of the afternoon race which seemed as if the SW wind would be strengthened by a sea breeze. However, a good wind from the S fought with the SW breeze through most of the afternoon race leading to some testing conditions. The changing wind had enabled William to break away, but it also brought Bean back(!), together with Mike Moore and Martyn Stephenson in a F15, leaving William in 3rd position again.

Joe Watkins tried his hand in Joan Hardie’s RS200 while she had a go in his Byte (and he beat her!). Dave Wright came a cropper whilst gybing at 1, and subsequently retired.

In the GPs, Mike Turner and Sue Watson secured a good win from Katherine Davis, but neither sailed in the afternoon.

In the Mirrors, Alan Waugh had to fight back in both races to win from Nick Orton.

Various sailors have been playing away from home this weekend – four boats went to Ullswater to compete in the annual Lord Birkett two race series around the lake, 205 boats, and our lads came 25th (Robbie D and Big E), 26th (Scumper and Zefer), 69th (Andy and Rob Smith) and 92nd (Toggle). Full results

Others went to Llandudno for the GP14 National Championships being held over three days – well so I thought. In fact Phil Hodgkins sailed in Ginge and Jose’s boat under the Derwent Reservoir burgee! He finished 27th out of 53 boats (just the wrong side of halfway 🙁 ) Final results

Results eventually posted on websites! Stick with Bass for up to date results 🙂

What better way to end such a hot day with a sail? There were 22 takers for the Night Jar which was held in the northern corner of the lake which generally held a slight breeze even though it had made a quick about turn from the SE breeze that had been blowing an hour before. Alan Waugh’s 2nd gave him back the lead in the series

It was a little disconcerting to see two wind turbines on Moota turning in opposite directions!!! What would we be in for today? At least they were turning even if from the wrong direction! Did we speak too soon, as the wind quickly faded 🙁 Surprisingly by 12 the wind had filled in from the south west and racing was underway by 12.30. Bean and Naomi led most of the race, though William and Cristina did manage to get past them briefly, and went on to win the race

The afternoon race was the Jimmy Lancaster Memorial Trophy, traditionally sailed around the lake. Just before the start the rain was seen creeping across the lake. Herb and OD Matthew Page got togged up to protect themselves, then merrily hid in the cuddy knocking on the window and waving and those of us who were not so appropriately dressed! Despite the SW wind, the breeze was relatively steady and the boats were close hauled/fetched the full length of the leg from 5 to 12. As the lead boats sailed near St Bede’s church the water turned white with the rain beating down (or had we done something wrong?!!).There was a roar of thunder too but was all.

There wasn’t much beating on the way back either. Robbie D and Big E led the fleet and won the race on handicap from by a good margin from Tim Chittenden, having found a crew (Des Wright) for the afternoon race. Is Mike Moore just breaking in his new crew, Martin, gently at the moment?

The Youth Squad were out again, and giving OD Andy Smith a hard time asking for more challenging courses! Report to follow, but results can be found here

Saturday Sailing

A light breeze has filled the northern end of the lake, and it is tempting the fleet on to the water, but is it enough to get a couple of races in? Very muggy. 🙁 Would it thunder?!

Well there was enough wind to get the racing started, but just before the RS400s completed their first lap the wind started to fade and the race became a drifter. It may be some time before the race finishes! Having taken 24 mins for the first lap, the 400s took another 65 mins for the next! As they crossed the line the wind picked up, and following a bit of a breather the fleet went out for another race but in a good breeze. If the first race hadn’t taken so long no doubt everyone would have given up the ghost and went home missing the best breeze of the day

Sunday was another glorious day for sailing. The wind blew from the south west, and was strengthened with the sea breeze for the afternoon racing.

William and Elaine were a little too eager for the first start and were recalled for being over the line, but that was not the only reason for Scumper sailing off into the distance. Scumper was sailing with the youth squad’s Joe Watkins. A light weight crew who sailed very well in the mixed airs, and is certain to sleep well tonight after his first venture out in an RS400. It has been reported that at one point Toggle (centre of attention yet again!) almost cut Hugh Godfrey�s boat in half causing Hugh to almost capsize but he went on to beat Tog by a whisker. In the afternoon, Robbie D and Big E came out to sail, and had some close racing with Scumper, but it was Robbie that took the winning honours.

In the MJM Trophy, Val and Ken Bell won the morning race from Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith, but in the afternoon Mike won, followed by John Riley, with Sam Hall crewing, and then Val. All good practice for next weekend’s GP14 Northern Championship being hosted by Bass

On Saturday, the showers passed through early, the sun’s poked its way through the clouds, and there was a breeze too! Don’t need any more for a good afternoon’s sailing.

The rain did hold off, and the wind freshened slightly as the afternoon went on. The first race was part of the Celebrity Glass pursuit series. Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith broke away from the GPs and eventually in the lead which it looked impenetrable. As the staggered start times are based on a set length of racing, it was important that the race was stopped after the correct length of time which on this occasion meant there were to be two fast final reaches for the Vareos to take advantage of and close the gap that Mike had gained. On this occasion, Mike held his lead with Rory Yardley and Toggle following closely behind.

The run to the leeward mark caused confusion as some boats came in on starboard gybe and rounded it to starboard instead of port. Four boats were caught out by this, and spotted by the OD, so when they crossed the finish line there was no finish signal. Mike Moore was the first to cross, but realised he had been caught! Having rounded the mark to port the second time round he knew his mistake and apparently had made a pact with Tim Chittenden that he wouldn’t say anything if the other didn’t! The other two caught out were Ethan Dawson, and Nigel Lewis – he reckoned he was sailing Thursday evening’s course!!

The second race was normal long championship series racing. Neil and Judith Currie led the handicap fleet well for a lot of the race, despite being surprised by the increase in wind strength (Judith doesn’t like it too windy!), but Robbie D and Big E fought back to take the lead. Mike Fairlamb led the GPs throughout, and Mike Moore fought to catch up with Tim Chittenden and take pole position. There were no Mirrors racing

Sam Hall sailed at Derwent Reservoir. Having been caught out by an earlier than usual start, he missed the first race and finished 2nd junior and 4th overall in the Lakeland Laser Grand Prix. Shame their racing start times aren’t as casual as ours can be!

Sam Hall sailed in the NW Junior Traveller event at Ullswater on Saturday. Just one second separated him from victory and winning the event.

What a Challenge!

This weekend’s weather was somewhat different to the sunny conditions we enjoyed last week. The sun has been replaced with showers, the wind is still here(!), the temperature has dropped, and shorts have been replaced by thermals and woolly hats!

As a result, the conditions were less inviting and there was just a small turnout of four boats on Saturday – certainly a fleet challenge in that there’s not two boats from the same fleet!

Dave and Lynn consistently led the fleet. Hugh seemed to regularly capsize! Joe capsized at one of the gybe marks, and Ian just sailed quietly around the course.

Sunday racing had a lot more takers, and the wind was almost as blustery as Saturday and there were numerous capsizes. With a strong on shore wind, it proved to be challenging stopping boats in time before there were grounded as the fleet returned to the slip after racing. As can be seen from the results, there were only a few qualifiers for the series, buth the first three places were closely contested with just one point difference. It was Hugh’s two first from Saturday that split the tie in his favour from Ian Macpherson.

Mike Turner was as keen as ever to go sailing, but his crew Sue Watson had been out celebrating a big birthday – he did suggest the party started last Saturday – boy do these nurses know how to party! She did appear in a disguise comprising some large dark glasses – not certain they were for the sunny conditions though, more the result of some serious partying 🙂

The series was run on a personal handicap basis, and you can see how the handicaps changed from race to race. Indeed several positions were split by a matter of seconds. The handicapping is not a precise science, but it does give helms of differing abilities to compete – whether it is fair may depend on your point of view, but overall everyone should be in with a chance!

The Youth Squad had planned a sail around the lake with a break for a picnic lunch, however conditions just did not suit so the picnic was held in the clubhouse, and then the fleet went out for what seemed like a capsize drill between main racing. Not that any of the hardy sailors were at all bothered about capsizing – many of them seemed to be deliberate!! Hopefully the picnic will be incorporated into one of the future social sailing events

Will the rain hold off for the evening? Nice breeze to get the fleet around the course, even though it’s not as warm as it was at the weekend.

The wind held and the rain held off (well a little drizzle but does that count?!), and there was a good turnout of 16 boats, Ginge reckons he was the one that pushed two boats over the start line causing them to be recalled!