This year a different format has been adopted for this series in that we are trying out having eight short races over a weekend.

Before the start of the first race, the gusty conditions was sufficient to make Paul Burnell and Neil Currie think twice about even hoisting their sails. But were they right? On the first beat one gust that came through flattened Steve Hunt (well he did comment that if it’s windy he expects to capsize), Jim Christie and Rory Yardley, but by the end of the beat, William Carruthers was in the lead, the wind had died, and the rest of the fleet were bunching and drifting around the windward mark. You would think there was little room for error due to having such short races, but Steve Hunt, despite capsizing, spotted the wind filling in and was soon back in the lead. The rest of the afternoon’s racing continued in a bit of a stop start manner, with Hugh Godfrey emerging as the overnight leader. As he was OD for Sunday’s racing, would it be cancelled while he is ahead?!

Sunday morning was beautiful, sunny with a slight breeze, something that we haven’t been used to for a while. The breeze picked up for the second of the morning races, but over lunchtime it faded to nothing, so it was indeed time to abandon racing for the day. However, by this time Steve Hunt and Ruth Critchley had secured another couple of firsts and the series.

FLEET CHALLENGE A

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4   5   6 Pts
 1    1210  S HUNT        RS400        4   2   1   1   1   1   4
 2   13839  H GODFREY     GP           1   1   5   2  OD DNS   7
 3    1148  N CURRIE      RS400      DNS   8   2   3   6   3  14
 4    2324  R BLACKBURN   LARK         6   3 RTD DNS   3   5  17
 5    3473  M MOORE       FF           5   4   3 RTD   9   9  21
 6  167828  I MACPHERSON  LAS          2   7 RTD   4  10  10  23
 7     937  W CARRUTHERS  RS400        8   9   4 RTD   8   6  26
 8    1146  P BURNELL     RS400      DNS  10   6 DNS   4   7  27
 9    1049  M SOMERVILLE  RS400       OD DNS DNS DNS   2   2  30
10   13749  R DAWSON      RS400        3   5 DNS   5 DNS DNS  36
11   40894  S HALL        TOP         11  12   7   6 DNS DNS  36
12   13733  A HODGKINS    GP           7 DNS DNS DNS   7   4  41
13    1140  J CHRISTIE    VORTEX      10   6 RTD DNS DNS DNS  51
14    1125  JoHALLIDAY    RS400      DNS DNS DNS DNS   5  11  62
15     338  R YARDLEY     RS300        9  11 DNS DNS DNS DNS  66
16   13326  S WATSON      GP         DNS DNS DNS DNS  13   8  69
17     103  A NICHOLSON   VARIO      DNS DNS DNS DNS  11  14  71
18     400  T KNOWLES     RSFEVA     DNS DNS DNS DNS  14  12  72
19   13839  D NICHOLSON   GP         DNS DNS DNS DNS  12  13  73
20  813467  D WRIGHT      GP         DNS DNS DNS   7 DNS DNS  76
21  122174  P DILLON      LAS        DNS DNS DNS DNS  15  15  76
22  913467  M WRIGHT      GP         DNS DNS   8 DNS DNS DNS  77

                     Points for RTD = 12  13  12  10  16  16  
                     Points for DSQ = 12  13  12  10  16  16  
                     Points for DNS = 23

 4 races to count

While the south of the country basked in some warm spring weather this weekend, Bass didn’t! However, with a snow covering on the surrounding hills, there was a beautiful backdrop for those boats that did venture out . Drysuits (for most!), with several layers of warm clothing underneath, and hats or balaclavas, it was more like a frostbite series. There were many good gusts over the weekend, but there some compensatory holes as well!

Saturday’s racing was monopolised by Steve Hunt and Ruth Critchley, who secured the first beats then broke away off wind, leaving other RS400s to fight it out with some close racing. Alan Nicholson was the first of the weekend to capsize, but he wouldn’t be the only one! Paul Burnell and Tim Chittenden did well to recover from one gybe after filling the boat a little.

As predicted, Roy’s curry on Saturday led to a lot more wind on Sunday. Much to Ruth’s relief, Steve had left to go to work, so Mark Somerville with Andy Thomas had some good racing against William Carruthers and Lesley Braddock. It tended to be a case of whoever made the least mistakes came out on top. Andy T, new to the RS, struggled to hoist the kite in one gust, so it was their turn for a swim, but they quickly recovered and were soon back on the pace. But the holes that were there on Saturday, came back with a vengeance and when coupled with big shifts, there were a few nervous crews around. Andy T was treated to a further capsize while gybing.

Whether it was nervous exhaustion, or increasingly gusty winds, but several sailors opted out of the afternoon race, leaving only three takers. There was an ominous start for William and Lesley when they capsized just off the end of the jetty while trying to sort out the rudder, but they managed to get to the line just after the starting signal. Mark was first to the windward mark but opted not to fly the kite on the first couple of reaches, however William and Lesley took the chance on the second reach and quickly caught up with Mark. However, David and Lynn Lawson in their GP were not far behind. After a short beat to 9, Mark took no chances and flew the kite, although William tried it he soon realised he couldn’t lay the mark and took it down again. Mark came a cropper when taking the kite down at the gybe mark allowing the other two boats through. Everyone persevered for another lap, but it was on the final gybe when that William capsized (for the first time during a race – well it had to happen sometime!). Not a good time to get stuck in the mud! David was first to finish followed by Mark. Righting William’s boat led to the question how many people does it take to get a boat out of the mud – two rescue crew, the official starter, OD (and his assistant!), and another crew brought from the shore!

The results show some consistent sailing, but also, that the 3 points given to an OD for giving up racing for a day, were sufficient to secure good positions in a series – David, Saturday’s OD, coming first overall with Neil, Sunday’s OD, finishing second

Question is, how long will those men in their shorties survive?

Final results (race 3 subject to checking!?)

CELEBRITY GLASS TROPHY

PN    Boat  Helm          Class        1   2   3   4 Pts
 1   13176  D LAWSON      GP          OD DNS   1   1   5
 2    1148  N CURRIE      RS400        2   2  OD DNS   7
 3    1049  M SOMERVILLE  RS400      RTD   3   3   2   8
 4     937  W CARRUTHERS  RS400        3   4   2 RTD   9
 5    1140  J CHRISTIE    VORTEX       5   5   4 DNS  14
 6    1210  S HUNT        RS400        1   1 DNS DNS  15
 7    2324  R BLACKBURN   LARK         6   6   5 DNS  17
 8    1146  P BURNELL     RS400        4   8   6 DNS  18
 9   13839  D NICHOLSON   GP           7   7 DNS DNS  27
10  160516  T CHITTENDEN  LAS        DNS DNS RTD DNS  34
11     103  A NICHOLSON   VARIO      RTD DNS DNS DNS  37
11   69960  M CHAPPEL     FF         RTD DNS DNS DNS  37

                     Points for RTD = 11   9   8   4
                     Points for DSQ = 11   9   8   4
                     Points for DNS = 13

 3 races to count

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