The weekend started with this year’s Push the Boat Out open day which was well attended by approx 100 visitors, and gave many of them the opportunity to take to the water in the best of the day’s weather.

There were events running throughout the day including mini olympics, hula hooping, and rock painting.

Racing took place in the afternoon. Although the wind backed through the afternoon, the beats were maintained but there were various light areas to test helms.

In the F15s, Mike/Kayla and Neil/Judith each had a 1st and 2nd. Dave/Lynn took two wins from Val/Ken in the GPs. The Handicap fleet had wins for Zefer in a Laser and Scumper in RS100, though Stan in his Solo split the pair in the last race.

Latest MG etc results

Sunday was overcast, showery, some of which were heavy, with a force 4-5 and occasional strong squalls passing through. Crews seemed reluctant to venture out, but 15 boats made it to the start, though some did capsize on their way out. There were several capsizes throughout the day, and combined with the windy conditions, numbers sailing declined as the day went on.

It was good to see three juniors racing, for one race at least. Hannah turtled her Tera soon after the start, but once up again, she battled on to complete the race which was won by Andy/Lily in their Mirror, and leads the series. Mike/Kayla won the 1st race, but Simon/Jon turned out for the afternoon races, and won them both. With three races to count, Mike is the overnight leader.

Dave/Lynn took another couple of wins, but Mike/Ken as their only competition capsizing in the second race, there were no takers in the final race of the day. In the Handicap fleet, Bean/Na won the 1st race in their RS200 but didn’t race after lunch. Scumper and Zefer opted to have a blast in Lasers rather than their RS400. Joe, with a Radial rig, leads the series with a 1st and two 2nds, from Scumper with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

The wind eased by Monday morning for the final two races, and fortunately the forecast rain held off.

There was a strong fleet of Mirrors and Teras again, and they enjoyed some competitive racing (especially between the Smith brothers) with Bean/Oliver taking the honours. Bean didn’t race the final race which was won by Andy/Lily who won the Orsova Cup.

Dave/Lynn had new competition with Val/Ken who took an early lead but slipped back again so Dave/Lynn secured two more wins and the Commodore’s Prize.

No Flying 15s raced so Mike kept the lead and won the Mellor Mug.

In the Handicap fleet, the final race had three boats OCS but Izzy, who was helming for a change, didn’t return, or get a finish horn. In the freshening wind, Banter had Oscar crewing in place of Izzy, but survived without capsizing, not that the same can be said for Zefer who had a brief capsize on the final lap. Scumper and Zefer were again vying for positions, each winning a race. Zefer had another 2nd, and Scumper a 3rd, winning Zefer the Isel Cup.

Final Mellor Mug results

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Wall to wall sunshine, and a stronger than expected NW wind, made for good sailing conditions on Saturday. As last week, the wind was regularly swinging to keep helms on their toes. Frustratingly, just as the start sequence got underway, the wind dropped, but fortunately, returned before the start.

There were 11 boats over two fleets. Dave/Lynn won both races in the GPs, with Val/Ken 2nd. In the Handicap fleet, Steve/Ruth in a Merlin led the fleet from Hugh in a Vareo, and Tog/Joanie in a RS200 in both races, but, on handicap, Hugh won both races by about 30 secs, with Steve 2nd in the first race, and Tony in a Solo 2nd in the next race despite having to return for being OCS at the start.

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Sunday was blessed with more sunshine but the wind forecast was not good. Although the turbines at Bothel were not moving at all, the lake had ripples to the north and south of the bay with a large calm patch in between! Several sailors were getting itchy feet hanging around, so despite AJ’s wish to have an early lunch, racing did get underway belatedly when the NW breeze filled in a bit. With the risk of a sea breeze filling in, and the wind backing more to the SW, a course was set with two potential beats (3-2, and 4-B). The wind filled in as the race went on, and there were some big shifts to contend with. AJ the first lap AJ was had a good 2nd, but it all went to pot thereafter and he slipped back to 4th. Dave/Lynn too the honours, with Joan/Jack 2nd.

In the handicap fleet, Phil/Oliver took 1st place in a RS200 from Mike in his Streaker.

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The afternoon race was the Albert Bates Retirement Trophy pennant race. Fearing the wind may do its worst beyond Scarness, the fleet were just sent as far as 10 and then back up. As it turned out, they had a good spinnaker leg down, and a fetch back up, with little in the way of painful down draughts to contend with. The GPs were the strongest fleet taking the first three places, led by Dave/Lyn then Val/Ken in the best winds of the weekend.

Albert Bates Retirement Trophy results

Sandra’s Salver latest results

Saturday started off with some sail training for the juniors before racing got underway for the Paul Carruthers Memorial Trophy, a handicap series for all fleets, and the start of the three day Catapult Open for which there are eight entrants. The northerly wind was bitterly cold, and a lot lighter than forecast, with a hint of rain.

In the first race the the wind eased as the fleets started the second lap, so the OD raced up the course to stop the race, but it was another half hour before all boats finished. Scumper/Zefer in their replacement RS400 were first to finish, and won on Handicap with Commodore Naomi in a Mirror taking 2nd place, cheered on by son Oliver in the Committee boat.

The wind filled in again and held for the next race. Scumper led the fleet again, but with Steve/Ruth in a Merlin on his tail, they were close enough to win on handicap, with Dave/Lynn in a GP 2nd. Though Scumper and Dave both had 5 points, the tie was broken in Scumper’s favour as he had won the first race.

Final results Paul Carruthers Memorial Trophy

Racing was postponed for a short while on Sunday morning due to several calm patches across the lake. The wind filled in enough to start proceedings by 12.30. The wind continually varied in strength, and swung, throughout the day. There were opportunities to plane on some reaches occasionally, but they were the exception, and had to be enjoyed/taken advantage whenever possible.

The varied conditions did mix some positions up, as did five handicap boats being OCS in the 2nd race, of which only three returned. A challenging days racing, with the final two races tomorrow, resulted in the following overnight leaders – Simon/Jon in the F15s, Dave/Lynn in GPs, Robin/Erin in Handicap, Andy in Slow Handicap

The evening’s entertainment started with a pie and pea supper followed by a race night.

Monday’s forecast was not at all encouraging in terms of there being sufficient wind to sail, a light wind across the lake was enough to get the fleets on the water and racing underway. The Catapult fleet were first on the water, and rather than make them wait for club boats, a course was set and their race started. By the time club racing started the wind had swung as it strengthened a little, but didn’t swing back until the final lap, so they had to put up with fetches instead of beats for a while.

Despite having to return for being over the line at the Slow Handicap start, Bean/Oliver quickly caught up lost ground to take the lead and win the race from brother Andy/Lily.

During the lunch break there was a prize giving for the Catapult Open which was won by Gareth Ede, with John Terry 2nd. Gareth’s father Stuart won on personal handicap basis.

The final club race was a bit of a formality in that winners of each fleet had already been determined after four races. However, it didn’t stop the Smith brotherly rivalry in the Slow Handicap fleet, as they endured some close racing, including trying to luff each other way off course. Andy took the lead at the final mark to reinforce his lead in the series.

In the GPs, AJ tried his hardest to squeeze Mike/Eric the wrong side of the Bates at the start, only to sail himself between the Bates and the inner distance mark, snagging on and snapping its mooring warp! Needless to say, by the time he had corrected his error, Mike was well up the beat!

Tog had a flying start in the Handicap fleet as he tacked onto port and sail up the right hand side of the course only for the wind to strengthen on the left hand side, favouring the rest of the fleet! Emma’s tiller extension broke away with half a lap to go, but she persevered to finish.

The final winners were as overnight, Simon/Jon won the F15 Jak Pot, Dave/Lynn the GP Lyne Tankard, Robin/Erin the May Holiday Trophy, and Andy/Lily the Peel Pot.

Final� JP results