Autumnal Weekend

The blustery winds that were forecast did not come to fruition, resulting in good sailing conditions for the select few that raced, albeit in cooler conditions that in recent weekends.

Val/Ken in their GP led the races generally, giving Neil in a Laser a run for his money, making good use of the intermittent planing conditions. Neil finished first on the water in the first race, and though Val crossed the line first in the last race, she hit the mark, and had to re-round it, letting Neil get through in the meantime. New member Mathis had a tussle with the start mark, getting caught up in its mooring rope, giving the rest of the fleet a bit if a start!

On handicap, Val won both races on personal and fleet handicap basis, with Neil 2nd.

Latest results

Sunday’s forecast was for light airs and the risk of rain, but with enough ripples on the water to get racing underway. However, the wind was swinging considerably, so a hopefully middling beat to mark 1 was set. With 1 relatively close to the shore, it was partly shadowed from the wind making the beat a little slow and challenging for some. Though the first lap was slow, it would have been too short to stop for lunch, so the fleet continued for another two thirds of a lap to finish at mark 0. Though it was fine for the leaders, led by Neil/Rory in a F15, the wind faded and the tail enders had a slow return home.

The breeze returned for the afternoon, but remained light. Neil led the fleet but it was a day for GPs, though Dave/Lynn had to work to pull back and win on a fleet handicap basis ahead of Joan/Jack. On personal handicap, Paul/Emily won the morning race, and Jim/Poppy had a better race winning the afternoon race.

Fortunately sunshine won the day and the rain did not appear, but the flies in the race office did!

Dave/Lynn presently lead both the fleet and personal handicap Sunday series

Latest results

Sunday Best

After a cold night, the Southerly breeze was pleasantly mild, and lighter than the general forecast, but forecast to increase over the morning. The only takers were Mike/Kayla in their F15, and Dave/Lynn in their GP, but they had a good race, and relying on the least number of mistakes to win! With several marks in unusual positions, the course took a little understanding, and Mike headed for mark S instead of mark N which lost him some ground and Dave broke through for a while. Even over the relatively short duration of the race, the wind increased considerably, and there were some exciting offwind legs. One gust proved to be a bit much for Mike and caused him to broach, losing him some more ground.

On handicap, the honours went to Dave with Mike 2nd.

There was no takers for the afternoon race, so lunch then home; just as well as the wind continued to increase, and the rain moved in.

Latest Results

Congratulations to Sandy and Douglas Simpson who have just returned from the Mirror Inlands, Junior and Youth Nationals where they finished second overall, counting 1, 3, 2, 2, 2 and discarding a 9th. Chris Fuller won it, but they won the Junior Nationals, in a fleet of 11 boats.

Soaked!

Despite the odd rain shower in the morning the weather stayed dry with good spells of sunshine to take the chill out of the air.

Much to Herb�s dislike, the day�s racing comprised a two pursuit race series. Mik led the fleet for the first half of race one until Dave passed him in a Laser and gained a lead which no-one could touch. Tony King was 2nd.

Meanwhile the GPs were having a vocal afternoon, with lots of shouting for water. In fact, at one mark Jack Hardie jumped out of his boat (well perhaps he fell), and Ken then jumped in to his aid. In the end all was well, apart from Ken losing his hat! Both deserted lady helms were keen to point out that they successfully lowered the spinnakers in preparation for their husbands’ return.

A close finish in the second race went to Mike/Kayla, back on the water after an ankle injury, with Tony taking another 2nd.

With three boats on equal points, the tie was split in Mike�s favour, as he had won the last race.

Final results

Apart from the two sailors getting soaked, tonight is the premiere of Emma Rydal�s Soaked at the Rosehill Theatre

Have you planned your visit?

Small World

Knowing that we are short of something to report, Neil has advised that he is 500 miles from home on a Padi diving course at Falmouth, he walks past the sailing club and sees signs saying it’s the FF Nationals crosses the road next to guy carrying a sailing bag who glances back and recognises a friendly face out of place. It was Steve Goacher and his wife wasn’t it.

On a diving note his diving instructors finished their tuition early yesterday so they could go diving and came back with tales of huge (as big as the diver) tuna fish never previously reported on Cornish waters, but that has not stopped the fishing boats trying to catch them. It’s the old story of describing rare animals by what they taste like, being their downfall.

Final Championship Series

Some blustery conditions on Saturday morning eased to leave near champagne racing conditions in the (slightly) warmer weather with sunny intervals. Today’s racing is for the final weekend series of the championship season, but as the winners have already been determined, numbers on the water were lighter than usual.

Dave Lawson led Val Bell in both GP races, but they shared their crews with Ladies v Gents in the second race.

Steve/Ruth led the handicap fleet in the first race taking 1st on handicap with Jim/Poppy 2nd. In the next race, Steve took the lead but failed to notice that nobody was following him up the 2nd beat because the course had changed! By the time he realised three boats had got away, and he finished 4th with Scumper 1st and Jim taking another 2nd. Bob had similar problems following the course after the one he’d written down had been scuffed off.

In the slow handicap fleet, Mik in his Mirror won the first race, but in the next race there was a dead heat with Paul in a Topper.

Sunday stayed dry with another mild southerly breeze, but it didn’t encourage any more on to the water. With no GPs sailing, the Stables Prize goes to Saturday’s overnight leader Dave and Lynn Lawson, who opted to try their hand in the handicap fleet and give Scumper a run for his money, which they did very successfully as he was unable to break far enough ahead, and they won race 3 on handicap. Joanie had had enough sailing for the weekend, so Tog retreated to the Solo only for the gooseneck to break soon after starting.

After lunch the wind eased slightly, but results on handicap were consistent with a finishing order of Scumper, Dave, and Tog. The trophy goes to Scumper, with Tog (aided by Joanie) 2nd and Dave/Lynn 3rd.

Paul Gannon won races 3 and 4 with John Roberts 2nd. Although the positions were reversed in the final race, Paul had sufficient good results to win the trophy.

Final results

Congratulations go out to Vice Commodore Naomi Smith and husband Phil on the birth of their daughter Lucy, a brother for Oliver.

Congratulations go to another Smith, Naomi’s brother in law Andy after his stirling performance with Phil Hodgkins at Derwent Reservoir over the weekend winning all races to win the GP14 Northern championship!

Paul Carruthers’ Memorial Trophy

As if we didn’t realise it, we can never rely on the forecast at Bass. Though there was a good breeze at the start, it was shifting and not consistent in strength, but blowing from the north gave the OD the opportunity start at 0, and then head ashore before the non forecast shower moved in! However the use of mark N, which had been tucked away in Dubwath bay, to avoid a hook finish caused a barrage of questions for OD AJ so a lead boat guided the fleet around the course (not that they were sure where N was!)

Neil/Judith in their F15 quickly took a clear lead, which was to be eroded away in the changing wind conditions resulting in Paul/Vicki in a GP being on their tail at the finish, and taking the win on handicap, with Joan/Jack 2nd. The next race started in a light breeze that soon faded. This time Joan/Jack mastered their favourite conditions and took the lead from Paul/Vicki followed by Neil/Judith. On handicap, Joan was 1st and Paul 2nd, so they were both on equal points and with the tie being split on the best position in the last race, the trophy goes to Joan/Jack.

Final results

Bart’s Bash

Despite a poor pre=registration for this year’s Bart’s Bash there was a turnout of 13 boats in the light northerly airs. There were numerous threats of rain, but it was limited to a few spits and spots. Steve/Izzy in a Merlin led both races but on handicap Tony King in a Solo that beat them by just a few secs each time. Paul Bowmer took a 3rd in the first race, and Jim/Poppy 3rd in the second race.

Final results

Overall Bart’s Bash standings

Lake Level

With the water level already at the top of the slipways, and 25mm of rain, topped up with high winds, forecast through to midnight Wednesday, it’s worth considering about the safety of your boat if it’s berthed on the foreshore. The lake is certain to rise over the next couple of days but it’s impossible to say by how much.

If you get a chance, check and consider moving your boat this evening.

Tinker Trophy

While we have a team away at the 24 hour race�we have our annual visit from the Tinker Association for one of the rallies, and we hold an all fleet handicap series with nine boats taking part on another sunny Saturday. At lunchtime the winds seemed to be very light but they filled in sufficiently for a good afternoon’s racing during which there were no capsizes, or exciting tales to tell!

Hugh led both races in his Vareo, followed by Joe in his Laser, which were their positions on on corrected time as well, while Ian in a Solo took 3rd in the first race and AJ/Sue in a GP 3rd in the second one.

With a low pressure moving in, Sunday’s forecast was looking somewhat gusty, but as Bass has its own micro climate we were lucky and got more racing in.

The Tinkers led the way and demonstrated that conditions were suitable though, for a long while, AJ and Sue had no competition and were wondering what they should do with their their unexpected spare time. However the overnight leaders did appear so Sue had to sail but was able to postpone her ironing for a few more hours!

Sensibly AJ opted to race in his F15 and was able to avoid capsizing, but his competition were not so lucky, each suffering several capsizes over the two races. Joe had less critical timing of his capsizes and secured two wins, and the weekend series trophy.

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Final results

The Tinkers had a total of six races with the overall winner being Malcolm Ellwood, just for a change, with Stewart Warden 2nd.

Winner Malcolm Ellwood with trophy presented by Poppy Christie

Night Jar 17

To quote TS Elliot the Night Jar series �ended with a whimper�. It was very wet, it was windy and nobody really wanted to go through the routine of rigging and launching.

John & Hazel said they might if they had someone to sail against. �But when newly qualified driver Harry arrived at the Club in his Mini and said he could be tempted to go out, they had second thoughts.

A fair number of others turned up just for the food and Sarah and Neil didn�t disappoint with their large helpings of Pizza.

So the Night Jar Fleet handicap awards go to Mike & Eric from Tony, Val & Ken and Neil. �The Personal handicap leading places are the same with the exception that Val & Ken move above Tony.

Final results

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