Those that entered the Fleet Challenge C series enjoyed sunshine and a light breeze on Saturday to drive them around the courses for the three scheduled races. There were a few capsizes, several people sailing wrong courses, missing marks out, or rounding them the wrong way, and Roy the Sailing Secretary was a premature starter. Most of these mishaps were rectified, but not all!

Sunday started with a mist/fog across the lake that burnt off well before the scheduled start time, but the wind was not forthcoming. As there were very few takers it didn’t seem as if there would be any racing even if the wind did appear!

With no wind, and no takers, racing was abandoned for the day, albeit a glorious one! So the final results were as Saturday, with Val/Ken taking the honours on a personal handicap basis, with Kath/Alan 2nd (If only they hadn’t talked so much…)

Sunshine, a relatively warm wind, and white horses greeted sailors for another weekend series. Though the conditions were hard work, there was some exciting reaches, and several challenging gybes (which caught out numerous boats), all adding to some close racing.

Scumper led the handicap fleet, and though Toggle did break through to lead the 2nd race for a while, Scumper took the honours in both races. Peter Ballard was squeezed out of the start line by Banter, and lost almost 50 secs in the process. He made up a lot of ground, but with only 13 secs between 2nd and 4th places he was left wondering what might have been as he finished 4th behind Jim and Toggle. In the 2nd race, the wind had eased significantly and the Vareos took the first three places – Toggle coming 2nd and Banter 3rd.

Mike/Kayla led the F15s with Ian/Lezli-Ann chasing in each race.

In the GPs Dave/Ken led but gave Mike/AJ a chance when they hit the windward mark and had to do a turn. Mike subsequently retired as strands of a shroud started to ping apart!

Wind and rain forecast. Wind and rain delivered! Too blustery for sailing so it was an early finish. If only those F15 sailors had believed the forecast they wouldn’t have left their boats on moorings overnight, and then had to get togged up to bring them ashore without even racing!

Despite best efforts no-one was able to persuade Jim to go and demonstrate whether the conditions would have been suitable for racing, but he did get a compliment from Herb when he was told that he had improved a little. Not bad for 25 years Jim thought…

Saturday’s overnight leaders, each with two firsts, instantly became series champions.

Sun and a great sailing wind greeted the fleet of seven boats for another race in the Celebrity Glass Pursuit.

Paul Clark started on the wrong signal and that seemed to put others, well Jim Christie, off their scheduled time too. Jim made it back in time, but Paul restarted about 40 secs late (just ahead of Jim). Jim soon passed Paul, and was then chased, mainly by the F15s for the rest of the pursuit. Although Mike/Kayla closed the gap on Jim, the various reaches ensured that at the finish signal still had a 30 sec lead over Mike. Mike leads the series.

There were three extra boats for the 2nd race, though Scumper and Tog, back from the Vareo Nationals (with the Trophy!), having had all afternoon to prepare, were 4 mins later for their start! The gap closed a little when the lead boats rounded 4 the wrong way, eventually realised their mistake, rerounded it, but took a while longer to realise that they had to unwind their initial mistake! Jim managed to hold the lead and won on handicap.

In the F15s, Ian/Lezli-Ann tried to squeeze Mike out of the start line. Mike snuck through, tacked, hit the mark, had to do a penalty turn and then chase the other boats. By the windward mark he had passed Ian MacP/Sally, but Ian C kept him at bay until the final beat where he cover tacked Mike, but not well enough, and Mike won by a few boat lengths.

Sunday started just as sunny, but calm. As the morning passed, the wind freshened from the SE which set a great scene for the day’s racing, especially the afternoon pennant race.

Scumper had been out having a local celebration of his becoming Vareo National champion, so there were a few sore heads about, and even though Scumper struggled to locate the windward mark from the startline, he went on to win on handicap from Jim Christie. After two laps the wind faded a little for a while, and then back with some gusto from the SW. Paul/Emily put in a good performance in their Graduate finishing 3rd ahead of Joan/Jack in an RS200.

The F15 fleet was led by Mike/Kayla, with Ian/Lezli-Ann 2nd. Val/Ken won the GPs, with Alan 2nd.

Andy/Katia led the Mirrors for a while, lost the spinnaker sheets under the boat (and looked in a somewhat precarious position as Andy tried to rcoved them while still helming), and were then passed by Alan. However, Alan capsized in one of the SW gusts, turtled, and potentially wrote off his boat when he pulled on the dagger board and dislodged the board casing when it came away from the thwart! Andy won, and wife Emma was 2nd.

Over lunch time the wind strengthened from the SW which tempted a few boats back on to the water. With the wind swinging around Sale Fell, there was still a good breeze to take the fleet around the lake for the Banana Stakes pennant. Ian/Lezli-Ann took an early lead with Mike/Kayla in hot pursuit. The gusty winds in the bay led to a few capsizes, including Val/Ken and Peter. However, further down the lake the wind was lighter but seemed relatively steady (in round the lake terms anyway!).

Returning back into the bay, Mike was leading with Ian in hot pursuit! The gusty conditions led to some near broaches by the lead F15s and panic taking down of their spinnakers! Peter suffered a few more capsizes back in the bay, but continued on to the end.

On personal handicap, Paul/Emily won in their Graduate with Chris/Julie 2nd in a F15.

Sue again rushed from work to defend Sandra’s Salver, and it was obviously worthwhile as she still leads the series.

Saturday racing started with another race in the Celebrity Glass Pursuit. The winds were lighter than forecast, but freshened as the afternoon went on. Ethan was first to start in his Topper, and had several capsizes before, and during, the race diminishing his 8 min lead that he had on the GPs. 40 mins into the race Steve/Ruth in their Merlin, who had started last on the staggered starts, had a clear lead from the F15s who had been 2nd last to start. This win puts gives them a narrow lead in the series from Mike/Kayla who finished 2nd.

The wind freshened for the 2nd race and again there were numerous capsizes. The wind swung more towards the South for a while allowing Sale Fell to cast a shadow on the course and creating some lighter spots, but Steve/Ruth mastered the conditions to win the handicap race from Peter Ballard in his Supernova. Scumper, presently taking part in the Vareo Nationals, still leads the series.

Mike/Kayla led the F15s for the whole race and leads the series. Both GPs capsized in their race, but Ken stayed dry and quickly righted their boat to sail one more lap and win the race, maintaining their lead in the series. Nigel Lewis was not as nimble, got his mast stuck in the mud, and subsequently retired.

Monday

Monday’s forecast threatened to be wet and windy – would it be sailable? Despite heavy gusts passing through, the handicap and F15 fleet opted to give it a go and managed to get some good racing in. Steve/Ruth had a couple of capsizes before the start, one of which had them being towed to get their mast out of the mud, but they didn’t chance hoisting their kite during the race and they held sufficient lead to win their 3rd race and the August Trophy. Scumper was their main contender, but he did fly his gennaker and gained a lot of ground on Steve, but several gusts, sometimes combined with gybes, proved too much and he had a few capsizes, but still finished 2nd, with Toggle 3rd. Ethan, with no competition in the Toppers, sailed in the handicap fleet and came 4th.

Robbie D/Zephyr sailed well in the F15 taking an early lead from Ian/Lezli-Ann who, perhaps unwisely, opted to fly their kite which proved too challenging and they slipped back down the fleet. However, Mike with Ian P as a stand in crew made good use of their ample payload and worked through to the lead and take a second win in the series with Robbie D 2nd, and Simon 3rd giving all three an opportunity to win the series in the final race.

By the time the afternoon race started, the wind had freshened a little more, and a couple more boats raced. The OD had perfected his course to ensure that kites could be flown on all offwind legs, added an extra beat for good measure, and kept them racing for an hour, but everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the race. All the single handers capsized at some stage through the race. Scumper led throughout and won the handicap race from Dave Lawson/Ken Bell in a GP, with Toggle 3rd and Paul Clark taking 4th in his Laser Radial.

Neil/Rory took the right hand side of the first beat and took an early lead which they held to the end giving them a good chance to win the series depending on how Simon and Mike finished. Simon slotted into 2nd place, giving Mike a final chance to win the series with a 3rd, but with Andy/Keith Thomas having their moments from time to time, it wasn’t to be and he finished 4th, and 2nd overall behind Simon who won the Flying Free Trophy.

Ethan and Finlay raced in the Topper fleet, and both capsized, but Ethan persevered to the end taking his 3rd win and the We series.

There was no more GP or Mirror races, so the Aitken Cup was won by Dave/Lynn Lawson and the Mirror Mug by Andy/Lily Smith.

Sunday

The forecast was for the best day of the weekend with little to no wind. The micro climate that is Bassenthwaite was having none of it – a reasonable breeze from the SE but with drizzle (well as soon as the racing was scheduled to start anyway!).

The morning started with a visit from a film crew recording an episode of Ade in Britain, who was making some Cumberland pepper cake (never heard of it!) and chatting with some clog dancers from Kendal.

As for racing, there were 23 boats on the water, including a strong fleet of eight F15s. With the wind coming from the SE, the course took the boats part way down the lake to 10, and although there were some difficult shifts to contend with, generally it was a good race though in drizzly conditions that turned to rain by the end.

By the afternoon race, the rain had stopped and there was still a good wind from the SE but it was countered by a sea breeze moments before the first start. This major wind shift led to the F15s having a general recall, and total confusion as not many of them knew what the revised starting process involved. The reaching start proved challenging for some in the following starts with Alan/Sue and Kath/Glenys in the GPs, and Ethan in the Toppers, all having to return for being over the line.

With the sea breeze coming from the SW, and the course taking the fleet even further down the lake to mark 11, the winds were not as ‘steady’ as they had been in the morning with major holes to work through at Scarness, and mark 14.

In the handicap fleet Steve/Ruth mastered the conditions in both races, winning them both on handicap, with Alex/Olivia coming 2nd in the morning, and Scumper 2nd in the afternoon.

Simon/Jon took a 1st and 2nd in the F15s and have the overnight lead from Neil/Judith. With two 1sts Dave/Lynn have overnight lead in the GPs from Paul/Vicky who are getting used to their new GP. Similarly, Ethan has two 1sts in the Toppers with Finlay 2nd. In the Mirrors, Andy/Lily beat Pam in her new boat in the only Mirror race of the day.

Monday’s forecast threatens to be wet and windy – will it be sailable? Only time will tell in the Bass micro climate.

Saturday

A wet start to the weekend, and the wind was lighter than forecast too! The breeze that was around when the OD set out to start the 3rd race in the Celebrity Glass Pursuit series, swung and faded. Perhaps fortunately, the windward mark was brought back into wind, shortening some of the legs. Although the start times were set for all fleets regularly sailing, it was more than 10 mins into the sequence before any boats actually started because the slower boats had opted not to race. Scumper and Zephyr must have been getting itchy feet as both had to be called back for being over the line. As the final fleet started the wind freshened, but it was not to last, and there were many patches with no wind. When it was time to finish the race, it seemed that it was going to be a very slow process as the fleet was well spread out and there was little wind. Again the wind came back, and speeded up the process, and Dave/Lynn took the winning horn, followed by Steve/Ruth.

As the fleet took a break from the rain between races, the wind came back and disappeared yet again. Racing was abandoned for the day (and the wind finally filled in!)