Sun and a cool northerly breeze kept a fleet of 16 boats sailing for the first two races in the Barf Trophy and Spring Cup long series.
At the front of the fleet, Alex/Caroline in an RS400 and Steve/Ruth in a Merlin, had some close racing, while Ian/LezliAnn in a F15 were able to keep in the mix on handicap. Some of the beats proved to be a bit shifty and fluky to keep helms on their toes, but no one has yet claimed the first capsize of the season!
Steve won both races on handicap, with Ian 2nd in the first race and Alex 2nd in the second race, while in the GPs Dave/Lynn won both races with Mike/Eric taking 2nd place.
Sunday was overcast but with a stronger NE breeze, a direction which results in the shoreline near Armathwaite Hall creating light shifty airs. Fortunately there were no major positions lost to such challenging conditions, though treasure Mike Cave did claim the badge for the first capsize of the season. AJ/Sue got off to a flying start and were first to the windward mark, but it was not to last as Dave/Lynn pulled through to the lead taking the first win in the Mustard Pot with AJ 2nd. In the Handicap fleet, Stan in his Solo earned his first win of the season head of Robin/Erin in an RS200 in the Dodd Trophy.
The afternoon race was in aid of the Eric Twiname Trust, and typically sailed around the lake. With mark 11 hastily laid over the lunch break, at least the race would take the fleet around most of the lake. An incident just after the start resulted in three boats forming a raft; Neil Garrison accepted fault and did a 720. Dave/Lynn in their GP took an early lead but were passed by the Merlin and F15 on the next beat. The NE breeze looked promising for the next leg, a long reach from 3 to 11, and Steve/Ruth in the Merlin started to pull out a good lead as they sailed out of the Armathwaite shore shadow, however, as they approached the narrows, the wind quickly dropped with what turned out to be an opposing southerly wind. The conditions proved flukey and challenging for more than half an hour until the fleet reached the southerly breeze. With a risk of the return route being equally challenging, the race was shortened at mark 11. Although Steve had broken free from the rest of the fleet again, the bunching around Scarness Bay had done him no favours, and it was Dave that won on handicap, with Joe 2nd and Steve 4th. Lynn takes the lead in Sandra’s Salver for the best female crew in the pennant races