Glorious sunny morning, but no wind led to a mirror like lake. Mid morning brought a light breeze which swung and strengthened from the west for some good sailing conditions. The sun was so tempting, many wore their summer shorts/gear despite the chill wind.
By starting on time, well almost, meant there were some stragglers with a bit of catching up to do!
Bean was trying his hand in an RS100 but he wasn’t spotted as one of the several boats that capsized at the gybe mark. There was some close racing in different areas of the different fleets, including Jamie Kerr keeping on Ethan’s tail in the Toppers.
A barbeque was an ideal way to top off a sunny day, and Commodore Andy used it to treat wife Emma to a celebratory meal on their wedding anniversary – burgers and champagne! The UEFA cup final was followed by an evening of bingo.
Sunday started bright and windless but fortunately it turned into another great racing day.
There were various capsizes in both races. Alastair probably has the bruises to prove it after he fell on to his centreboard during one of his capsizes. Alastair also trawled his gennaker at one stage which brought him to a sudden halt!
45 members and guests enjoyed a three course Spring dinner which was held in the clubhouse, and many spotted our local otter swimming just before dusk.
Was a sudoku toilet roll, won by Mike F, really the star prize in the raffle? No of course not! The GP fleet seemed to get the lion’s share of the prizes though, and Ian C was presented with a candle laden birthday cake (well a cup cake with a candle). Fortunately Steve’s fire raising was quickly quashed despite him not being prepared to douse the flames with his beer!
The forecast for Monday wasn’t looking good, but they’re not always right… ….except on a bank holiday! As forecast the rain moved in, and the wind strengthened, and there were various heavy squalls during the morning. However, it did prove to be sailable, and 11 boats took to the water and raced up the lake to mark 11. The squalls did not particularly appear, though one did catch Toggle out on a gybe mark. Alan/Alastair raced in a F15, and Alan found that the main sheet can be difficult to release in gusts resulting in them being flattened and having to bail out for the next few minutes up the beat! Simon/Jon led the fleet around the course winning the first race by 30 secs ahead of Dave/Lynn.
The damp conditions proved too much for some and they opted for an early finish after a long weekend rather than sail the final race which kept the boats in the main bay, though there were some flukey conditions as they rounded 7. One of the gusts passing through showed us that Alan hadn’t learned his lesson and was still struggling to release his main because he was again flattened. At least he was able to make a below the waterline inspection of his F15 as he stood on the keel!
This time Dave/Lynn took the honours from Simon/Jon, giving them each a 1st and a 2nd in the two race series, with the tie splitting in favour of Dave who had the best result in the last race.
Paul Carruthers Memorial Trophy Final results