Sunday was another glorious day for sailing. The wind blew from the south west, and was strengthened with the sea breeze for the afternoon racing.
William and Elaine were a little too eager for the first start and were recalled for being over the line, but that was not the only reason for Scumper sailing off into the distance. Scumper was sailing with the youth squad’s Joe Watkins. A light weight crew who sailed very well in the mixed airs, and is certain to sleep well tonight after his first venture out in an RS400. It has been reported that at one point Toggle (centre of attention yet again!) almost cut Hugh Godfrey’s boat in half causing Hugh to almost capsize but he went on to beat Tog by a whisker. In the afternoon, Robbie D and Big E came out to sail, and had some close racing with Scumper, but it was Robbie that took the winning honours.
In the MJM Trophy, Val and Ken Bell won the morning race from Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith, but in the afternoon Mike won, followed by John Riley, with Sam Hall crewing, and then Val. All good practice for next weekend’s GP14 Northern Championship being hosted by Bass
On Saturday, the showers passed through early, the sun’s poked its way through the clouds, and there was a breeze too! Don’t need any more for a good afternoon’s sailing.
The rain did hold off, and the wind freshened slightly as the afternoon went on. The first race was part of the Celebrity Glass pursuit series. Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith broke away from the GPs and eventually in the lead which it looked impenetrable. As the staggered start times are based on a set length of racing, it was important that the race was stopped after the correct length of time which on this occasion meant there were to be two fast final reaches for the Vareos to take advantage of and close the gap that Mike had gained. On this occasion, Mike held his lead with Rory Yardley and Toggle following closely behind.
The run to the leeward mark caused confusion as some boats came in on starboard gybe and rounded it to starboard instead of port. Four boats were caught out by this, and spotted by the OD, so when they crossed the finish line there was no finish signal. Mike Moore was the first to cross, but realised he had been caught! Having rounded the mark to port the second time round he knew his mistake and apparently had made a pact with Tim Chittenden that he wouldn’t say anything if the other didn’t! The other two caught out were Ethan Dawson, and Nigel Lewis – he reckoned he was sailing Thursday evening’s course!!
The second race was normal long championship series racing. Neil and Judith Currie led the handicap fleet well for a lot of the race, despite being surprised by the increase in wind strength (Judith doesn’t like it too windy!), but Robbie D and Big E fought back to take the lead. Mike Fairlamb led the GPs throughout, and Mike Moore fought to catch up with Tim Chittenden and take pole position. There were no Mirrors racing
Sam Hall sailed at Derwent Reservoir. Having been caught out by an earlier than usual start, he missed the first race and finished 2nd junior and 4th overall in the Lakeland Laser Grand Prix. Shame their racing start times aren’t as casual as ours can be!