A glorious day’s sailing was on the cards for Saturday. Sunshine and a reasonable breeze was not enough to tempt too many sailors down this weekend. Were they preparing themselves for Bass Week? Perhaps they had heard the forecast for Sunday and decided not to bother!
The first race was marred when the anticipated position of mark 9 was to the left of the leg from 0 to 8 which meant that boats had to loop around it to comply with the rules. After much consideration it was realised that those which did not directly loop around it had completed the course but sailed only one lap instead of the two which others had sailed. As the handicap fleet use average lap times this was not a problem. The two GPs had not looped the mark, but as they had sailed the same course, the fairest solution was to allow the finishing position to stand. The Mirrors had spotted what was going on, and all looped the mark!
The second race took the fleet under the shade of Sale Fell (just for a change) and this allowed positions to be skewed somewhat. Neil and Judith Currie took advantage of the conditions to secure a big lead and win on handicap.
Some consistent sailing by Mik Chappell gave him two firsts, with Alan Waugh finishing 2nd
Sunday’s forecast was horrendous, but a lot of the rain had passed through early morning so at least it was dry! The wind was from the south, and there were strong gusts going through the narrows at Scarness but the wind elsewhere was slightly sheltered by Sale Fell (again!). There was a good reach in strong winds from 8 to 5 but the wind didn’t particularly carry on down the broad reach to 1. Neil Garrison and Peter Ballard in a Dart got a good lead from William and Lesley Drummond (what a day to come out of retirement!) who (fortunately) were unable to fly the gennaker due to a rigging error on William’s part! But William won the race on handicap.
The wind swung in the afternoon to the south west. The gusts passing over Sale Fell gave some challenging gusts and shifts to be managed and once the fleet started the broad reach from 9 to 3 there was no longer any shade from the fell! William and Lesley were the first casualty as the gust picked up and the boat nose dived before the inevitable capsize. The squall passing through took all the fleet out at some stage and there were only two finishers – Neil Garrison and Jim Christie in his laser.
Alan Nicholson probably felt quite fortunate to be OD as it meant he didn’t have to sail, but with two 2nds from Saturday, and a 3rd for being OD, he finished up in pole position in the handicap fleet and winning the Grizedale Cup
Although Saturday’s positions were reversed in the morning race for the Mirrors, Mik’s two firsts were enough to win him the Round Table Tankard