A gentle breeze came and went, came back again and disappeared totally over the course of the afternoon. The rain clouds that came in failed to deliver any wind, and fortunately not too much rain either!
Although there was a light breeze for the first beat, it almost totally disappeared for the two downwind legs, and boats were hunting out whatever zephyrs they could. It seemed as if the afternoon sea breeze (without any sun?) was coming in from the west, and this helped boats finish more quickly, and build up hopes for a more settled second race. However, the breeze came back from the north east, swung to the east just before the start, at which point the OD gave up and postponed racing until Sunday.
The only tales to tell are about Sally – first of all she managed to put her clothes on the newly varnished woodwork in the changing rooms, and then was at risk of having William disqualified for laughing too much, and generating extra air propelling them through a windless course!
Others felt that winter had come early and were relieved to have a warm shower after their sail. You’d think they’d keep warm by bailing out all that rain water! The following webcam shows the new shower cubicles that form part of the recent upgrade of the ladies changing area – just click on it for an update!
Overnight rain had cleared and there was a cloudy start to Sunday’s racing. The forecast for 9mph SE wind seemed as if it may hold true, until the fleet started to prepare and the wind swung to the SW! However, the direction was relatively steady, and the breeze held, if not increased as the morning went on.
The race that was postponed on Saturday was squeezed into afternoon racing, allowing the sailors to make the most of the excellent sailing weather. That doesn’t mean that there weren’t any challenges.
At one leeward mark, Dave Wright capsized and righted just before the RS400s came roaring in. He did right it, only to find his mainsheet had lassoed the mark – the query was what at what stage he would free it and what would happen to the racing boats trying to round the mark?!!! Fortunately for most people’s sake the boat capsized again.
Andy and Emma were having a good day until one spinnaker drop went slightly wrong, and they lost some ground. It was only at the end of the day that Andy noticed, and admitted, that he’d been sailing without any bungs in – no wonder the boat was somewhat heavy by the end of the day.
With Neil continuing to play Mr Grumpy with Judith, it’s no wonder she’s said he can have a new boat – so long as it’s single handed!
The last race of the day was so shifty that the RS400s struggled to beat the other fleets to the windward mark, and then the course took the fleet under the shade of Sale Fell, making it difficult to break away. Neil went low to stay in the breeze, but Scumper and Zephyr took, and kept the lead to take the winning horn and the series.
The following four boats in the series all tied with 11 points, demonstrating just how close the racing has been – very little room for mistakes. Andy’s 1st in the morning secured 2nd place, Robbie D and Ethan’s 3rd secured 3rd, and Neil finished ahead of Bean and Naomi to get 4th.
The GPs only sailed three races, so Julian Cruickshank and son’s consistent sailing, with two 1sts, won him the series.
Tim Smith had three bullets to win the Mirror trophy, only dropping one race to brother Rob, who did not sail the final race due to a temporarily incurable leak!
With weather like this it’s easy to forget the rather grey and cold day that was endured on Saturday. Perhaps it’ll stay with us for a few hours more at least?!