Sunshine and a warm wind tempted out a good fleet of boats for a weekend series counting towards the club championship. Although there seemed to be a steady breeze coming down the lake, the sea breeze would have its effect from time to time.
Banter took the lead in his RS100 only to realise he didn’t remember the course properly, and when called back to re-round 3, he capsized in fits of laughter! Asked why he didn’t write the course down, it was because he lost his pencil last time he capsized… Although Robbie D won on the water in his RS300, Scumper was close enough to win on handicap, as he did in the 2nd race as well. Tog took 3rd place in the first race, but John/Janis sailed well to take 3rd in the second race.
Neil tempted Judith to make a guest appearance in the F15 and kept a strong lead, while Mike/Kayla chased Tim/Ian, managing to pip them on the finish line by the smallest of margins. Ian had a guest crew in the form of John Somerville, while Chris had daughter Kat as his guest crew. Chris opted to demonstrate the art of ‘polishing his keel’ on some soft ground at one stage – perhaps he shouldn’t have done it while racing?! In the lighter winds of the 2nd race, Mike/Kayla led throughout with Ian/John 2nd and Neil/Judith 3rd putting Mike in pole position overnight.
In the GPs, Kath also had a guest crew with Jack Hardie getting some practice in the front end of a GP; they won both races from Richard.
Although Pam built a strong lead in the Mirrors, problems with her spinnaker resulted in it slipping away to Mik with only minutes left in the race. Emma made a guest solo appearance in a Mirror, finishing 3rd. Mike was the only finisher in the 2nd race, so leads overnight.
The forecast higher winds for Sunday had the lake filled with white horses, despite some reluctance, there were several takers.
Jim and Peter opted to use storm sails on their Supernovas, while Scumper and Banter found crews and sailed their 400s. Banter/Alastair had a fantastic port on port start, but it went downhill from there, culminating in a prolonged capsize at the gybe mark. Scumper/Tog pulled out a big lead before trying the gennaker which resulted in a capsize at another gybe mark. The gennaker remained tucked away after that, but they went on to win on handicap, securing the series trophy.
Three F15s raced as well. Mike/Kayla led throughout, though Tim/Ian were in close contention for a while until they had to fend off Ian/John which they managed, albeit with the closest of margins. the result may have been very different if Ian/John had realised where the windward mark was and didn’t have to reach back downwind to round it!
Over lunch the wind has eased, but would it pick up for the final race? The wind did not strengthen but it did swing to the east, so a suitable course was set. However, as the fleet got closer to 5, Skiddaw created a shadow similar to the Sale Fell effect, and there was a lot of wallowing, tacking and gybing to find steadier winds.
Banter’s start was not as impressive as the morning – he managed to go between The Bates and the inner distance mark, despite them being tied together, so he had to untangle himself then do turns.
He was half way up the 2nd beat before before he was able to pull his gennaker pole in! Despite these problems he still beat Scumper on the water!
Steve/Ruth led the whole race, but the wind filled at the end resulting in him losing to Jim by just 2 secs on handicap.
In the F15s, The wind dumped Mike/Kayla in a hole, and they eventually retired, meanwhile Ian/John took the lead with Tim/Ian 2nd