The One Bassenthwaite Lake Sailing Week 2017 - Midweek Report
by Mik Chappell 12 Aug 2017 04:13 PDT
5-13 August 2017
Following a weekend of heavy sailing Monday morning was given over to training for young enthusiasts. The afternoon's Luffing Cup was held in a relatively light SW wind and the course was restricted to the northern end of the lake. One hundred & twenty boats entered which was higher than expected for a race held just after the weekend series race with its heavy conditions. There were ten fleets, the RS400's now in the FH Fleet and the Graduates in the SH.
New winners were Robert Richardson / Izzie Hunter (Yorkshire Dales) in an RS200, Eleanor Craig (Draycote Water) in a Laser, Sam Pickering (Chase) in a Solo and in the MH fleet by the supernova of Peter Mackin (Pilkington). Also, by the Flying fifteen of Mike Moore / Kayla Sheard, the GP14 of Val Bell / David Lawson and the Enterprise of Mark Ninnim / Thea Armstrong (all representing Bass).
Luffing Cup results
Tuesday dawned with a flat calm which caused a postponement for the morning's Dubwath Cup. When the wind did fill in it was light and from the NNE, but it veered S during the race and continued to be shifty to the frustration of competitors. Winners included Wayne & Deb Fletcher (Scaling Dam) in an RS400, Steve Thomas (Rudyard Lake) in a Solo, Chris & Chloe Parker (Southport) in a Graduate, Graham Vials with young Charlie Rowell (Ripon) in a Mirror and the Pilkington boats of Steve Hunt / Ruth Critchley in a Merlin Rocket and Ed Thomas in a Phantom.
Dubwath Cup results
On Tuesday afternoon came the popular Nairn pursuit race with its finish line rolling back through the fleet after 100 minutes. There were some ninety entrants although a cold rain shower during the race and other considerations reduced that number to eighty crews classified as finishers. Among the retirements was Paul Allen (Leigh & Lowton) in a Mirror who went ashore when young son Ruben who was crewing for him started feeling the cold. They had an enormous lead on 80 minutes and, by common consent, would have taken some beating.
So it was Chris & Chloe Parker in the Graduate who took their second win of the day finishing a length or so ahead of the GP14 of Paul Bowmer / David Lawson (Bass). The Fireball of Kath Broatch / Joy James (Port Dinorwic) finished third.
Nairn Pursuit results
Wednesday saw the two race mid week mini-series for the Natwest Cup. The wind was light and northerly and, after a morning race in Dubwath Bay, the Race Officer decided to send the Fleet around the Lake. It was unusual in that boats were running to the Keswick end and beating back, the opposite to the normal around-the-lake format.
In the Fifteen class a battle developed between three boats from the home club any one of which could have taken the cup by winning race 2. Neil Platt / Andy Weatherspoon took the win in that race and secured the series with Graham Kirkpatrick / Alan Smith and Neil Currie / Rory Yardley taking the following places.
Nat West Cup results
Other series wins were taken by Wayne & Deb Fletcher in the FH Fleet, Robin & Erin Dawson (Bass) in the RS200s, Dave & Jackie Gebhard (Tynemouth) in the Enterprises, Mike Fairlamb / Eric Smith (Bass) in the GP14s, Garry Knott (Pennine) in the Lasers, Peter Mackin's Supernova (Stokes Bay) in the MH, Steve Thomas (Rudyard Lake) in the Solos, Adam Billany (Derwent Reservoir) sailing a 2.4 in the SH and Eilish Graham (Derwent Reservoir) sailing a Tera Sport in the Mirror/Topper/Tera Fleet.
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