Big Mark's Big Race at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club
by Bass Press 9 Jun 2022 20:36 NZST
3 June 2022
This weekend Bassenthwaite Sailing Club shared it's Platinum Jubilee celebration with HRH. A wonderful weekend of activities on and off the water celebrated all the things we love about Bass.
These included jubilee tree planting, two live bands, a meeting of no other than fourteen previous club Commodores, a buffet for 200 people, a run-paddle-sailing sprint race and a jubilee race series on Saturday and Sunday which ended with a non-discardable pursuit race! See all the photos from the weekend's celebrations.
On Friday 67 boats, including visitors, raced the inaugural Big Mark's Big Race in memory of our friend and fellow club member Mark Ninnim who sadly passed away last year following a short illness. Mark was a lover of all things Enterprise, and to celebrate this, nine lots of blue sails made the the start line, including Mark's crew Emma Smith, sailing in Mark's Ent with Rob Smith.
With Teras and Mirrors and ISOs and FF15s, one mass start was as challenging as it was exciting. The wind played ball, mostly. A gentle easterly breeze, blowing off Skiddaw mountain, suited those boats that perform best in displacement mode. The conditions also suited the many juniors, some of whom were racing for the first time.
After two races the fleet was sent ashore, with Chris and Laura Pickles (RS400) leading, closely followed by Dave and Lynn Lawson (GP14). In fact there were several wife and husband teams racing on Friday, a fine example of the celebratory nature of the event. As some teams showered, the breeze kicked back in and the race officer sent the fleet back onto the water to sail race 3.
The recently-showered Laura Pickles was back in the wetsuit quick enough to make the start line but unfortunately (for them) it was Dave and Lynn who won the final race and with it Big Mark's Big Race, counting two points. Chris and Laura were second counting four points and Phil and Naomi Smith, sailing an RS200, were third counting six points.
Over £2000 was raised for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, a wonderful honour in the memory of Mark and his family, who joined us for the weekend both on and off the water. Too many people to thank, however Mark's close friends Emma and Andy Smith deserve a special mention for organising the race.
Sail on Mark.