Please select your home edition
Edition
C-Tech 2020 Battens 2 728x90 TOP

Solo Open at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club

by John Reekie 20 May 2024 09:53 PDT 18-19 May 2024
Bassenthwaite Solo Open © J Davenport

Sponsored by Impact Marine & Winder Boats

17 helms made the trip to Bassenthwaite Sailing Club at the weekend for the Solo open. They were greeted with sun and panorama that only Bassenthwaite can offer up. The wind was looking a bit light, but into the first day we ventured our hearts filled with hope.

The fleet set off on the first race and snakes and ladders would become a feature of the weekend. Innes drew first blood with the win after he escaped with Richard Instone but there were some traps to be had. Once those traps had been tripped Richard got taken over by Stephen Denison to take 3rd and 2nd respectively.

Licking his wounds from a relatively easy 4th to 9th ladders session in the first race it was John Reekie's time to shine with a rather handsome lead. Queue a few traps later and it was getting a bit tense at the front as the ever consistent Denison was grinding away at that leader to no avail.

After the pie and peas on Saturday night the day dawned bright but rather windless. This lasted close to midday when a couple of nippers weighing 70 kilos between them were making it look windy in a 29er. This got the attention of the race officer so he headed out for a double check. This was a shrewd move and shortly after the fleet were called out to play.

The first race of the day (race 3) was a tense affair with nobody making a killer blow with a rather tricky top reach compressing the fleet. But a break there was and it was John Reekie getting the gap to the finish to take the third race with Denison in third.

At the end of the race 3 there was a fairly significant switch to the right which necessitated a course reconfiguration and we got away before the time limit came in. It was a tight battle between John and Innes with Innes just able to make the break when it counted. It was swinging all the way to the line with Stuart Norris pressuring Innes. If Stuart took the race then John would be the winner but Innes got the final race win when it counted and took the open on countback. The ever consistent Denison was third just one point back counting 3 second places.

Thanks must go to the race officer and his team who made the best of the conditions to get 4 races on the board in very challenging conditions.

Overall Results:

PosSail_NoHelmClubR1R2R3R4Pts
1st5813Innes ArmstrongBurwain13‑415
2nd5407John ReekieBassenthwaite SC‑91135
3rd6073Stephen DenisonRYA222‑46
4th6076Richard InstoneChase Sailing Club3‑53511
5th5312Stuart NorrisShropshire SC‑11107219
6th4715Justine DavenportBurwain‑1065819
7th5837Linda InstoneChase Sailing Club676‑1119
8th5109Rory YardleyBassenthwaite SC49‑11720
9th5408Tony KingDerwent‑1448921
10th5617Stephen RestallElton SC8‑129623
11th5131Rich CritchleyBass/Wish SC58(DNC)DNC32
12th6084Ian HopwoodBassenthwaite SC71510(DNC)32
13th4993Ian HallBassenthwaite SC‑1514121036
14th5203Mike CowanBassenthwaite SC1311(DNC)DNC43
15th5360Cliff EnglishBass and South Shields SC1216(DNC)DNC47
16th4518Hugh GodfreyBassenthwaite SC1713(DNC)DNC49
17th4232Richard BroughtonBassenthwaite SC1617(DNC)DNC52
18th5979John ColegraveYorkshire Dales SC(DNC)DNCDNCDNC57

Related Articles

Salcombe YC Sailing Club Series Race 1
A good afternoon of beat and running for the fleets With a Force 3 to 4 East North Easterly breeze in the main harbour the thirteen Solos that arrived at the Salcombe Yacht Club start line looked forward to a good afternoon of beat and running racing. Posted on 22 Apr
Solos at Broadwater
Thames Valley & Eastern Series opener The 2025 Eastern and Thames Valley Solo Series kicked off on a sunny Saturday at the end of March with fifteen boats from ten clubs taking part. Posted on 21 Apr
The Solo Welsh Championship and a Bit of History
Tata Steel Sailing Club, Port Talbot, hosted the event, first run in 1996 Tata Steel Sailing Club, Port Talbot, hosted the event which was first contested back in 1996 and was won by the pubescent Harvey Hillary sailing 4004 Kevin's Widget (Gosling). Posted on 20 Apr
Ron Beasley obituary
A seven-year joinery apprenticeship lead to being a world champion dinghy builder Ronald William Beasley was born on the 31st January 1931 and grew up in Bradley, Bilston in the Black Country. He left school at age fourteen. He then completed a seven-year joinery apprenticeship at 'Wilcocks' in Wolverhampton. Posted on 16 Apr
Ogston Solo Open
22 entries of which 14 were visitors for first northern event of the season Sunday the 13th April saw the first Northern Solo Open Meeting of 2025 take place at Ogston Sailing Club in Derbyshire. There were 22 entries of which 14 were visitors. Posted on 16 Apr
Solo class Southern Area Series at Spinnaker
The mark-laying boats were busy throughout the day Spinnaker Sailing Club hosted the first open meeting of this year's Solo Southern Area Series this Saturday, 12 Apr. Seventeen sailors arrived to blue skies and a forecast F2/3 Easterly veering SE. Posted on 15 Apr
HD Sails Scottish Solo Travellers at Bardowie
Plenty of time for a chat in the sun before racing As we usually do the Scottish Solo fleet headed to Bardowie for the first event of the 2025 HD Sails Scottish travellers series on April 12th. Posted on 15 Apr
Salcombe YC Spring Series race 5
A great turnout including 20 Yawls and 11 Solo sailors Saturday's race saw a mass turnout, with 20 Yawls taking to the water for the final race of the Spring Series. Having lost the previous weeks race due to gale force winds, eleven Solo sailors congregated at the SYC starting line. Posted on 14 Apr
The oldest footage of Solo dinghy sailing
A look back into our video archive, from the Sixties and Seventies Type "Solo" into the search box on our video archive and you could see any sort of singlehanded sailing. This keyword causes the same problem on Youtube! So we have done our best to find footage of the specific dinghy Jack Holt designed in 1956. Posted on 13 Apr
Blithfield Solo Open
Allen and CB Coverstore sponsored Midland Area Solo Series Round 2 Blithfield held the second event of the Allen and CB Coverstore sponsored Midland area Solo series and second event of the Midlands Big Lakes Series. 18 sailors were welcomed to sunny clear skies and a fresh 15-18 mph wind. Posted on 10 Apr
Henri-Lloyd Dynamic RangeRS Sailing 2021 - FOOTERDoyle_SailWorld_728X90px_cruise BOTTOM