Results to date
Weekend, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Final Weekend
Glad you enjoyed it!
WE WISH TO THANK ALL THE HARD WORK THAT WAS PUT INTO BASS WEEK.
AS IT WAS MY 1ST BASS WEEK I DON’T THINK IT WILL BE THE LAST.
WE WHERE MADE MOST WELCOME ESPECIALLY BY SAM HALL’S FAMILY. WE COULDN’T HAVE ASKED TO MEET A NICER FAMILY. AND CERTAINLY WILL BE KEEPING IN TOUCH AND AN EYE ON HIS PROGRESS. HE MAY BE RACING AGAINST US NEXT YEAR.
THANKS AGAIN. WE ENJOYED IT ALL
TIM HAND & CAROLYN
RS200 1013
Caught in the Act?!
What was the social secretary up to? Arm wrestling? Armed combat?
It’s Over!
After an hour’s postponement waiting for the forecast wind to settle down, a reduced fleet enjoyed a final race around the lake to complete the whisky weekend series.
The Commodore thanked all the many helpers that had made Bass Week another success, together with sponsors.
Special awards this year went to Tim Smith who received the Hi Jinks Trophy for the best Bass helm under 19, and Mike Moore who received the Miners Trophy for the best Flying 15 helm over the week’s racing.
The End is Nigh!
As the final weekend roles in, many seem to be flagging after a hard week on and off the water. The weather was kind – bright with a chilly breeze, just what an OD needs when there are three races to get in. There were several exciting spinnaker reaches, and further capsizes, and racing was close.
The final disco of the week will take many through to the early morning. Hopefully there will be a good breeze to dry the tents and awnings, and give sailors a final blast around the lake.
Poet’s Day
Friday being the last day of the mid week sailing rounds off the sailing with a single morning race, apart from those ultra enthusiastic under 18s, ladies and over 60s that opted to sail in the afternoon as well. The afternoon race was sponsored by our chandlers, Storrar Marine. Winds were again variable but with some strong gusts, and the rescue crews were kept busy all day.
The RAF continued their air show with several fly pasts from Hercules and F19s
The weekend series will form the final racing of the regatta, with three races on Saturday, and one on Sunday. Hopefully the showers will keep a low profile so that campers can pack everything away relatively dry. But in the meantime there’s another prizegiving to get through, and then some live entertainment.
Thursday’s Tale
The blustery winds of the last few days have eased and left an overcast day, with relatively steady winds. Again, there various gusts to make reaches somewhat exciting, and the crossing course made it all the more important that everyone kept an eagle eye on other boats. One incident in the fast handicap fleet led to the first protest of the week.
Meanwhile, a fire with chemicals nearby was expertly dealt with by four volunteers (all under the age of 10!). Fortunately it was just a training exercise following a visit of the firefighter experience. Many children had the opportunity to ride in a fire appliance, and use a fire hose.
The afternoon race was the RNLI Silver Salver pursuit and was won by Andy Smith with Scumper Jack in a GP, followed by sailing secretary High Godfrey with Rhonwen Bryce, again in a GP – time to doctor those start times me thinks!
Windy Wednesday
Overnight rain disappeared by the time racing started, but the wind remained, and freshened as the morning went on. The intertwined course had some excellent reaching legs, but it meant everyone had to be very aware of boats that were crossing their path on different legs of the course.
The second race was just as windy, with only one major entanglement between an out of control streaker and Mike Moore’s F15. With two races to count, and some of the series being settled less boats ventured out for the final race, which had some strong gust passing through but was generally not as windy (Phew!). Perhaps the ones that didn’t sail the last race are saving themselves for the evening disco!
Wind and Sun
The Innumerate Four were the winners of the quiz night, with Ripon’s Finest second and Pirates third.
Wednesday started off as a glorious morning, clear blue skies, but no wind. The clouds were blown in, and the wind started to pick up from a SSW direction – ideal for a round the lake race? Well that’s what the OD thought, and half of the fleets were sent to the southern end. What more could any sailor ask for – a three mile beat! The theory was excellent, but in practice the wind eased about two thirds of the way down leaving some challenging and testing conditions for all sailors. However, once the boats were back to mark 10, the wind strengthened again to give some exciting spinnaker reaches, coupled with one or two capsizes. By the end of the race the clouds had thinned out leaving glorious sailing conditions.
The Nairn Pursuit race was held in blustery conditions that led to some more exciting racing, with the usual number of thrills and, of course, spills! Casualties included a broken mast, broken thumb and head injury. A hole on the finish line gave Mike Fairlamb in a GP from Bass the opportunity to snatch the winning gun from Dave Gebhard in an RS200.
Crew Available?
After an evening of live entertainment, it’s just as well that some are still on holiday today, as the falling down water took its toll again. Adrian had, perhaps, sampled a little too much and was guided back to his hotel by some good samaritans – if only they hadn’t taken that video (keep watching to see if it becomes a number one best seller in the bribery stakes!).
Neither the wind, nor the forecast, look too promising for today, especially if OD Toggle Cowan sends the fleets around the lake. Perhaps there could be a chance to view the osprey if the wind drops. Optimistically, Toggle went out to start the race on time, however, despite various flurries of wind it didn’t seem to settle down, but then no-one believed Albert Bates’ theory of the wind coming in with high tide (which was wouldn’t be till 3pm). Various local helms were less optimistic about the wind filling in at all (including Toggle’s usual helm) and just stayed ashore waiting for something definite to happen – and it did, Toggle sounded the end of postponement signal! So with 7 mins to the start there was a mad rush on shore as the locals attempted to get to the start – fat chance! William and Lesley were the first of the late comers at +2 mins, but Robbie D (Toggle’s helm) was another 3 mins away, hence the headline crew available.
The race took the fleet half way down the lake in testing winds, but by the time they were back in the main bay Albert’s sea breeze had come in with the high tide which made for some good sailing to the finish. Results
A quiet night tonight could be the order of the day, depending on which team wins the quiz night!
Sunday Blues?
Several revellers had that morning after the night before feeling. High spirits kept the partying going long into the morning – there had been many cheeky vimtos, and several RS Turbos on the go that resulted in Andy the dancing puppet, and Becky the roving reporter!
Perhaps it was just as well the wind was playing hard to get on Sunday morning! It was to be 2pm before racing started, as the OD was hopeful of a sea breeze. However, there seemed to be a constant battle of the winds – one from the North West, the other from the North, and as usual there were several holes in between. The first few legs of the course all resulted in some boats having to do some beating before the next shift meant that spinnakers could be hoisted. A challenging race!
With the delayed start, and little prospect of the wind improving generally, the OD opted to abandon the final race. So with three races sailed it was just two to count.
And They’re Off
Whatever the forecast was don’t believe it. The wind for the start of Bass Week was at best temperamental, holes and shifts, coupled with various prolonged gusts. There were some capsizes, perhaps more due to wind shifts than wind strength, but all in all a gentle break in to 9 days of racing. Overall there were about 100 boats on the water, with much close racing. There was only one false start, and that was in the fast handicap fleet.
As for rain, it tried, and tried again, but apart from a bit of good old ‘spitting’ (as Peter Kaye would say), nothing much came of it. Unfortunately the forecast is improving over the next few days – so what does that leave in store for us all?
Saturday night was the traditional Commodore’s reception (will Adrian be sampling the punch?), followed by a disco into the early hours
Are You Ready?!
The campsite is filling up with boats, tents and caravans, and we’re ready for the off!
Don’t worry if you haven’t entered yet, you can always enter on arrival, but to help us please complete an entry form
If you can’t make it this year, keep an eye on the website for all the gossip and results
Don’t let a little rain put you off – that was yesterday! At least it has brought in the wind, and made the ground a little softer to hammer those tent pegs in to! We’re ready to welcome you (PS Elaine’s is a brandy, Steve’ll have a pint!)
This site was last updated on 08 August, 2005