Results – 1st weekend Monday Tuesday Nairn Pursuit Nat West Cup Thursday RNLI Pursuit Friday Junior/Ladies/Over 60s Final weekend Special Awards Overall Analysis
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Finale
The final day is here. The late night revellers have again adorned the flagpole with sundry articles of clothing etc (very poor attempt!). There were high winds overnight, but they settled down again to the forecast northerly. The OD took advantage of this to send the fleets around the lake for one final time. Again, there were some exciting spinnaker reaches, but the downside was a three mile beat back to the finish.
Fortunately the tents and awnings could be dismantled in dry weather, the boats packed up, and everyone will start the weary drive home and back to normality 🙁 But there’s always next year to look forward to (4-12 August 2007!)
Photos from the prize giving can be seen now!
Whiskey Weekend
The breeze looked promising first thing as it started to pick up over the morning, but looks can, of course be deceptive. There was sufficient wind from the north to keep the fleets going, but it wasn’t consistent. With windshifts causing a problem with general recalls for the RS 200s on the 2nd race, the delays resulted in a longer than expected race and the wind started to fade. Eventually the OD went out to check the wind and decided to hold the 3rd race, but it would be short. Although the fast handicap finished in about 30 mins, the winded died again and resulted in the mirrors taking over an hour but they finished to a round of applause from onlookers.
As ever, the final fling disco will keep many competitors occupied until the early hours…….
The End is Nigh?
After a couple of days sailing in some relatively strong winds, Friday’s forecast seemed to be promising a good northerly to end the week. From the north it was, but the wind was not consistent or particularly strong (it didn’t stop the vice commodore getting caught out with a gust just after the start and capsizing!
The afternoon racing was handed over to the under 19s, over 60s, and ladies competing for separate trophies within a single race. Unusually, the winds remained light and there were no capsizes
The airshows continued including a fly past from Chinook helicopters
The Skiddaw backdrop was enhanced by a glorious sunset as shown opposite.
Entertainment went on into the early hours with live music.
Thursday Update
The early morning breeze seemed to be strengthening to what could be similar to Wednesday’s blustery conditions. However, although the wind eased at times there were gusts that led to exciting planes, hard beats, capsizes, and collisions.
On shore the fire service were on hand (to give the kids an experience of being in tenders, using hoses and other techniques), as well as the RNLI. No they weren’t there to rescue but to fund raise as this afternoon’s pursuit is the RNLI Silver Salver – a much coveted trophy.
The pursuit was held in mixed wind conditions somewhere between a good hard sail and scary conditions! The high wind and long reach down to Scarness (mark 7) seemed to merge the fleets very quickly and there were many boats going in many directions to be wary of. All in all the race ended after 90 mins with only 3 secs between the two leading boats.
It should be a quiet night on site tonight as many of the Bass ladies are going out for a meal, while everyone else watches some films.
NB The results sheets now include photos from last night’s prize giving
Don’t Ask, Don’t Get
A long standing member has asked that I publish the following. Could I refuse?
Dear….everyone who knows me,
On 1 October I am running the Great North run (half marathon), with my sister Sue, on behalf of West Cumbria Hospice at Home – a fantastic charity based in West Cumbria (where I’m from). It is a ‘hospice without walls’ (they haven’t got an actual premises) and what they do is provide hospice care in people’s homes in West Cumbria to make it possible for people to spend the last weeks/months of their illness at home with their family and friends around them. They only get a third of their funding from the NHS and so have to raise over £330,000 a year themselves to keep going.
West Cumbria Hospice at Home were amazingly supportive to my family when my Mum, Margaret Denwood, was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 so I really want to give them something back.
I am not a natural runner (as you can probably tell !!) but I am going to do it (here starts lots of training!) and I would be hugely grateful if you would sponsor me to help Sue and I raise lots of money for a really well deserving charity.
If you would like to help please click on the website below and donate online or if you would prefer to donate by cheque/cash that’s absolutely fine too – just let me know (I will of course collect any money after the event to ensure that I do it!).
Thank you very much.
Judith Denwood
http://www.justgiving.com/suendjudithsgreatnorthrun
Wednesday update
The wind has picked up to provide some exciting and challenging racing. With gusts ripping through the fleet there were frequent capsizes, but there were even more spectacular reaches that proved to be challenging in terms of keeping clear of the criss crossing fleets. The three scheduled races all form part of a one day series.
When the fleet went out for race 2, the conditions were heavy and there were several capsizes even before the start. The starting sequence continued for the first 5 fleets, but then the OD acknowledged that the squalls that were passing through were putting the rescue facilities under strain, and the race was abandoned.
The race was restarted later in the afternoon, and was to be the final race of the day. The conditions were good, if a bit light! With both races to count, and following the efforts from the earlier races, there were less takers but the competition remained strong.
Results to be posted later this evening
Morning Mist
Early risers had the benefit of some stunning scenery as the mist lay on the lake and the sun tried to break its way through another, higher layer of mist. The early morning webcam shot doesn’t really do the reality justice
The kids enjoyed life on a bouncy castle but the adults had to make do with sumo wrestling and a treasure hunt.
No peace for the wicked!
The treasure hunt turned out to be masochistically challenging, and several local residents and hotels had a flurry of unexpected visitors searching for the answers to the somewhat cryptic clues.
Meanwhile many had a go at the sumo wrestling with some interesting results (don’t think there was an actual winner). But the residents of Keswick may have been forgiven for thinking that there had been a tsunami when two of the wrestlers jumped off the jetty!
As for the racing, the wind filled in and there was some close racing across all fleets, with tensions raised by some sailors. There were various good and prolonged gusts, but the wind was by no means consistent (there’s a surprise!). The afternoon race was the Nairn pursuit, and it was won by a Musto Skiff, followed by an RS 200 and a GP14.
Toggle Rules!
Monday was another glorious day, with a gentle north easterly breeze. Just what was required to send the fleets around the lake (a tradition started by Mike Moore). Well what else should you do when you only have one race to sail? OD Toggle Cowan was certainly following in Mike’s footsteps with a course that didn’t just take boats down the lake and back, but having to zig zag up and down (not across). Someone suggested that he got the idea from a dot to dot book! A wind change before the start meant the short line had a severe starboard bias resulting in several bumped boats (including Shunty’s) and a general recall. When the race was restarted, the wind had eased and it seemed as if Toggle would have time to leave the country before anyone got to the finish! However, the wind did pick up again, but with the International 14 taking 1 hour 30 mins, imagine how long the slower fleets took. Fortunately, the course was enjoyable, and the wind held, but we’re not sure whether Toggle was being sadistic or just likes dicing with death!
The competitors all had a good view of the Osprey venturing out for some fishing (video footage to follow) and the RAF were so impressed they sent their friends to give a bit of an airshow as well.
Live entertainment is on the cards tonight. Last night’s quiz was as competitive as ever with some ambitious scoring techniques used by the winners (so we’re told)
Sunday Sun
Sunday started off bright and sunny with little sign of the forecasted wind and rain. The wind did fill in (on most parts of the course) for the start of the racing and it looked promising for some good winds. How wrong can you be?! The mizzle came in and the wind eased but things brightened up over the lunch break and again it seemed as if the wind would increase (but it didn’t). Within half an hour of the start the race became a drifter as the wind faded, but the OD sent the fast handicap and Flying 15s around the course again before deciding to stop the rest of the fleets. It was to be another hours before all boats had finished the course. However, with the weekend series over, tomorrow’s another day. Yippee!
You may have noted from the webcam that the beautiful views of Skiddaw were not to be for this afternoon at least.
Grey matter will be put to the test tonight in the annual team quiz. No doubt the answers will flow easier after a couple of drinks…
Saturday Sunshine
An evening of drizzle on Friday was to top off a busy day’s preparations for the week ahead, but many had their barbeques and started to practice with the B52s, black Russians, frog’s eyes and various other cocktails! Several people were a little fragile during the morning. The lake was mirror-like on and off during the morning and the wind seemed a little reluctant to fill in, but it did in time for the first race. In fact it picked up sufficiently for some good spinnaker reaches. There was a capsize but that was stupidity rather than excess of wind. By the end of the second race the wind had blown itself out and some drifted home. However, the forecast for Sunday is wind and rain – hopefully only part of that will be correct.
After an exceptionally good pre-entry, the reception team were pulling their hair out trying to make sure there was enough space for everyone to site their tents which seem to get bigger and bigger each year.
The evening entertainment starts with the Commodore’s reception followed by the first disco of the week. Perhaps, there will be some more practising with the cocktails…. (Elaine’s could be a double tonight after her day on reception!)
Are You Ready?!
The campsite is filling up with boats, tents and caravans, and we’re ready for the off!
Don’t worry (too much!) if you haven’t entered yet, you can always enter on arrival.
If you can’t make it this year, keep an eye on the website for all the gossip and results
We’re ready to welcome you (PS Elaine’s is a brandy, Steve’ll have a pint!)
This site was last updated on 26 August, 2006