Ullswater Yacht Club 11th June 2005

Leigh & Lowton Juniors went travelling-
The kids just went to have fun at Ullswater

The 5th event in the 2005 North West Junior Travellers series was held at Ullswater Yacht Club on Saturday 11th June. An early start was in order for the 2 hr drive to the venue - it seems that Steve Slayen was a bit concerned that the parking may be limited so was the first to arrive, at about midnight Friday!!. The rest of the Leigh & Lowton team arrived at a more respectable 9am which left time for Bacon sandwiches, coffee & rigging in the warm sunshine prior to the 11am first start (John Murphy was particularly pleased that he had his shorts on - great tan John). Mark Hanson of Redesmere launched the Topper of his son Joe, seems he forgot to put Joe into it & was seen heading off over the lake on a test drive himself !!
An impressive 20 visitors including 9 from Leigh & Lowton, 6 from Redesmere, 4 From Winsford & 1 from Killington, joined 9 local sailors at the briefing. The courses were kept simple, just 3 bouys involved, this was helpful as most had complex names like Floshgate, Sharrow Bay & Thwaite - tricky to write onto masking tape with a marker pen! - wonder if they make any 6" wide tape.

The First race was held with very little wind - bit of a lottery really, Sophie had a dramatic (& skillful) dash to the line in the light airs to record a 4th position, this, added to a 6th in the 2nd race earned Sophie 5th place overall & a share of the spoils at the prizegiving. The finishing order of the other Leigh & Lowton juniors in the handicap fleet were Gideon Slayen, Daisy Murphy, Andrew Price, Alice Murphy & Laura Barnes. Thankfully there was a little wind during the middle race but zephyr like conditions returned for race 3 which only saw 6 retirements - these kids have learn't (after Winsford) to carry on to the finish.

The Optimist fleet consisted of 3 Leigh & Lowton sailors, Chris Barnes (in his first event away from home) with Sarah & Lucy Yeates. The light airs of the 1st race saw Sarah get ahead of Lucy & stay there, Chris showed very impressive determination to get round the course - he was overheard from the shoreline, discussing with himself, his tactics for getting round the 1st bouy. A similar result was recorded for race 2 whilst race 3 was finished at the last bouy - frantic use of Sarah's Praddle was an indication of the requirement to find shorebased lavatorial facilities! It is possible that Chris decided not to do the last race - shortly before the start he surprised everyone by finding himself in the Lake instead of his boat - the rescue boat brought him ashore where he was shaking too much to explain what happened - just maybe it was the wash from one of the passenger steamers that power down the lake - they do make waves.
The rescue boat had to execute a 2nd rescue for a LLSC member, Steve (earlybird) was keen to try out his new Windsurfer sail - perhaps new is a flattering description, Steve had just won it on ebay for 99p! (post & packing £2.75). It was the middle of Ullswater where the rescue boat picked him up for the return trip to shore - there really wasn't much wind!!

There was great fun once the racing was over & before the Prizegiving. The kids relaxed by jumping into the lake off the pontoon.

Those famillies that were staying the night squeezed their accommodation into the tent village that had sprung up on the outskirts of the dinghy park. We left the fun at about 6:00pm - famillies Stott, Murphy, Baldwin & Barnes were chilling in the evening sunshine with someone called Stella & talking about trying to get Barbie going!! at that stage the midges were just starting their evening meal!!, never did find out how John Murphy got on through the evening & night with just a pair of shorts & tshirt - these Northern nights can get a bit cool - perhaps enough alcohol was administered to numb the pain.

For those who think this series isn't taken seriously, the competitors certainly do! The final results of the day couldn't be announced until a protest had been heard over an alleged incident in the second race. It is impressive to note that at the half way stage in the series, no less than 13 juniors have competed at all 5 events - testament to the popularity of the NWJTT
Next event Nantwich & Border Counties Sat 25th June

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