Ullswater Yacht Club 2006

Leigh & Lowton Juniors went travelling -
What a lot of weather at Ullswater

25 degrees C, bright sunshine, nice breeze - fantastic sailing weather & far too nice for the working week.............
................. then Saturday 10th June dawned, & opening the curtains before the drive to Ullswater we knew that we were in for a similar day - great stuff. Set off at 7:15 & heard about the first reportable event whilst navigating Shap Fell, The Murphies had tried to clear the campsite (& Johns eyebrows) with an unplanned Flambe dish - quickly extinguished but the end of the gas cooker for the weekend. Arriving at the campsite at breakfast time is too much for a hungry Cocker Spaniel - off she ran in amongst the tents sniffing out the bacon sandwiches, sorry Morgan! (at least you didn't have to eat the crusts) Apparently someone woke early with the birds & went to ask her dad if he wanted a cup of tea then went off, returning a few moments later with Quote of the day No1 "Dad, do you know its only 3:30am?" - nice one Sophie perhaps it was the excitement of the special day!

There were 28 Handicap boats rigging on the foreshore alongside 3 or 4 Optimists, 12 of which were from Leigh & Lowton - the Race Officer described the course with a slightly shorter beat for the Optimists. These guys seem to know their lake & the wind directions as they took the fleet to the safety of relatively calmer water for the 2 Back to Back races that were held in the morning. There were still many capsizes & a few retirements before the 2nd race as the juniors got quite tired in the testing conditions. At one point the left hand side of the lake was a mass of white & F5/6 whilst the right (where the racing was) appeared quite calm F1/2 with F5 gusts appearing from any direction! A lot of our chaps arrived at the 1st windwark mark in high ranking positions, some proud dads watching through their Bino's - Laura must have been particularly happy - then the fleet was hit by a big gust & several sailors went for a swim, this sort of set the order of the day. That first race was tough, the Optimist fleet was cut down as Martin (after a fine effort on the beat) nosedived & very nearly pitchpoled on the 1st run, he was lifted off his partly submerged boat by passing Laser sailor Katy Stewardson who sacrificed her 3rd position to bring him to shore - unselfish sailing which was duly rewarded at the prizegiving.

Lucy was the only Optimist to finish the 1st race & was on her own for the 2nd, a race in which she capsized herself, she managed to recover, bail out & continue to the finish.
It was towards the end of that 2nd race that some of the kids looked to be getting tired due to the many capsizes. Some dads donned lifejackets & headed off in Brians Cornish Shrimper to get a closer look - yours truly looked round to see if he could borrow a bouyancy aid - hey! its a great feeling to still be able to fit into a child size. Once on the water the conditions became more apparent - this is when Quote of the day No2 was heard "Dad, have you seen the windshifts on here?" - nice one Katlyn!
Lunch was a time for recovery, Mike Barnes went to check his fridge, he wasn't going to be caught out like last year when his car battery went flat, no, this time he had a far bigger fridge in mind! Ullswater is still quite cold & whilst Becks was scoring Englands first goal in the World Cup, Mike was taking his Becks out of the cool waters alongside the Jetty, perhaps a few less CFC's but there was still a little trail of water wherever his chinking bag of chilled bottles went.

The OD decided to run the last race in the relative calm of the next bay along the shore, still quite a number of spills but it was a good decision & also provided the best viewing of the day for the sponsors (parents).

The kids assumed the customary pastime of jumping in off the Jetty after racing, mothers were seen catching some rays in the rather hot sunshine & some of the dads decided to go off for a race in the kids boats before prizegiving. We are quite used to seeing Andy in a Topper, he took one look at the competitive nature of the other chaps & decided that a Laser was more his style, not looking for an advantage or anything - oh no! - off they all went, in the direction of the white water & big waves, some didn't quite make the start & there were a few capsizes along the way but they did appear to have fun, True Grit, determination, spray & wind - oh yes, plenty of wind (specially the post race excuses).

At the prizegiving Daisy was rewarded for yet another fine performance, 2nd U14, she justifiably retains her lead of the championship at the half way mark - well done Daisy. Lucy was the only surviving Oppy & received a very attractive Ullswater mug. Leigh & Lowton Juniors hold 6 of the top 10 places in the handicap fleet, 4 of those are under 14 - good sailing guys!

Next event - Nantwich 24th June

Series Results so far - Leigh & Lowton Juniors in the top places of both Handicap & Optimist fleets

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