An excellent turnout of 50 boats for the Flying 15 northern championship, after high winds over the last couple of days, were greeted with plenty of sunshine and a mirror like lake, with a forecast of F1 from the east.

At 11am the AP was raised as there was little chance of the racing starting at the scheduled start time of 12 Noon. By 11.30, there was signs of the wind filling in from the southern end of the lake, and the OD, sailing secretary John Reekie, went out to investigate. 10 mins later he returned and advised the AP would be removed at 12 Noon with a view to starting at 12.45pm.

In order to find steadier winds, the OD had to head as far south as Bowness bay, some 2 miles away from the club launch area! Although the wind was F4-5, it was from the SSW, nothing like the forecast, and the OD was concerned that it would not last too long, especially as there was a risk of the sea breeze having a dramatic effect on sailing conditions. Having the corse so far down the lake caused issues for the race management team because the lake is so much deeper, and extended warps for start marks, as well as course buoys. The depth and swell required two anchors to enable the committee boat to stay on station!

Despite the advice for sailors to get launched, it was after 1pm before everyone was in the starting area, and racing could get underway.

The fleet was given the chance of a soft, unrestricted, P flag start, only for it to be thrown away by the need for a general recall. The next start used the U flag for which four boats were disqualified due to being OCS, including several Bass boats, and race leader Andy Tunicliffe/Ian Hopwood, so no favouritism there!

The windward/leeward course did not offer any planing conditions, but the wind held, and resulted in various crash tacks/collisions.

The U flag did not curb sailors’ enthusiasm on the start line so, after another general  recall, the black flag was used for subsequent races.

Unexpectedly, the F4 last for the first two races, then eased slightly for the next race, after which various sailors convinced themselves that was the end, but the OD wanted to make best use of the available wind as Sunday’s forecast was not at all promising. A fourth race was started in F2 but, after rounding the windward mark, there was clear risk of it fading if the race was prolonged, so it was shortened at the end of the first lap.

On Sunday there was a delay until the wind filled in, after which the OD invited the fleet on to the water, aiming for a 11.10am start. A course was set up, then moved, and moved again as the wind veered towards the east. It later backed towards the forecast northerly direction, but apart from the gusts it rarely reached 5mph so by 12.30pm the fleet headed ashore as the wind faded.

At 1pm, the wind had filled in from the NE, but with little prospect of the minimum desired wind bedding in, racing was postponed for the day.

The prize giving followed with thanks to all by Commodores Ian and Andrea Preston

Report by Charlie Apthorp
Photos courtesy of William Carruthers

FF15 Northern Championships 2024; Bassenthwaite SC

Results are final as of 13:30 on September 8, 2024

Rank	Sail_No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Nett
1st	3957	Charles Apthorp	Charlie Apthorp	HISC	18.0	3.0	1.0	5.0			27.0	9.0
2nd	3904	Ben Cooper	Richard Bundock	Royal Thames Yacht Club	2.0	2.0	7.0	6.0			17.0	10.0
3rd	4005	Andy McKee	Rich Jones	Dovestone SC	3.0	7.0	5.0	2.0			17.0	10.0
4th	4124	Andy Tunnicliffe	Ian Hopwood	Bassenthwaite SC	OCS	1.0	2.0	9.0			63.0	12.0
5th	3760	Jeremy Davy	Martin Huett	Draycote Water	1.0	5.0	14.0	7.0			27.0	13.0
6th	4030	Alastair Stevenson	David Culpan	HISC	4.0	6.0	4.0	22.0			36.0	14.0
7th	4117	Hamish Mackay	Andrew Lawson	Royal Thames YC	12.0	4.0	12.0	1.0			29.0	17.0
8th	4102	Anthony Woods	Innis Armstrong	RWYC	10.0	12.0	6.0	8.0			36.0	24.0
9th	4113	Simon kneller	Ashley painter	GWSC	8.0	8.0	8.0	34.0			58.0	24.0
10th	3770	Neil Platt	David Lawson	Bassenthwaite SC	7.0	18.0	18.0	4.0			47.0	29.0
11th	4104	Simon Childs	Kato Childs	Hayling Island	11.0	9.0	RDG	RDG			40.0	29.0
12th	4031	Nigel Tullett	Gavin Tullett	R Windermere YC	17.0	10.0	3.0	21.0			51.0	30.0
13th	4065	David Mckee	Mal Hartland	Dovestone SC	9.0	11.0	10.0	11.0			41.0	30.0
14th	3903	Gary Stuart	Ian Pinnell	Northampton	19.0	15.0	13.0	3.0			50.0	31.0
15th	4094	John Hanson	Helen Selden	Rya	6.0	21.0	16.0	14.0			57.0	36.0
16th	4123	David Heron	Peter Wright	RWYC	16.0	22.0	17.0	10.0			65.0	43.0
17th	3641	Jon Abbatt	Chris Mullholland	Ullswater Yacht Club	15.0	16.0	21.0	12.0			64.0	43.0
18th	4033	Justin Waples	Amanda Waples	RCYC	20.0	13.0	11.0	32.0			76.0	44.0
19th	3884	Mark Nicholson	Steve Culpitt	Hayling Island Sailing Club	13.0	24.0	20.0	13.0			70.0	46.0
20th	3918	Paul Busby	Neil Barford	Northampton	5.0	20.0	22.0	BFD			98.0	47.0
21st	3865	Robin Dawson	Mike Cowan	Bassenthwaite SC	DNC	19.0	9.0	29.0			108.0	57.0
22nd	4130	Adrian Tattersall	John Mathie	Parkstone	29.0	14.0	19.0	BFD			113.0	62.0
23rd	4118	Ian Ackroyd	Keith Jamieson	RWYC	22.0	17.0	26.0	25.0			90.0	64.0
24th	4103	Julian Clarke	Nick Hampson	RWYC	21.0	26.0	24.0	19.0			90.0	64.0
25th	4100	John Tuckwell	Graham Tuckwell	Northampton	26.0	30.0	15.0	27.0			98.0	68.0
26th	3765	Chris White	Roger Le Pla	Northampton	31.0	23.0	DNC	17.0			122.0	71.0
27th	4091	Jeremy Arnold	Richard Hope	Notts County SC / Draycote SC	38.0	27.0	28.0	18.0			111.0	73.0
28th	3996	Michael Moore	Sally Roberts	Bassenthwaite SC	40.0	38.0	25.0	15.0			118.0	78.0
29th	3622	Robert Mountain	David Guite	Blackpool & Fleetwood Yacht Club	14.0	DNF	35.0	30.0			130.0	79.0
30th	3912	Charlie McKee	Simon Montague	HISC	25.0	32.0	36.0	23.0			116.0	80.0
31st	3664	Keith Byers	Lisa Woods	RWYC/MSC	24.0	34.0	33.0	26.0			117.0	83.0
32nd	4109	David Chandler	David Clark	Ullswater	27.0	28.0	34.0	28.0			117.0	83.0
33rd	3751	Peter Warne	Graham Wilson	Northampton	33.0	36.0	38.0	16.0			123.0	85.0
34th	3927	John Thornley	Megan Thornley	Ullswater Yacht Club	32.0	25.0	30.0	35.0			122.0	87.0
35th	3293	Ian Preston	Jonathon Bullen	Bassenthwaite SC	35.0	33.0	37.0	20.0			125.0	88.0
36th	3440	Mark Somerville	Ian Smith	Bassenthwaite SC	28.0	35.0	29.0	33.0			125.0	90.0
37th	485	Graham Sharp	Alasdair Sharp	Plockton Small Boat Sailing Club	36.0	DNF	31.0	24.0			142.0	91.0
38th	3428	Graham Lamond	Scott Train	Ripon SC	OCS	31.0	27.0	37.0			146.0	95.0
39th	4084	Tim O'Brien	Colin Burns	GWSC	37.0	37.0	23.0	39.0			136.0	97.0
40th	3265	Andy Thomas	Thomas Kirkpatrick	Bassenthwaite SC	30.0	39.0	32.0	DNC			152.0	101.0
41st	3733	Mike Harris	Sarah Harris	Blackpool and Fleetwood	DNC	29.0	41.0	36.0			157.0	106.0
42nd	3484	Bob Johnston	Karl Sloane	Blackpool & Fleetwood YC	34.0	41.0	43.0	31.0			149.0	106.0
43rd	4087	Ant Woodyer	Neil Garrison	Bassenthwaite SC	41.0	DNF	39.0	38.0			169.0	118.0
44th	38	Stephen Kirkpatrick	Keith Thomas	Bassenthwaite SC	39.0	40.0	42.0	40.0			161.0	119.0
45th	4021	Steve Goacher	Richard Rigg	Twyc	23.0	DNC	DNC	DNC			176.0	125.0
46th	3623	Angus Corry	Mike Hunter	Bassenthwaite SC	DNC	DNC	40.0	DNC			193.0	142.0
47th	4114	Richard Whitworth	Trefor Jones	Parkstone Yacht Club	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC			204.0	153.0
47th	3516	Cliff English	Bev English	Bassenthwaite SC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC			204.0	153.0
47th	3702	John Barron	Robert Hedges	Bassenthwaite SC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC			204.0	153.0
47th	3815	Ian Campbell	Lezli-Ann Pearson	Bassenthwaite SC	OCS	DNC	DNC	DNC			204.0	153.0