18th & 19th May 2024
Sponsored by Impact Marine & Winder Boats
Report by John Reekie
Photo by William Carruthers
17 solos made the trip to Bassenthwaite Sailing Club at the weekend for the solo open. They were greeted with sun and panorama that only Bassenthwaite can offer up. The wind was looking a bit light but into the first day we ventured our hearts filled with hope.
The fleet set off on the first race and snakes and ladders would become a feature of the weekend. Innes drew first blood with the win after he escaped with Richard Instone but there were some traps to be had. Once those traps had been tripped Richard got taken over by Stephen Denison to take 3rd and 2nd respectively.
Licking his wounds from a relatively easy 4th to 9th ladders session in the first race it was John Reekie's time to shine with a rather handsome lead. Queue a few traps later and it was getting a bit tense at the front as the ever consistent Denison was grinding away at that leader to no avail.
After the pie and peas on Saturday night the day dawned bright but rather windless. This lasted close to midday when a couple of nippers weighing 70 kilos between them were making it look windy in a 29er. This got the attention of the race officer so he headed out for a double check. This was a shrewd move and shortly after the fleet were called out to play.
Photo by Justine Davenport
The first race of the day (race 3) was a tense affair with nobody making a killer blow with a rather tricky top reach compressing the fleet. But a break there was and it was John Reekie getting the gap to the finish to take the third race with Denison in third.
At the end of the race 3 there was a fairly significant switch to the right which necessitated a course reconfiguration and we got away before the time limit came in. It was a tight battle between John and Innes with Innes just able to make the break when it counted. It was swinging all the way to the line with Stuart Norris pressuring Innes. If Stuart took the race then John would be the winner but Innes got the final race win when it counted and took the open on countback. The ever consistent Denison was third just one point back counting 3 second places.
Thanks must go to the race officer and his team who made the best of the conditions to get 4 races on the board in very challenging conditions.
Photo by William Carruthers
Bass Winners L to R: J Davenport 1st Lady, J Reekie 2nd, I Armstrong 1st, S Denison 3rd
Photo by Georgina Denison