
A strong fleet of twelve for the
Catapult European Championships had a characteristic warm
welcome and hospitality from Bassenthwaite Sailing Club in their
beautiful setting.
The
club also put on uncharacteristic northerlies, shifting NNW,
fresh and gusting for the first two days and dying away for Race
Six on Monday.
The sailing was in
bursts of sunshine and a sunlit final day, and was decidedly
bracing (with patches of snow on the high hills a few miles
away)
The Club
again put on their
challenging courses, usually a "W"
around the lake to give a mix of legs each lap, with the safety
boat as flagship ahead. In three days' excellent racing,
Paul Ellis gained
an impressive set of first and seconds to wrap it up by the
fifth race (results overall
below) but had to work hard
for it all the way.
The good-sized fleet showed how strong the
racing has become with the boats spread over one or two legs
only, and any mistakes were punished by significant
places lost. (Almost every helm had a place at fourth or better,
and had a six-place difference between best and worst results.)
The
swinging wind direction each day, through thirty degrees, gave
challenging lessons in concentrating and taking the bad luck
with the good, dramatically demonstrated in the catspaws in the
final race by Cliff Antill, leading around every mark.
(Click for Race Reports)
Overall
Results
Sailed:6, Discards:1, To count:5, Entries:12,
Rank |
SailNo |
Club |
HelmName |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
R6 |
Total |
Nett |
1st |
500 |
Marconi SC |
Paul Ellis |
(2.0) |
2.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
9.0 |
7.0 |
2nd |
510 |
Bala CC |
George Evans |
4.0 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
(7.0) |
5.0 |
22.0 |
15.0 |
3rd |
91 |
Filey SC |
Gareth Ede |
1.0 |
(DNF) |
4.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
9.0 |
31.0 |
18.0 |
4th |
531 |
Filey SC |
Stuart Ede |
3.0 |
(DNC) |
3.0 |
6.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
31.0 |
18.0 |
5th |
17 |
CCA |
Cliff Antill |
5.0 |
6.0 |
5.0 |
(7.0) |
6.0 |
1.0 |
30.0 |
23.0 |
6th |
518 |
CCA |
Justin Evans |
6.0 |
9.0 |
(11.0) |
4.0 |
5.0 |
8.0 |
43.0 |
32.0 |
7th |
513 |
CCA |
Alastair Forrest |
8.0 |
5.0 |
8.0 |
8.0 |
4.0 |
(10.0) |
43.0 |
33.0 |
8th |
522 |
CCA |
Nigel Harrison |
(DNC) |
3.0 |
6.0 |
9.0 |
10.0 |
6.0 |
47.0 |
34.0 |
9th |
51 |
CCA |
Anthony Costall |
9.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
5.0 |
8.0 |
(12.0) |
48.0 |
36.0 |
10th |
2090 |
Aquarius SC |
Dave Jennings |
7.0 |
4.0 |
(DNC) |
DNC |
DNC |
7.0 |
57.0 |
44.0 |
11th |
512 |
CCA |
Neal Graneau |
(11.0) |
10.0 |
10.0 |
11.0 |
9.0 |
4.0 |
55.0 |
44.0 |
12th |
297 |
Catapult Assoc |
Chris Phillips |
10.0 |
8.0 |
9.0 |
10.0 |
(11.0) |
11.0 |
59.0 |
48.0 |

Above: Paul Ellis (500) leads off in Race 1, towards a good series win
at Bass
BASS 2010: THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Nigel Harrison
Driving over the A66 towards
Bassenthwaite I was worried by the forecast of cold northerly
winds and would people bring their DJ’s?
Arriving at the site I
was welcomed by Jo and Cliff offering hospitality and
wine. Dave and Paul had their boats ready already.
Joining Stuart in the Sun Inn Neal found us out before
closing time.
Phone calls from Barbara
and Chris stuck in traffic. Justin and Sarah would also
be arriving late. Gareth was Night Mountain biking as
usual. Tony and family arrived with their luxury
caravan.
aturday morning held a fresh (bloody freezing) wind. Cool
Alastair breezed in and dark horse George arrived with Van and
entourage. The twelve Catapults were ready for battle.
|

(Above: Stuart Ede
has control of the tight chasing pack.) |
 |
Looking
over the lake we sat listening to Stuart give an
excellent training session on;
-Starting
- Sailing fast - How to win
Unfortunately Tony was there.
In the first race I had a good start but lasted only 50 meters
over the line before my forestay (Dynema) snapped. Thanks to the
safety boat I was towed back to base and re-joined the fight
ready for the next race.
(Left: Nigel hopes George
won't be there when he next looks back.) |
My new mast was working well and I managed a third in the next
race, behind George and Paul. I cannot remember what happened in
the last race except that Tony used his new found knowledge of
the rules to “Starboard” me and I lost at least two places to
him.
BUT the amazing thing is that the fleet so close. Overtaking
action continuous and guaranteed and the whole fleet usual with
two marks of each other. Tony and George the most improved
sailors. Mixing it with the usual suspects.
Saturday night the
sailing club members were impressed by 20 Catapulters and glamorous WAGs emerging from tents and Vans in
full DJ’s.
Canapés, drinks three course meal and quiz later we retired to
bed.
Sunday saw some wonderful racing, evening in the Wheatsheaf and
more fun on the Lake.
Monday saw less wind and crazy gusts taking parts of the fleet
from last to first with no intention on their part!
What a great weekend! Congratulations to Paul for rising like
cream to the top.
My first prize goes to Tony for some great results, second to
George for second in the Europeans, third to Stuart for driving
back to Filey to replace his broken boom and joint third to
Chris for becoming a drinking legend at the Bassenthwaite bar. A
great weekend! Nigel
(Right:
Paul focuses on crushing the hopes and dreams of
the opposition) |
 |