Rope4Boats RS400 Northern Tour at Ullswater Yacht Club

A massive entry of 38 RS400s (by far and away the largest fleet) joined the 230 boat total that signed up for the annual Holy Grail of Sailing Events at Ullswater.

Dubbed the Glastonbury of Sailing, the unique annual Lord Birkett race was established in 1963 in memory of Lord Norman Birkett who successfully defended the right of public access to Ullswater which was threatened with reservoir status in the early 1960s. He spoke in the House of Lords in 1962 of the importance of retaining Ullswater's natural beauty for all, but sadly died shortly afterwards and the race has been held annually in honour of the 'Saviour of Ullswater' ever since.

Many arrived on the Friday night, when a F4/5 was in full flow, but come the morning, the lake was hosting a more gentle F2 NW, which encouraged the race officer to send the fleet a short distance to the North end of the lake before the traditional course around one of the islands at the South end of the lake, returning to the finish line off the club house.

The start line was as usual heavily congested with most choosing the club house side of the lake due to the slightly larger whisps of breeze close to this bank. The first start was of course a general recall and the black flag was the hoisted in readiness for the second attempt. This time even more competitors were sure that the Club end was paying and forcing many boats to play dodgems with each other and moored cruisers. Some were even seen using the club jetties to help time their run to perfection - a cunning Scottish technique by all accounts (no further clues required).

Half way up the first beat and in true Ullswater style, the beat turned inside out and those who chose the opposite, Western end of the start line were rewarded with a new breeze from the predicted wind direction - obvious really! So it was that Richard Catchpole and Gary Coop (Leigh and Lowton SC) led at the first mark, closely followed by Jon Gay and Amanda Henderson from Lochaber, but with a lot of racing to come.

Many head scratching, becalmed and snakes and ladders hours later, it was Dave Exley (Leigh and Lowton SC who finally overhauled a consistent Chris Pickles and Matt Sharman (Bassenthwiate SC) to take the mentally exhausting win. Stuart and Sarah Robertson sailed an intelligent race to take 3rd from Richard and Gary in fourth.

The Rope4Boats raffle took place on the beautiful lakeside lawn in the Saturday evening sunshine. Due to the large number of entries, Ian Turnbull from Rope4Boats added and extra prize. The tapered 400 spinnaker sheets were won by Chris Mulholland from Ullswater YC. The £20 voucher was won by Chris Pickles from Bassenthwaite SC, and because he had won on a previous event, he kindly donated his prize to raise funds for Boatman Bonanza, a sailing regatta hosted by Sunderland YC on 24/25th August in memory of Martin Boatman. The £10 voucher was won by Jeremy Child from Scammonden Water SC.

Rope4Boats RS400 Northern Tour / Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy 2019 at Ullswater - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Sunday morning was not looking good - the forecast said 2-4 kts, the glassy lake said 0kts and many of the competitors said enough is enough and packed up for a relaxing Sunday doing something else. Those that did race, did not have the most exhilarating of days, but there were moments where both helm and crew sat on the same side.

Even with a substantially reduced starting number, the start line was just as crowded with many getting buried in a zero wind bun fight for the port end of the line. It was Chris Pickles and Matt Sharman who correctly predicted the carnage and started off the middle of the start line in slightly less wind, but more importantly clear air that capitalised up the first section of the course and extended to the finish a little over 2 hours later. Richard and Gary were second and Richard and Bradley Green from Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club sailed themselves cannily into third place. Dave and Nige were fourth and Keith Escritt and Andrea Clough, also from Yorkshire Dales, came home in fifth to cap an excellent and very consistent introduction to the 400 fleet.

The overall 400 honours went to the ever consistent Chris and Matt, closely followed by Dave and Nige and Richard an Gary in third place.

A great event, despite the light winds which has many draws to keep sailors happy even if the wind gods don't play ball.

The sixth out of the seven-event series is back to our long term favourite Notts County SC, where we hope to see you on 7/8th September.

More photos from Tim Olin here: olinphoto.co.uk/index.php/2019/07/08/the-lord-birket-trophy-2019-at-ulswater-sailing-club

Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy 2019 at Ullswater - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

RS400-only Results:

Rope4Boats RS400 Northern Tour / Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy 2019 at Ullswater - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk