Northern Area Solo Open at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club

Northern Area Solo Open at Bassenthwaite - stormy clouds over Skiddaw © Justine Davenport

Northern Area Solo Open at Bassenthwaite © Bassenthwaite SC

John Reekie during the Northern Area Solo Open at Bassenthwaite © Bassenthwaite SC

Sponsored by Impact Marine and Winder Boats

Saturday dawned with a decent forecast of breeze and some very nice weather forecast for the twelve Solos entered for the Solo northern open.

The event was shared with Teras and ILCA/Lasers and there were a couple of kids questioning if they would make it through in the Tera fleet. And there were also some nervous looks by the older statesmen of the Solo class such was the force of the breeze.

We all got launched on time for the first race of the day and Andy Carter sailed an excellent first beat to lead the fleet by a good margin which he held till the second beat where things were getting interesting. At this point there was a bit of a change in the conditions and the second windward mark took some effort to get round. Andy held on in the new breeze to the finish under some pressure from behind to take first blood of the event.

After an early lunch to let the conditions settle it was time for a windward leeward course with John Reekie and Innes Armstrong off to a healthy lead and two lap ding dong match race ensued, of which Innes was the victor. Andy Carter pulled back through the fleet to score a recovery third place to make it a three way race for the overall victory in the last race.

By this point the conditions were trying to give the race officer some grey hairs but we got away to a first beat with some serious snakes and ladders. Rory Yardley was the man of the moment with his entrance from the port layline to take the lead. At this point it became a very congested one sided course making it difficult for Innes, Andy and John to make a serious challenge to Rory. Innes dropped back with his low stance on the second beat and Andy lost second to John on the third beat - using the term "beat" loosely. In the end John could not get past Rory and with it the scores were settled with Andy in first followed by John and Rory in second and third respectively.

Final results of the day were Andy Carter 1st, John Reekie 2nd and Rory Yardley in 3rd.

Whilst the wind was not the glamour SE we were hoping for, the sunshine, banter and scenery did its best to sooth the souls of the sailors. Thanks to Bassenthwaite Sailing Club for hosting the event and all the volunteers who gave their time to support the event.

Overall Results:

Northern Area Solo Open at Bassenthwaite winners (l-r) John Reekie 2nd, Rory Yardley 3rd, Andy Carter 1st - photo © Justine Davenport