Multihull Open at Bala Sailing Club
by Rob Sloggett 21 Aug 07:41 BST
18-19 July 2026
Bala SC was not the original home of the Bala Cat fleet, they use to reside at the bottom end of the lake, but due to a change of circumstances they joined us and have been an integral part of club life and culture. With a core of Dart 16 members, the annual Cat Taster sessions offered to all of our members has also started to see our Dart 15 fleet growing as the go to boat for single handed newcomers.
This Open has ran successfully as a low key event for many years, attracting classes such as the Shearwaters in previous years. It has now become a staple event in the Catapult calendar and this year the event was also supported by the Wetas (who seem to have adopted the club as a go-to venue), hence the renaming of the event from the Catamaran Open to the "Multihull Open".
Whilst this event took place a few months ago, we have held off publishing the report as we wanted to lock in the 2027 date to allow people to get it in the diary and book camp sites etc. We can confirm that for 2027 the Multihull Open will take place on the 24-25 July.
The forecast for the weekend was the usual Bala conundrum, with a lower than desired base forecast but gusts up in the higher numbers. The web cams and weather station on the Saturday morning told one story but the RCO team were confident that the wind was coming and so positioned the committee boat part way down the lake and the safety boats alerted the competitors to launch ready for a slightly delayed start. And everyone was so glad that they did, as we were treated to 3 hours of racing during which the wind built, and the gusts gave enough excitement to really enjoy Bala at its best!
With the Catapults present, running their class championship, the RCO's elected for a split start with the Catapults going off first with a round the can course, and the rest of the fleet (which included the Wetas) going off second with a Windward/Leeward course.
The competition was fierce, and it was great to have the clubs Junior Commodore (Tom McIntyre) out in his Topaz 12x, really mixing it with the rest of the fleet. Tom was only introduced to Multihulls last year when he crewed on a Dart 15 and this year he is getting his time in during club racing on his Topaz. Unfortunately the gust got the better of him on the second race of day 2 and an unexpected capsize gave him plenty to go after on day 2.
The Catapults were having a blast with B-4-C-9 being the course of the weekend. It played perfect to boats characteristics and the racing was very competitive with Gareth Ede and John Terry taking consistent first and seconds respectively.
On the mixed fleet class, the conditions seemed to favour the Wetas but also it was great to see Steve Jakeman (who sails a Spitfire single handed at the club) having the opportunity to mix it up with boats of a similar performance. At the end of the first day, Steve Harvey had 3 wins on the board with Steve Connor and the double handed Weta of Dan and Seb Taylor setting up Sunday for a real battle.
The Saturday evening was the normal mix of the bar open and an informal BBQ, with the Catapults enjoying a meal out in town. The summer evenings show off the incredible setting that we are so fortunate to have at the club and it was an incredible way to end what was an exciting (and probably unexpected) days racing.
Move the clock forward to Sunday morning and the forecast was light again and the general vibe was that it was not going to be as varied as the Saturday, much to Steve Jakemans delight having expertly wrestled his Spitfire around 3 races and gentle walking down the foreshore indicating a body which had received a good workout.
The format for the second day was the same with 3 races back to back, a split start and round the cans for the Catapults and W/L for the handicap fleet (although Ken and Richie as our RCO's did throw a curve ball and give the Catapults a W/L as their last race of the day.
With the gust range much shallower, Tom in his Topaz 12X kept it upright for the 3 races and had the Dart 16's clearly in his sites as the closest fleet to match race against. With the club using SCHRS for this event it was fair game and as well as mentioning Tom, we have to call out Andy Wood, John-Paul Dyer (Dart 15's) and Stuart and Reiko Elliott (Dart 16) who were actually taking part in their first ever racing event! This is very much aligned to the ethos of the club which is all about finding ways for people to expanding their sailing experience and creating the opportunities for people to experience racing is all part of the direction.
So with lighter winds being the theme of the Sunday and very switchy conditions up by the Windward / B mark, everyone had to be on their "a - game" not to get caught in pockets of nothing and being sat there watching a boat 20 foot away just breeze on by!
So how did the weekend shape up?
Well the Catapults had 7 boats out on the water (and anyone fancying a really fun single handed Cat which can be split down and transported on the roof rack of a car should take a look at this class). First place was taken by Gareth Ede (6 wins) followed by John Terry then Paul Ellis taking the next two places with only 2 points between them.
For the mixed fleet, Steve Harvey (once again with 6 wins) took the top spot with his Weta followed by Steve Jakeman in his Spitfire and then Dan and Seb Taylor in their Weta picking up 3rd.
Next year the Catapults and Weta are already locked in and we would love to see more fleets join us.