RS Vareos at the Bala Lake August Regatta

RS Vareos at the Bala Lake August Regatta © John Hunter

August Bank Holiday weekend saw the RS Vareo fleet join the Bala Sailing Club August Regatta for three days of racing on Wales' largest lake. This was event 4 for the 2026 RS Vareo Rooster National Tour.

Two local boats were joined by 8 travellers giving a fleet large enough to get our own start in this multi-class Regatta. All 5 fleets used the same start line with a quick 3, 2, 1, Go sequence. The Vareos were the second start, right behind the K1s (who were sailing a different course) and in front of the Asymmetric Fleet, sailing the same Windward Leeward course. All fleets had to pass through a gate to starboard of the committee boat on the upwind leg which also became the finish line after about 45 minutes of racing. We were not to sail through the gate on the downwind leg.

Many of us arrived on Friday afternoon and, as we dodged the showers, were contemplating a forecast of growing wind through the weekend and quite a lot of rain. In fact, we had very little rain with just a handful of very brief showers passing through, but each day brought very different wind directions to add spice to the weekend's racing.

After a short briefing on Saturday, we took to the water for the first race starting at 1pm. The wind was pretty light but quite sailable, and (unusually for Bala) from the North-East, pretty much straight down the lake. In race 1, John Carron made a good start and led pretty much from start to finish. Chris Abbott was never too far behind, with me not far away from him, which was to be the case throughout the whole afternoon.

In Race 2, Luke Fisher and John battled it out for the lead, with Luke eventually taking the bullet and John close behind. At the end of lap one, I had managed to pass Chris downwind, only to be caught outside a 400 and K6 at the Leeward mark. This allowed Chris to dive inside into third and I was unable to catch him in the second lap.

RS Vareos at the Bala Lake August Regatta - photo © John Hunter

Race 3 saw John excelling in the light conditions, again leading throughout the race. Luke wasn't far behind with Chris and me fighting for 3rd place. Luke then sailed through the gate downwind and, realising his mistake, sailed over to the committee boat to see if he could exonerate himself. The RO advised him to sail around the end and continue but this allowed Chris though into second, me into 3rd and Andy Curtiss 4th.

After putting the boats away, we were treated to a great BBQ at the club and a few beers to wash it down with. There was plenty to talk about, including the following day's forecast which was for more wind from completely the opposite direction.

And so it was. With the wind blowing South-West(ish) and quite a decent swell on the water, the RO set a course in the other direction. The upwind mark seemed to be a VERY long way down the lake. Right on time at 11am we got under way. In Race 4, Luke Fisher gave a master class in sailing the Vareo in a stiff breeze, pulling away from the following fleet on each of the 3 laps to finish a long way ahead. Owen Bolding, who had really struggled on Saturday, was enjoying the conditions much more, taking a strong second with John in 3rd. I spent the race trying to catch Chris in front and holding off a challenge from David Hill behind. This was to be the pattern of the day.

Race 5 was characterised by some very strong gusts coming though, which if you caught one downwind with the kite up was the best (and scariest) fun! Luke never looked like being caught and this time John took the honours over Owen in the battle for second. Chris and I both caught a massive gust down wind and we were glad to stay on top of the boat during the thrill ride that got a little too close to the committee boat for comfort!

The Race 6 winner was never in doubt but behind Luke there was plenty going on. Chris managed to get in front of Owen and handed second and third as John dry capsized with the kite up on the final gybe into the leeward mark. In a close-run dash round that final mark, I was just able to grab 4th after John had got the kite back in the chute.

The arrival of an excellent pizza wagon with wood-fired oven, along with a fun quiz made a very pleasant evening over which to reminisce on the day's excitements and "what might have beens".

Monday saw the arrival of a North Westerly which at Bala brings the wind sideways onto the lake over some quite high ground. This ensures some really patchy and shifty conditions which tested all of us one way or another during the final 2 races.

Luke and Dave Hill took a trip up to the windward mark (which was quite close to the bank) to see what the wind was doing and were still there when the RO got the racing promptly under way at 10.57. As they sailed back with the kites up, the sight of the K1 fleet passing them upwind added new momentum to their return! Somehow with literally seconds to go as they joined the rest of the fleet on the line, they both made excellent starts for Race 7 and were first to the windward mark. This mark was to be the cause of many places being won and lost that day, as the wind was swinging and gusting in a completely unpredictable fashion. Chris has form for these conditions and showed it again following Luke in for 2nd with Dave hanging on to 3rd and his best result of the weekend.

Owen and I had started the day on equal points, so had our own battle for 4th place. We both had all sorts of problems on the first lap and by the end of the second were in 6th and 7th. On the final downwind leg, he went left and I found a fast channel down the right and was closing on the mark with him still a long way off, when I was completely stalled by a weird shift that allowed him to get past as I sat helpless, unable to get going again!

By race 8 we were down to just 6 boats. This time it was John chasing Luke to the line with Chris never far behind. Owen won our final tussle with Dave finishing just behind.

Many thanks to Bala SC and the MANY volunteers who made this event so successful. Our thanks of course to our tour sponsors Rooster, and also to Laurie, our class secretary for all her work in getting us there. I've a suspicion we will be back next year.

The next event on the Vareo calendar is the Illuminis Inlands at Milton Keynes on 26/27 September, with a training day on the Friday before. The sponsorship from Illuminis means you get a fully catered weekend with training and a free bar for £20! See you there!

Overall Results: