I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
Actually, the wind is howling, the waves are beating on the shore, my nine bean-rows have been battered by the rain; and anyway, we are going to Wexford,… not Innisfree,…that is if Mr. O’Leary and his pilots will take us there,…….
Thursday 26th July,…. No wind,.. nothing to report, not even any low sounds by the shore… (Ambleside Sports was a good one in baking sunshine),… random July weather! .. we sat around at the Club and Pat nearly talked himself into getting a Solo!…
Monday 23rd July,.. light breeze in the South Lake and the weight-loss-watching experts,.. H Frith and N Hutchinson sailed away… me it was, winning by a distance, ..by so much in fact that as I write Barty can’t bring himself to publish the results…!!…
Sunday 22nd July,… p.m.,.. more wind than I needed,.. those that did, did, and did well,… all tired after the day before see below,..
a.m.,... in lighter winds than later a select Adult Squad of Neal Anderson in his Vago,.. and a whole merry band of look-a-likes in the Kay’s Bahia and Nathen in a Tera buzzed around in the shipping lanes next to Henholme ..( check out the Giles/Jason Kay twins … and tell them apart,..or not,.. !!)
Saturday 21st July,... RNLI races,… this was good,. a new format of three races, back to back, starting in theory at noon, thirty boats taking part, it was good and busy,.. we started at about 12.15, once the breeze had settled down, in the North Lake, sailing from near Adelaide to FBA and back,..using Millerground or Adelaide as leeward marks,.. it was a long, hot, sunny afternoon,..more than enough for an old man in a small boat,.. and good close racing,… the Commodore capsized..!!.. a fact that wasn’t mentioned in the Gazette Report,.. but these sort of incidents are fodder to this pen..(keyboard!)…Richard B was mounted from the rear by a cruiser!,..I say no more; and various entanglements with hire boats took place,.. if only they would just stop!,..then we could sail round them,.. the three year old steering while its parents lounged in the back was noted,…!!.. but in the end we didn’t actually have to call out the RNLI to deal with any of these incidents …….. it was definitely a day for the dinghies,.. and for the RWYC,… best RNLI in my memory, and a good format to take forward to next year,……..
Thursday 19th July,... the BIG ONE,.. the GP14 Big Bash,… earlier in the year I wrote, in an email to Adult Squaders that I had three ambitions for the year,.. to get more people sailing, to get more people having more fun and to get all the big Fleet of GP14s on the water at the same time. … well, on this particular, randomly chosen, Thursday, all three ideas came together as one,.. thank you all for joining in,.. my apologies to the medical and pharmaceutical fraternities for being unable to arrange for the local population to be illness free on that particular day … but other than that, the lake looked pretty busy and thirteen GPs (of the sailing variety not the hardworking medical variety), on the water at once will have been the biggest fleet we have had out for years..!!… we were so lucky with the weather,.. see last Thursday above for example,.. well done to Robert and JR; ….. Steve and I would have done better if I hadn’t decided that we should swap the spinnaker over (’cause the course was starboard-hand) with a minute and ten seconds to go to the start,.. at the one minute gun 12 GPs were heading up towards the line and one was sailing away from the line with its spinnaker up!!,.. idiot,… other than that, an excellent race with lots of place changing and an occasional sighting of boats that weren’t GPs….. by choosing to helm the Smith’s boat, Richard B put himself out of contention to win the ‘heaviest crew prize’, which was thus won convincingly by JR…. Mars Bar throwing prize-giving followed and a mass of takers for an excellent supper,…… many thanks!
Monday 16th July,.. heavy rain,..No wind,.. random July weather
Sunday 15th July,. p.m. ... . I went into the South Lake to look around,..it gave every appearance of being a capsizing wind speed so I rushed back to the Club,.. those that did, did, and did well,.. Vice-Commodore’s Prize winner Robert R,.. well done,…
a.m.,... Adulting with Keith & Kathryn, and an FF and a Solo, once again we were in the shipping lanes, sailing tiny triangles,.. and practicing enough starts to ensure that K&K got a much better start than me on Thursday (see above),…
Thursday 12th July,.. Elderly Brothers at a packed Zeffirelli’s …. I gather there wasn’t a race,.. considering the heat and sunshine, this is not looking to be a good sailing July,.. the 17fters have just had a nightmare race week ………..
Monday 9th July,.. band practice,.. !!.. a very small Denis Hope fleet,… v. light wind… and part of the pretty mixed bag of July,…
Sunday 8th July,.. p.m... this was better,.. another Hutchinson bullet in the first race,..then Stephen W, in Richard’s Blaze, got his act together and Blazed off,… and a pair of Devotees found conditions much more to their liking.
a.m.…. we jumped in and out of Evie and Ian’s GP and we got the spinnaker up and filled,.. in rather too little wind,.. but at least we’ve seen it,..(it’s black!) !
Thursday 5th July,.. my water borne experiences actually started the day before in Zeebrugge, then continued in the morning up the Humber estuary, and concluded on the lake soloing into 3rd place behind Robert and JR,..
prior to all of that was the rest of June,.. which was won by JR, followed by a hopelessly Devoted Peter,…
It is Sunday morning 29th July,.. the rain is coming down like a power shower,..the trees, heavy with leaf are bending to the gusts, I am staying here,.. and if anyone tomorrow has the temerity to suggest that ‘you missed a really good race..!!’… I won’t believe them….
What with rain and wind and flat calms we may not be giving enough ‘copy’ to our Gazette reporter for those excellent sailing articles,.. if you look hard enough you will make out that it is Steve and me in the GP at the Big Bash in the photograph,.. one of the benefits of being at the back of the Fleet,… of course I had to be seen to shepherd the cohorts safely round the course..!…
What will August bring,.. ??… ….
The English winter, ending in July,
To recommence in August.