Report by David Downs
Coniston SC 25th, 26th & 27th May
After an absence of a few years the Ospreys returned to Coniston over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend for their Scottish & Northern Championships held in conjunction with the Coniston SC Regatta.
Nine Ospreys braved the Bank Holiday traffic and the narrow lanes to travel to Coniston from as far as Lochaber (Fort William) in the North and Hayling Island in the South. Once the boats were installed at the club, campervans & tents pitched at the campsite and bed & breakfasts checked into, the sailors gathered in warm sunshine on the Saturday morning in anticipation of an interesting weekends sailing and socialising.
The gentle South Easterly breeze proved to be as fickle as Coniston can be and there was much changing of places within the fleet. Perceived wisdom is that local knowledge should pay in such conditions, but the two races were won by Roger and Jamie Blake and then Alex and Nick Willis both newbies to the lake.
On the Saturday evening the sailors and supporters were entertained to a very enjoyable social hosted by Alec and Angela Mamwell.
After the sunshine of Saturday, Sunday morning dawned to drizzle and a very fickle breeze. The race officer moved the start line around the lake on several occasions chasing bits of breeze from various directions. Eventually a decent breeze settled in from the Southwest blowing up and down the lake. It meant a downwind start, but the race officer got the race away to what was effectively a leeward/windward course. Rob Shaw and Ian Little pulled away to win this race. So, at this point in the event there had been three different winners with everyone struggling to put any consistency together.
The South Westerly breeze maintained for the start of Race 4 with Alex and Nick pulling away to a commanding lead followed by Rob and Ian. By the end of the race the wind had died to almost nothing and everyone was pleased with the decision to abandon any further racing on Sunday.
Thunderstorms were forecast for Monday, and there was some rain but quite a fresh breeze from the Southwest. While there were still plenty of snakes and ladders to be found this was the best sailing of the weekend with Rob & Ian followed by Alex & Nick winning both races.
The Osprey results were combined with the fast handicap results. With Rob and Ian first overall, Alex and Nick second and Ros and David Downs in fifth position the Osprey’s dominated the handicap results.
For the Osprey Scottish and Northern Championships, with two discards, Rob & Ian were deserved winners with Alex & Nick second and Viola & Mike Scott third.
Mike Scott treated us all to a brief bagpipe recital following the prize giving and then everyone departed into the Bank Holiday travel for the journey home, which turned out to be nowhere near as bad as anticipated.
While the sailing can be frustrating it was a very enjoyable weekend and the Osprey class thank Coniston SC for hosting the event.
