Ullswater Yacht Club hosted the second event of the 2019 RS200 Norther Tour over the Easter weekend. The forecast for Saturday didn’t look promising for getting any races in and we were not surprised when we arrived and there was not a ripple on the lake. Despite this we all rigged and then wished we’d packed the deckchairs and stand up paddle boards as well.

The race committee took the wise decision to postpone the first race ashore and hope what little wind was forecast filled in. Just as we were thinking how else to best spend the day with the prospect of sailing almost gone, ripples suddenly appeared on the lake and before we knew it there was a light breeze coming down the lake. It was all hands-on deck to get out and ready for the first of what turned out to be incredibly close, mentally challenging, races.

The first race saw Andy and Alex take the lead at the first windward and just manage to stay ahead of the bunch who were jostling for every position. The lack of trends both upwind and downwind lead to things getting mixed up and changed round every lap which proved to be the story for every race. Andy and Alex managed to make the most sense of the changeable conditions and stay ahead of the bunch to the finish and were the ones to catch throughout the weekend.

Another two races were sailed on Saturday in the same light, shifty, wind with Andy and Alex taking another race win and a second putting them in the overnight lead. Gemma and Tim came from behind on the first downwind of the last race, taking the fleet by surprise, and lead round the leeward mark. Keeping their cool, despite the 20+ plus degrees, blue skies, and sunshine they managed to hold off the attack from Andy and Alex and take home the win in race 3.

Everyone had at least two good results putting the results very close overnight with everything to play for. Another 3 races were sailed on Sunday out of the scheduled 4 which meant only 1 discard and little room for error. Martin and Sian came out fighting in the first race with Andy and Alex not far behind and continuing from where they left off on Saturday. Andy and Alex secured their position at the top in race 5 with another win with Ollie and Esther taking another second and Martin and James coming in third. With second and third all still to play for in the final race the pressure was on Ollie/Esther, Martin/Sian, and Martin/James. Martin and Sian did everything they could by taking the win, but Ollie and Esther managing to keep it consistent with another third secured them second. Martin and James coming in seventh just dropped them out of a podium and narrowly in front of fourth.

All in all, it was a great weekend, perfect weather, with some very competitive racing. Great to see some new faces getting stuck in amongst the usual suspects.

Thank you to Ullswater Yacht Club for hosting the event and to Sailing Chandlery for their support.