Lord Birkett Trophy
4th/5th July 2009
Surrounded by some of the highest and
most spectacular peaks of the country, Lake Ullswater
was again venue for the annual Lord Birkett Trophy.
As per usual, there was a plethora of
boats. The Thames A Rater and an open canoe (quite literally
a canoe with a sail and not to be confused with the
high performance International Canoe) are only two examples
of unusual boats featured at this event. The number
of boats this year reached another record high with
a total of 217. There were a total of nine Musto Skiffs,
making for the 5th best represented class out a total
of 49.
Much to the delight of the high performance
sailors, throughout the weekend, the winds were south-westerly,
such that Lake Ullswater served as an almost perfect
up and down .
Saturdays racing kicked off with a prompt
1pm start, with everyone venturing onto the 7 mile long
beat to the furthermost island of the lake, Cherry Holm
Island.
Jethro Gebhard took an early lead with a port flyer
on the heavily biased line, followed by Iver Ahlmann
and Richard Stenhouse. A swim in the first corner of
the lake, notorious for its swirling winds, cost Iver
2nd place.
Conditions were light throughout the race, with wind
speeds ranging from 0-10 knots. When the bulk of the
fleet had reached House Holm island, the wind traditionally
switched off altogether and everyone enjoyed the drift-off.
Some boats were stood virtually still more lengthy than
others, as patches of wind moved across the lake. Hence,
some of the slower boats had caught up and there was,
what seemed an almost homogenous mix of yachts, high
performance boats and small single handers.
Despite an intimate encounter with a reef, Richard Stenhouse
overtook Jethro and went on to win the race and come
overall 5th in race one.
Lester and Lee Noble sailing a 49er, once again displayed
their superior navigation around the lake by finishing
a whopping 28min (after 2hrs of racing) in front the
second boat, which was also a 49er.
With only one race scheduled, the late afternoon gave
the captains of the faster classes the opportunity to
retire to the bar and watch the rest of the fleet finish
in front of the clubhouse. Much to the amusement of
the sailors, at 5pm, four hours after the start, it
was announced that the last boat had just rounded the
windward mark...
For those out of the almost 400 competitors that lasted
long enough, the clubhouse converted into a discotheque
in the late evening and was busy until the early hours
of the morning.
For Sunday the race officer decided on
a shorter course, with House Holm Island representing
the windward mark, one mile shy of Cherry Holm island
the day before.
With everyone keen to get off the line well, there were
two abandoned starts. On the third start, Jethro Gebhard
shone again with a port flyer and managed to get an
early lead. In the very light airs, and despite his
near-three-digit weight, Richard Stenhouse then managed
to pull past Jethro to be first Musto Skiff over the
finish line and come 3rd overall in race two. Thanks
to Richards' consistent results, he won the Must Skiff
fleet and came second overall, followed by Jethro and
Iver.
The overall event was won by Lester and
Lee Noble in their 49er, now the fifth time in six years.
At the price giving, Lester Noble unveiled in his winning
speech that Lee had suffered the whole weekend: he had
worn only one white glove to pay tribute to the King
of Pop!
Overall Results:
http://www.ullswateryachtclub.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=3QqpkfBiV4s%3d&tabid=163&mid=485
Musto Skiff Results:
Rank Name SailNo Club R1 R2 Total
2nd Stenhouse Richard 369 Rutland SC 5 3 8
7th Gebhard Jethro 384 Derwent Reservoir SC 7 16 23
38th Ahlmann Iver 170 Derwent Reservoir SC 80 6 86
90th Gebhard Joric 297 Derwent Reservoir SC 112 68 180
151st Purdy Richard 240 Sunderland SC 132 169 301
152nd Robinson Phil 119 Filey SC 139 163 302
186th Liggins Greg 263 Derwent Reservoir SC 144 218
DNF 362
192nd Wadge Robert 146 West Riding 155 218 DNF 373
205th Olin Jonathan 393 Rutland SC 218 DNC 218 DNC 436
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