Following the light fluky south/south-east winds of the Bala S.C. August Family week, the contrast on the first day of the Bank Holiday August Regatta, sponsored by Mailspeed Marine, could not have been greater. The mostly steady force 4-5 was blowing from the south-west, straight down the lake, and it made for exciting sailing.

There were two fleets, slow and fast handicap, with approximately 17 boats in each, the cut-off PYR being 1070. The courses were varied and challenging, some favouring the asymmetrics and others the conventional spinnaker boats.

The first race of the fast handicap fleet was won by a regular visitor to Bala, Mark Bridgewater from Bartley, in his International Moth, followed by Mandy Edwards and Andy Homer in a Fireball, and Simon Wood and Roger Knight from Glossop in a RS 400. In the Slow Handicap fleet, the winners were Chris and Ann Biglin from Shustoke in a Lark, Dan Hastings from Leigh and Lowton in a Laser Radial, and Dave and Sandra Wilson from Maidenhead in a Graduate.

At the start of the second race, the wind increased to a good force 5 and a number of boats in both fleets either DNS or retired. The Larks were dominant in the slow handicap fleet, Peter Cook and Janet Exelby and Chris and Ann Biglin taking first and second places, with Dan Hastings in a Laser Radial in third. In the FH, Mark Bridgewater won again, with Mandy and Andy in second place, and Lyndon Beasley and Tim Dicker from Greensforge in another Fireball in third.

During the night, conditions had dampened down a great deal and the south-west wind had eased to a force 3. In the fast handicap, Mandy and Andy won race 3, with the RS400 of Simon Wood and Roger Knight and the RS 200 of Dave and Kate Eccles from Leigh and Lowton in second and third places respectively. In the slow handicap, Peter Cook and Janet Exelby were first, second was Paul Irons from Spinnaker S.C. in a Solo and third was Andy Hodgson from Bala in a Laser.

After lunch, the wind again freshened to a force 5-6, and those who decided to sail worked hard and enjoyed the conditions. Mark Bridgewater won the next two races in his Moth, Graham Neale and Keith Darch from Bala in a Fireball were second twice, putting Mandy and Andy into third place in Race 4 and Lyndon Beasley and Tim Dicker into third place in Race 5. In the slow handicap, Chris and Ann Biglin won the fourth race but had to be content with second place in the fifth race behind Peter Cook and Janet Exelby. The third places were contested by two Bala lasers. Dave Wall got it in race 4 by three seconds and Andy Hodgson was third in race 5.

With two races left the competitors were greeted on Monday morning by an ideal force 3 south-westerly. Paul Irons won both SH races, evidently relishing the conditions. Mark Bridgewater won race 6 of the fast handicap and Mandy and Andy won Race 7, with Dave and Kate Eccles were second in both races.

Results

Fast Handicap

1st Mark Bridgewater, Moth Bartley
2nd Mandy Edwards and Andy Homer, Fireball
3rd Simon Wood and Roger Knight, RS400, Glossop
4th First Bala Boat – John and Bernie Saunders, Flying 15

Slow Handicap

1st Chris and Ann Biglin, Lark, Shustoke
2nd Paul Irons, Solo, Spinnaker
3r Dave and Sandra Wilson, Graduate, Maidenhead
4th First Bala boat – Andy Hodgson, Laser