Lord Birkett Trophy 5th/6th July 2008

It was wet, the wind was gusty and shifty, there were 213 boats of various shapes and sizes on the start-line. But as the club commodore rightly said in his closing words of the event "We all loved it".
On the first july weekend, 376 competitors made their way to Ullswater to compete at the Lord Birkett Trophy in the year of the clubs golden anniversary. A very respectable turn-out, given the poor weather forecast.

As per usual, racing on both saturday and sunday would be up and down the full length of the lake. On saturday, at exactly 1pm the fleet was started on the start line spanning from shore to shore. The very shifty and gusty conditions were going to make it a very physically challenging race, which was not apparent at the very light wind start, many struggling to cross the line in the wake of boats as big as mid-sized cruisers.

Owing to the patchy wind across the lake, the fleet soon stretched out considerably, giving the boats with a good start a lead that would be very difficult to catch up. With rain clouds coming through, the wind soon picked up and until the end of the race there were gusts as strong as 20 knots amongst rather calm patches. While taking the attention away from the boat would rather often be punished with a capsize, there were some breathtaking views to be had. The rain clouds on an otherwise clear sky rolled over the hills, shedding rain on one side of the lake while the other would be brightly illuminated by the sun piercing through between the dark clouds. In terms of the 11 boat strong Musto Skiff fleet, Richard Stenhouse won the first race, coming a very respectable 6th overall.

Racing on sunday also started in relatively light airs. After an aborted start, the black flagged second start was successful with Richard Stenhouse, Ian Trotter and Dave Gebhard all near the very front of the fleet. Before long, Ian Trotter managed to break free from Richard Stenhouse and took the lead in the Musto Skiff fleet. At the south end of the lake, however, the wind dropped to nearly zero in such way that the entire fleet was "bunched up". Adjacent boats, traveling in the same direction, would be on different tacks, some with their kite up, others not. Following a fleet reshuffle, Richard Stenhouse had pulled past Ian Trotter to come 12th overall.

Throughout the weekend, the wind conditions were challenging, particularly for the high performance boats. To the point, were the fleet was almost entirely homogenous for the entire duration of the race - 49ers and B14s amongst lasers and RS200s, even hours after the start. Out of the Musto Skiff fleet there were only two sailors, Richard Stenhouse and Ian Trotter, who proved that the skiff does live up to its official PNY even in such conditions. Remarkably, only Ian and Richard made it into the first half of the overall fleet.

And for all those who now think they have missed out, its not all too late: in four years it will be another 50th anniversary, the 50th Lord Birkett Trophy.

Musto Skiff Results:

Rank SailNo Helm Club R1 R2 Nett
6th 252 Stenhouse Richard Rutland SC 6 12 18
47th 294 Trotter Ian Derwent Resv. 52 43 95
107th 170 Ahlmann Iver Rutland SC 146 71 217
113th 211 Evans John Derwent Resv. 124 104 228
122nd 367 Gebhard Josh Derwent Resv. 171 80 251
127th 352 Gebhard Dave Derwent Resv. 169 90 259
132nd 127 Trotter robert Derwent Resv. 152 119 271
150th 56 Lowe Stephen South Shields SC 149 154 303
158th 240 Purdy Richard Sunderland 179 135 314
171st mad Holland Fergus Kielder Water SC 214 DNF 120 334
196th 119 Robinson Phil Filey SC 178 214 DNS 392