CHANGES in ownership of several of the Royal Windermere Yacht Club 17ft Class yachts have added to the interest and enthusiasm in the racing this season, writes John McVey.

This was reflected in the excellent turn-out of 16 boats for the Lapwing Trophy and Vintage Cup race despite dismal weather in the south lake on Saturday.

A fresh south-westerly was blowing at the Rampholme line for the start but soon fell away. It picked up again before heavy rain set in and then returned to provide good beating conditions to the finish.

Not surprisingly, there were many positional changes throughout the afternoon, particularly in the middle of the fleet. One boat stayed clear of it all, Chas Ingham once again showing everyone the way home in Chameleon to collect his second win.

He made the best start, picked a flawless line to establish a comfortable lead and turned the windward mark at Beech Hill with a three-minute lead.

A close battle had developed for second place with Mark and Maria Ormerod's Pilgrim formerly Cecilia turning just ahead of Richard Brownson in Capella with James Nield's Amira marginally ahead of Fred Tattersall's Liberty.

The downwind leg back to the Ferry saw Chameleon still well clear and little to choose between Liberty, Amira and Pilgrim.

In the now gentle breeze, Richard and Linzi Parkinson's Falcon II, John Curtis's Deva and Michael Hopkinson's Merrymaid had closed up and were virtually side by side, ahead of Capella, Pete Catherall and John Caffrey's Osprey, Michael Hope and Steve Horrocks' Minerva and David McCann's Freedom.

Chameleon turned the Ferry mark and in the freshening breeze quickly reached the finish just north of Temple to win by 350 yards.

Amira finished fast but could not catch second-placed Liberty, while Pilgrim claimed an excellent fourth place ahead of Deva, closely pursued by Osprey.

So the Lapwing Trophy went to Chas Ingham as the race winner with the Lapwing Vintage Cup going to the first yacht in the Classic Fleet, James Nield's Amira.

Results:

Windermere 17ft Class: Saturday: (Lapwing Trophy & Vintage Cup): 1 C.S. Ingham's Chameleon; 2 F.H. Tattersall's Liberty; 3 J. Nield's Amira; 4 M. & M. Ormerod's Pilgrim; 5 J Curtis' Deva; 6 P. Catherall & J. Caffrey's Osprey. Classic Fleet: 1 Amira; 2 Deva; 3 C.H. Peters & R.S. Brownson's Capella.

GP14s: Thursday: 1 R. Rose's Bumbling Bee; 2 J. & E. Oxborrow's Pelican; 3 R. Thompson's Short & Sweet. Sunday: 1 Short & Sweet; 2 13771. C. & T. Houlihan's Starlight did not finish.

Lasers: Thursday: 1 J. Whalley's 127460; 2 B. Thompson's Niccars; 3 C. Berry's Anti-Depressant.

n WITH the forecast of a moderate southerly breeze, Saturday's the RWYC's Flying Fifteen race was set in south lake

At the start, most boats chose the east shore, but the breeze became unsteady and dropped, with the leaders searching for enough wind to get into the centre of the lake.

When they finally rounded Graythwaite, Andrew Kirk and Helen Ginsberg in Zephyr were narrowly in front of a pursuing group of Frank Kelly and Doug Douglas in Fiscal Folly, Nigel Tullett and Sam Rayner in Kiffs and Michael Bentley and John Barker in Folly.

Fluky breezes lured some boats over to the west shore, where spinnakers collapsed, while Zephyr, Kiffs and Folly held on up the centre of the lake

At the end of a frustrating race the wind returned strongly with Zephyr holding off all challenges to win.

On Sunday, the fleet sailed down to a south lake start in a force 4 - 5 south-westerly.

Wind strength increased at times to force 6 with violent westerly gusts and Kiffs rounded first, with Folly and Ffidget, with Bev Armer and Alan Dawson following. On the spinnaker leg to Sandy Nab, Ffidget slipped past Folly, and held on to the advantage for the rest of the race.

Results:

Saturday: 1 A. Kirk & H. Ginsberg, Zephyr; 2 N. Tullett & S. Rayner, Kiffs; 3 M. Bentley & J. Barker, Folly.

Sunday: 1 Kiffs; 2 B. Armer & A. Dawson, Ffidget ; 3 M. Bentley & D. Hawkes, Folly.

n IN CONTRAST to the past two weeks, the wind was much lighter for Killington windsurfers and sail pumping was needed in places.

The light winds favoured Bill Davison who rounded the mark first.

John Pawson arrived at the windward mark just ahead of Mike Hardy, but did not leave enough water around it and passed the wrong side, and had to round it again. In the second race, Pawson took a different course to the windward mark to find better wind and almost beat Davison to it.

In the final race, Pawson decided to cut across the start on a starboard tack but became the victim of a wind shift during the race, which took away any advantage.

Overall result: 1 Davison, 2 Hardy, 3 Pawson.

Coniston Sailing Club hosts a major week of activities from tomorrow as part of the annual Coniston Water Festival.

From Saturday to Monday races will be held in the Burtlington Trophy cruiser regatta and Osprey open handicap races for dinghies.

There are also prize races on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

From Tuesday to Friday the club is offering junior sail training for any children from eight-year-old an upwards

The second weekend, Saturday, May 31 and Sunday June 1 will see the Cumbrian Dinghy Open Handicap, with entrants from all over the North of England.

Social events include a ceilidh in Coniston Old Hall tomorrow, a cocktail party at the club on Sunday evening and champagne and strawberry lunches on Thursday and Saturday May 29 and 31.

May 22, 2003 16:30