Results / Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy Ullswater SC - 02/07/2011

The Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy 2011 
 
Light winds and bright sunshine greeted the 166 entrants for the 2011 Lord Birkett Trophy at Ullwater over the weekend of 2/3rd July. Seven RS400's made the trip to Ullswater for the fifth round of the Northern Tour.
 
The Saturday race started at the second attempt under a black flag and it was quickly obvious that the conditions suited Wayne and Deb Fletcher from Scaling Dam. They were equally as fast as the 49'ers, Musto Skiffs, and International Canoes and it was all the rest of the 400's could do just to keep them in sight! The Race Officer decided not to take the fleet to the Island and dropped a windward mark about 1/2 a mile past Howtown Corner. The wind was very light, fading away to nothing occasionally, and everyone agreed the right decision had been made to shorten the course.  Wayne and Deb won easily on handicap. Hamish Gledhill in 1014 finshed 4th overall and Dave Exeley in 1186 in 6th place overall.
Sunday morning proved to be equally as challenging. This time though the breeze was from the North East so the beat from the start was towards Pooley Bridge. The first start was recalled and the fleet got away at the second attempt. The left side paid and where was I? Right hand side, nice. Wayne and Deb were right up there again, rounding the windward mark in the top five. The Race Officer had set a course to Norfolk Island and as the fleet made it's way slowly down the lake the wind began to fill in from behind. By Howtown Corner the fleet had bunched right up and all seven 400's were within about 250 yards of each other. Some picked their way through the narrows better than others and Wayne, Hamish and Dave began to open up a big gap on the rest of us.  Again the breeze faded away and Wayne found himself in a hole while Hamish and Dave managed to keep some momentum. The race officer decided to shorten the course again and set a line just after Howtown Corner. Dave crossed first, with Hamish second  and Wayne third. This was also how the three finished on handicap as well so
three 400's took the top three places!