The Royal Windermere Yacht Club has been hosting a series of events to attract adults and youth to ‘take to the water’.

“Members of the youth sailing squad (picture showing close quarters manoeuvring) are having a fantastic time on the water,” said Club Commodore Clare Houlihan. The club runs youth sailing programmes in blocks of eight sessions, twice a year. Young people aged from eight to 16 are welcome.

Also this week, the club participated in the Royal Yachting Association’s “Push the Boat Out” initiative, where people of all ages and abilities are encouraged to go on the water. ‘Try sailing in May’ is a motto for the month.

Meanwhile, the club’s cruiser class has been actively competing in recent races. In this class, any type of cruiser yacht can compete. The size and ability of each type of boat is assessed at the start of the season and a handicap system applied to ensure fair and equitable racing.

Class Captain Craig Allwood said: “In sunshine with light cloud and 10-14 light to moderate winds, the cruisers battled out stiff competition with ‘Va Voom’ (a Beneteau 21.7, helmed by Trevor Bonson) taking the lead early on and maintaining it to take first place. The positions for second and third places changed during the race with ‘Kontiki’ (a Hawk 20 helmed by Julian Maclaine) coming second and ‘Heartbeat’ (a Beneteau 21.7 helmed by John Burns) coming third.”

The dinghy fleet raced several times – starting on Thursday eveningin the North Lake. The conditions proved challenging to some, if not to class captain Robert Richardson who won both on the water and on handicap in his RS 100. Second place went to Judith Gore in her GP 14 and third place to Harry Frith.

On Sunday, two handicap dinghy racestook place in the North Lake but this time with light westerly winds. The first was won by Judith Gore in ‘Dreamcatcher’ (a GP 14), followed in second by Nigel Hutchinson in his Solo ‘Ultra SONIC’. John Richardson came in third in his RS100. The second race was won by Peter Frith sailing his single hander RS Vareo. John Richardson came second; Peter Wright was in third place in his Devoti D One.

Anyone interested in sailing should contact the Royal Windermere Yacht Club and all abilities from novices to experienced sailors are welcomed, details can be found on the club’s website: https://www.royal-windermere.co.uk/