Bala Lake Long Distance Race incorporating the K1 Long Distance Race
by Hilly King 26 Jun 00:51 PDT
22-23 June 2024
The latest K1 open meeting counting towards the 2024 travellers trophy was held over the weekend of 22nd & 23rd June at Bala Sailing Club.
Every year the K1 class have a long distance race as part of our open meeting calendar and this year the fleet descended on Bala Lake to enjoy both the Bala long distance race and the K1 long distance race, which uses the combined times of both days races to determine overall positions.
For those not familiar with Bala Lake it is a spectacular venue with mountains and trees surrounding a large expanse of water in the middle of the Snowdonia National Park.
Fifty six entrants, half of which were visitors, were due to race in a handicap fleet for four hours on Saturday, followed by a three hour race on Sunday.
The K1 class was the largest fleet despite the large distances most had to travel to enjoy what was forecast to be a champagne weekend, with perhaps some glimpses of sunshine.
Cedric and Caroline Jacobson arrived at Bala early on Friday with a mission to climb Snowdon. Yes, the weather does change quickly in this part of the world and you have to respect the rangers decision on the mountain, but I am happy to say they were successful at the fourth attempt! When the remainder of the K1's started to arrive they were greeted by National Champion, Simon Hawkes and his "junior" Paul Birbeck (also a previous K1 National Inland Champion) out for a practice sail in their very impressive VX1. Clocking speeds of more than 18 knots you knew that they were going to be the team to beat.
Clearly Bala has its own eco system as the strong winds on Friday greeted the fleet on Saturday even though the forecast was due to be lighter. The course was simply to beat the full length of the lake and run back, round a selection of marks, through the line and repeat!
At the start Simon and Paul shot out to the left hand side of the lake never to be headed and were absolutely flying. Jeremy Hudson also went hard left despite most of the locals heading right and Geoff King went right assuming the fast local sailors would have local knowledge he could tap into. The beat was absolutely brutal and seemed to go on for an eternity with a steady force 4 gusting 5 and 6. It was a pleasing moment to see Simon and Paul together with the fast asymmetrics coming back the other way as you knew that the windward mark must be getting closer.
Hilly King and Cedric Jacobson meanwhile had for different reasons not the best of starts, so set about trying to catch the boats ahead. Local sailor Paul Kent was making steady progress towards the centre of the lake and then decided to go left as the wind bent slightly more westerly. Jeremy was establishing a good lead over Geoff and when he rounded the windward mark he was level with Merlin Rockets, Fireballs and the RS100, however as soon as they popped up the kites they were flying off wind. Despite his best efforts surfing and using the wind to maximum advantage the K1 would have to wait for the upwind legs to stay in touch overall. Geoff rounded comfortably in second and Hilly who had been making steady progress third, followed by Paul and Cedric.
The downwind legs were not for the faint hearted and the refuelling would have to wait until the occasional lull in wind strength since you had to be careful not to bury the bow into the next wave you were overtaking. Jeremy chose this time to take the starboard side of the lake on the run whilst coincidently the other K1's all opted for what appeared to be the favoured port side. Indeed at this point the fleet appeared to be reducing Jeremy's lead and by the start of the second beat all were much closer together. Time to use a fair bit of kicker and cunningham trying desperately to de-power in anyway possible.
Paul was hit by a huge gust as he started the second lap and at times both he and the rest of the fleet seemed just to be sailing on the jib alone! Jeremy however was keeping a constant distance in front and seemed to hit every lift perfectly so he resumed his rightful place with the Merlin Rockets and RS400. Hilly by this time had caught Geoff and place changing was frequent until Geoff again selected hard right which was to pay handsomely, with Hilly going left which clearly was not the best of decisions. Halfway up this beat we saw a welcome sight of Simon and Paul screaming back and they were obviously well clear of all other boats. Seeing first Simon and Paul and then more latterly Jeremy was an indication the windward mark was getting closer and a chance for your limbs to get a break.
When Jeremy rounded the mark he chose this time to gybe into clear wind and his progress was incredibly rapid opting for the starboard side of the course and where the wind was coming straight over the mountains and gusting at its highest. When Geoff and Hilly rounded a few minutes later they opted for the same side and began to catch the faster boats and again slowly reduce Jeremy's lead. By the start of the third lap Jeremy was in the groove and put his head down, bottom as far out as possible and made light work of the considerable chop crossing the lake to pick up the wind bend and even higher gusts.
When Geoff and Hilly started the last lap they were only separated by a few metres and this was to be the situation for the first half of the beat. At this point Simon and Paul powered between them momentarily taking Geoff's wind and gave Hilly a slight edge. Interestingly the gap to Jeremy was now constant and despite everyone getting massive lifts and headers there was no favoured side. As Jeremy rounded the windward mark again he was right on the tails of the faster boats again showing his consistency and speed up the beats. Geoff and Hilly literally rounded the windward mark together so had a battle royal over the off wind legs. I cannot describe the fun of getting on the plane, surfing the waves and swapping places continually.
At the finish Jeremy took the bullet and after four hours of racing Geoff took second by one second from Hilly. Cedric finished fourth as Paul had missed one of the lower marks and was therefore disqualified. Simon and Paul were sent around again despite being over a lap in front so they ended up sailing five laps in their VX1, whereas the K1's sailed three laps.
Interestingly whilst discussing the race over the splendid barbecue supplied by Bala Sailing Club that evening, Cedric checked his GPS tracking. Cedric sailed over forty kilometres which is worthy of any long distance race, but using a simple magnifier Simon and Paul must have sailed the best part of seventy kilometres!
Bring on Sunday which was due to be an hour shorter with a target time limit of three hours. Whilst the rest of the country bathed in sunshine and very little wind we were greeted with overcast skies and winds of 10 knots gusting 15knots.
From a K1 perspective Paul chose not to sail, but we were happy to welcome Steve Pooley from the home club who unfortunately was not available to sail on Saturday.
The fleet got a clean start and it was extremely pleasing to see all the K1's had good starts and clear pathways to choose which side of the lake they wished to sail. Jeremy was again the pacemaker swapping tacks with Simon and Paul, both selecting the left hand side of the course. Hilly and Cedric also chose the left side as it looked that the wind was bending along the shoreline. Meanwhile Steve and Geoff were moving quickly on the right hand side so it would be interesting to see when the fleet crossed to see who had made the correct choice.
Jeremy was on a mission and after forty minutes beating looked like he was going to arrive at the windward mark as first boat over the water. As it was he had to settle for second as the VX1 just sneaked inside him. Jeremy continued to keep his position over the water as the wind lightened slightly for the long off wind leg, however it was clear his wind was being disturbed by some of the spinnaker boats chasing.
Meanwhile Hilly, Geoff and Steve arrived at the windward mark together still up with the leading boats over the water and began the long off wind run. It was interesting to see little between the respective speeds of the three chasing boats and all three were catching up Jeremy as he was struggling to find clear air. At the start of the second beat Jeremy had a significantly reduced lead, Hilly was second, with Geoff and Steve too close to call.
Jeremy played the shifts brilliantly up the beat with the sun beginning to break through the clouds. However the chasing pack were determined to keep him honest and the lead remained constant but was not increasing. Jeremy rounded the windward mark in front and chose this time to stay on the starboard side of the course. Hilly rounded second and chose to go on the opposite side, with Geoff and Steve opting for the middle initially.
As we approached the leeward marks Jeremy had protected his lead and at the finish he took the bullet. Hilly was second, Geoff third and Steve fourth.
It was also noted that the second race had on handicap placed the K1's in the top four positions. At the prize-giving Jeremy had won both the Bala long distance race overall and the K1 long distance trophy. Hilly was third overall in the Bala long distance race and second in the K1 event. Geoff was fourth overall in the Bala long distance race and third in the K1 event. Cedric was a well deserved winner of the K1 masters trophy. Great to see old friends and new as we move on next to Rutland for our Inland National Championship.