Sailing a Topper Topaz at Glenridding

The weekend did not start very promising, with force 4- 5 winds there was no hiring a boat, but I did enjoy a trip to Gowbarrow Fell, where I enjoyed some nice views of the water I hoped to be sailing on, and some great views of Aira Force. There had been quite a lot of rain, so the waterfall was quite impressive, and when the sun was shining as well making a rainbow in the spray it was a wonderful view.

Sunday brought a steady force two breeze, gusting to force three on occasions, dropping away altogether at one point, before returning from a completely different direction.  I was sailing a Topper Topaz, with just a main sail, and it was quite good fun. 

I took Anna out on a Lune Whammel a week or two back, and found it a bit cumbersome. The Topaz was very repsonsive, and I had to be quite careful shifting position not to move the tiller without meaning to. 

There were fewer other users on the lake than when we did the initial training, but then the weather was wonderful, and I suppose the rain showers kept them away.

I was glad to have experienced righting a capsized boat in previous training, it meant there was no great panic the two times I did capsize. I probably should have capsized a few more times, I certainly lost control, but I think I benefited from not having a jib, as soon as I let go of things the boat naturally turned to wind.

Steve was impressed that I had listened to the training Neil had given, and paid attention to the trim, (avoiding the boat tipping forward or backward in the water). I was helped in this by two aspects of the boat's design:  The tiller extension suited a fairly forward seating position, otherwise you do not have room to manouver it; and the low stern, that makes it so easy to clamber back on after a capsize, meant that water would flow into the boat when you sat too near the stern.

It was altogether a very enjoyable experience, and I am looking forward to the level 2 training in a few weeks time.