Dam To Dam - Kielder Water Sailing Club - 4/5 May 2025
- Steve Harvey
- May 17
- 9 min read
This report is written with a Wētā emphasis so apologies to any other classes who attended.
With all eyes on the forecast in the lead up to this years instalment of the Dam To Dam it was with excitement and trepidation that five keen Wētā owners committed to attending.
The first to arrive were Eric and Kathrine, new comers to the fleet, and the keenest of all as they arrived on Friday and were already out sailing and making the most of some great conditions (15-18kts gusting mid to high 20s), when Kiwi Steve arrived on Saturday. Shortly after Steve T and John H arrived, and an afternoon of boat bimbling commenced before racing the next day.
Patrick duly arrived on the morning of Race 1 and proceeded to unload and rig with a little time to spare for registration, briefing and the race start at 1pm.
Unfortunately John, who was tenting didn’t have a good night in a tent on the club lawn. A combination of overnight temperatures dropping to 3 degrees, another nearby tent snoring loudly, and various owls and night life creating a symphony of sound meant sleep was nonexistent, and as others were raising he had already strapped the boat down and decided to head home feeling he couldn’t sail.
Race 1
Initially conditions didn’t appear to be as volatile as the day before. However, the wind continued to build through the morning and by the time we started we had a stiff northerly breeze around 10-15 knots gusting 20-25. Although this is lake sailing in Northumberland so there were plenty of dead spots with very little wind as well - more on that aspect as you read on….. and it was cold.
The start was mixed for the Wētā fleet.
Kiwi missed the initial flags so judged his run for the line by following a couple of Ospreys and an International14, Steve T along with Eric & Katherine got swallowed by the fleet and by his own admission Patrick was last over the start line so would need to pick his way through the pack.
At the first mark was the International14 followed shortly behind by an RS800 and Kiwi as the 1st single handed boat close behind them, with the Osprey and Finn not far behind.
Once clear of the the mark the Int14 briefly raised their kite which launched them off down the lake towards the leeward shore line where they dropped it and two sail blasted along. Kiwi stayed high and deployed the gennaker which he wrestled with as the angle was swinging with every gust that came through. It paid off and he managed to open a decent gap on thos behind while limiting the slowly extending gap to the Int14.
Near the start of the dog leg in the lake the gennaker became more hassle than benefit so it was furled away. Up ahead the Int14 had some form of gear failure allowing Kiwi to close in on them and sneak past, once he had checked they were ok.
As Kiwi entered the dogleg it was obvious the breeze was funnelling down this part of the course and the Wētā was flying upwind. Heading left out of the dogleg meant the gennaker could again be unfurled for a little more power. Or could it?
Any one who has sailed at Kielder will probably attest to the breeze at this end of the lake being very swirly, and today was no different.
Kiwi stayed as close to the centre as possible, while that Int14 having made some repairs was back in the groove and tucked itself against the shore again enabling them to sneak through to leeward. The final couple of hundred metres to the Dam bouy had the Wētā and the Int14 exchanging wind shifts, gusts and places before the Int14 snuck around only a few boat lengths ahead.
And so the journey back begins - the Int14 with kite flying was away with Kiwi doing what he could to get the gennaker working as efficiently as possible. Ultimately is was a leg of furl, unfurl, furl, unfurl again and then as if someone flicked a switch the breeze kicks up a gear from ahead requiring a quick upwind furl (never the cleanest) leaving a small amount of unfurled gennaker flapping like crazy and sounding like a motorbike without an exhaust. But there was no other option as Kiwi was hiking hard on the airborne windward float and riding out some monster gusts on what had turned in to a tight reach to the next mark.
Behind was the ever present Osprey, not really close enough to be a real threat but still flying their spinnaker and blasting along on the same course over ground but a completely different wind angle.
Sailing round the second to last mark on the course the gennaker was again unfurled and ahead was a capsized Int14. They teased the Wētā nicely before expertly getting the boat back up and unleashing their kite again to romp downwind to the penultimate mark on the course and through the line to claim overall line honours.
Kiwi wasn’t far behind for second overall line honours (1st single handed) and needing to be patient to see how things would pan out on corrected time.
Steve T was the next Wētā over the line followed shortly after by two very close toots for the final two Wētā - Patrick sailing solo and Eric and Kathrine sailing two up.
Once back on shore there were tales of near capsizes, huge gusts, one swim, one crew change, great seamanship’s skills (see Patrick’s take on what happened below) and overall a great day sailing.
Patricks mid fleet escapades (as told by the man himself)!!
Good news and bad news. The good news is I didn’t capsize but the bad news is I managed to slip off the boat. On the return leg of the first long distance race on Kielder Water, which is the largest man made reservoir in the UK, the flukey winds were coming in from a northerly direction in variable strengths between zero and 15-20knts and changing in a heartbeat. With all sails deployed trying to catch a virtually non existent breeze for the previous 10 minutes or so I was suddenly hit by one these mythical gusts. Although I was able release the gennaker I was not quick enough to release the main as the leeward ama disappeared out of sight in the brackish water. In an attempt to stop a capsize I ended up bent double over the windward gunwhale astern of the tramp staring at the centre board, the tip of which was the only bit in contact with the water. Although my efforts averted a capsize she came up pretty abruptly and I slid gracelessly off the gunwale into the water. First rule of sailing, never loose contact with the boat which I managed to do by clinging on the aft strap of the tramp, however even though I had managed to release all the sheets with all 3 sails flapping in what was now a fresh breeze I was still moving through the water at 2 - 3knts even with me acting as a sea anchor, and now I am well north of 70yo, I simply did not have the strength to get back on board. This gave me the opportunity to take stock of my situation in the increasing chilly waters of Kielder; no rescue boats in sight and I probably didn’t even look as though I needed rescuing, the nearest bank was a half mile swim away followed by a 3-4 mile treck back the sailing club through a pine forest and god knows where the boat would have ended up. My last option would have been to flood an ama and capsize the boat, probably not that easy in practise, but at least I knew I could get back into the boat from that situation.
Fortunately my guardian angels, Katherine Knight and Eric Holden, in their Weta were not far behind me and when they saw my boat with no crew on board and a leg dangling over an ama from under the tramp they came over to investigate and thanks to some extremely good seamanship came alongside where Eric leapt across, backed the jib which took the way off and I was able to get alongside and he hauled me in. I dropped Eric back at his boat and we both went on our merry way. A couple of pints later that evening and hearty dinner and I was right as rain. I would like to extend my heart felt thanks to Katherine and Eric for their fantastic efforts on my behalf and great seamanship.
I am currently working on a recovery system that will help me should I get into that situation again. One idea I am toying with is not to fall off in the first place!
Race 2
The morning of the second long distance race dawned with slightly brighter skies, a bit more warmth in the air, but noticably less breeze than the day before.
There was enough time to get ready for the day without being rushed and after the briefing we all knew the course was going to be the same as the previous day, but the question was where will the Wētā end up in the fleet as the breeze at the start was forecast to gradually drop as the race went on.
The Wētā were definitely more in sync with the other boats on the start with all three getting decent breeze and speed as the gun went. At the first mark there wasn’t much in it.
The Int14 was again up front, along with two Ospreys chasing hard, and mixing it up was a Finn, the three Wētā and a number of other boats all vying for good position on the water not far behind.
For the next two miles until the elbow in the lake the Int14 and two Ospreys stretched out their lead. The three Wētā (Patrick, Kiwi, and the pairing of Eric and Kathrine) swapping positions a number of times and were having a nice tactical race within a race with Kiwi just edging away as they turned upwind through the ‘dog leg’ before reaching towards the far dam a further two miles away.
At the dam bouy things closed up again as the fleet sought elusive puffs (from any direction) under the hills at this end of the lake. Patrick and Kiwi had now joined an RS800 and there wasn’t much in it as the three of them traded places after turning at the mark and heading home…… not far behind was Eric and Katherine.
Patrick and the RS800 stayed mid lake and snuck through as Kiwi chose to head further towards the leeward bank and promptly fell in a ‘hole’. The breeze filled his gennaker from the port side briefly before stopping him dead as it swung 180 degrees and then vanished. A couple of slow changes in direction didn’t help at all and he could only wait and watch as others barely 100 metres away were at least moving steadily, in the right direction. And then, as if by magic, he was off again, and not just slowly. A gust had fallen perfectly for Kiwi and he was away on a port blast with the leeward float buried. With a quick glance to windward it was obvious the gap was closing to the RS800 and Patrick, both who appeared to have fallen in to a hole of their own.
As we got further down the lake the Wētā was enjoying the tight reaches and the gennaker was paying dividends against the larger asymmetric kites who couldn’t quite hold the angles as long as we could.
The breeze was definitely dropping as the race went on and as Kiwi and Patrick entered the main body of the lake it was clear the Int14 and the first Osprey were well ahead. The second Osprey was within striking distance but it wasn’t to be caught before the finish line.
On water finishing positions for the Wētā were Kiwi (4th), Patrick (5th), Eric and Katherine (6th), but how would this equate for corrected time?
Love it or hate it, mixed fleet racing is always interesting. With such a range of boats taking part you simply have to sail well from start to finish. It’s always nice to be challenging boats you know are faster on the water, but it’s equally frustrating when you have slower boats challenging you.
And that was it, Kielder Water Sailing Club’s Dam to Dam weekend. Two races in a wonderful setting, decent breeze for most part, great company, and another weekend of racing to remember.
I think it’s possible we’ll back again next year.
Results -
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