Kielder Water Rally

Kielder Water is the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity and it is surrounded by Kielder Forest, the largest man-made woodland in Europe. The scheme was planned in the late 1960s to satisfy an expected rise in demand for water to support a booming UK industrial economy. But the decline of traditional heavy industry, together with more water-efficient industrial processes and better control of water supply leakage, served to undermine the original justification for the reservoir and many came to criticise the government-funded project as a white elephant. However, it does provide one the best inland sailing waters in the UK, with a perimeter of 27 miles, there is plenty of shore line to explore.

 

Friday Evening Sail

 

Early Saturday Morning

 

 

The sailing club was very welcoming, a wide slipway and large club house made life easy for the weekend. 

 

At the north end of the water, there is a small inlet that makes a perfect landing spot.

 

Although there was only four Drascombes on the rally, we were joined by a Winkle Brig on Saturday.

 

The Kielder Water visitor centre is at Leaplish, where is possible to land and use the facilities, which include a restraint. However, we did manage to get a coffee and cake.

Simple Mods

 

A piece of pipe insulation, protects the wooden bar at the front shelf, as the oars etc. rest on it when trailing and also makes a reasonable head rest.

 

The elastic is tight enough to hold the tiller in the centre but also allows for enough movement to steer the boat. This certainly helps when sailing single handed.

Coniston Rally

This years rally attracted 16 boats - I think - and was held in near perfect weather. The sun came out and the rain didn't arrive until we were packing up. A good southerly wind built each day. The only disappointment was that Bank Ground Farm was closed to the public, because of a group booking, even though we'd sailed there, so we went over to the Blue Bird café for a coffee. Arthur Ransom would not approve !