A fine broad reach ensued, under mains only with two reefs. Unfortunately, competitive spirit soon took over from common sense, and the familiar sight of roller jibs being unfurled was a foretaste of the inevitable debacle to come. The first few jibes were relatively skilfully accomplished, but a rapidly rising wind ahead of showers made life pretty hairy. Andrew Morison was first over, accomplishing a superb dry capsize and recovery, while Richard urged his 10 year old crew to "concentrate now that we are ahead" - splash ! Next jibe, the inevitable broach resulted in another dry capsize for us this time. Unfortunately while Andrew (10) stayed aboard, the Skipper slid gracefully into the lake as the boat came upright...............

When we bought our 16 in 1997 we fitted a masthead float(the ballcock) to prevent inversion, and on the few occasions we have capsized since, this has ensured a quick and easy recovery. At the club supper in Ullswater we extolled the virtues of our modification with all the bluster and bravado of an Iraqi Minister of Information .... little did we know!

The following morning dawned blustery, but dry and we were surprised to find that all the older, wiser, and more experienced crews had decided to go hillwalking. Once we'd sailed clear of the sheltered shoreline by the yacht club and the first real gusts hit us we realised why! With relatively little fetch the small waves on the lake belied a strong wind which varied considerably in both force and direction.

Having ribbed the walkers about being wimps, we could hardly follow our natural instincts and retire poste haste to the club bar so, hoist by our own petard, we set off down the lake towards Glenridding looking distinctly like Mr. & Mrs. Wobbly heading for Capsizeville.

Mark was on the trapeze, and we were beating heeled to the limit most of the time - a bit nerve-wracking, but a real buzz. Then, just when we thought we had it licked (always a fatal moment), a mighty gust hit us as we approached the Howtown dogleg, and no amount of hiking, heading up or wind-spilling could stop the inevitable. "Oh well" we thought, anticipating the usual straightforward 90 degree righting exercise, but this became "OH NO!" as the wind on the hull overpowered the masthead float and the boat kept capsizing until it became fully inverted for the first time in its life. There was a short stunned silence, then a loud clang as, with a final gesture of defiance, the 30kg centreboard neatly packed itself away.

After raising the centreboard again, it needed both of us on the gunwhale to slowly right the boat .... only to watch it go straight over the other way and upside down again! Just in case the walkers on the shoreline were too doubled up with mirth at the initial capsize to observe this spectacle, we repeated it 3 more times before, with the assistance of a Safety Boat, we eventually got the 16 to stay the right way up.

Exhausted, but with no harm done we screamed back to the clubhouse with the wind behind us to find all the club racing had been abandoned due to the carnage on the water. Even large keel boats had been capsized by the 25 - 40knot (F6 - F8) gusts.

Whilst it was some consolation that we weren't the only ones caught out by the conditions, we did learn a few lessons for the future - in particular .... a) when everyone else goes walking, go with them. b) don't overestimate the power of your ballcock!