We used to have Willie's BRE and launched it at Rutland several times. We’ve generally used Whitwell and found that it’s fine. As Willie said, the creak be busy and it’s very sheltered, so we’ve generally used paddles to get out and into the lake itself. The novices tend to be spread out and not moving fast, and the lack of wind means we’ve not been moving fast either, so we’ve not had a problem getting through them.
The facilities at Whitwell are fine - not the poshest, but they have everything you need (loos, a cafe and a tiny water sports shop). Ice cream is available from the harbour cafe, and I think maybe the water sports shop too.
launching is relatively easy - they have a pontoon next to the slip so you can keep your feet dry, but it is a very shallow slip so the boat may need some pushing to get it off the trailer. There is plenty of car and trailer parking fairly close to the slipway (either in the little car park next to it, or on the grass at the top of it), and you can tie the boat up on the pontoon while you sort out the car and trailer, or longer if you want.
No need to book in advance, but just check there’s nothing on that blocks the slip. They run a triathlon once a year and shut it when that’s on, but I don’t know if other events shut it too.
The lake itself will have plenty of room unless there’s a large sailing event on. It looks like the Toppers are there on the 23rd and 24th June, so there’ll be lots of boats on the lake that weekend. But they’ll launch from the sailing club and the northern arm will probably be relatively quiet. I don’t know how busy the other sailing events get.
Hope that helps.
Nicky
