Photo gallery (Saturday) Photo gallery (Sunday)
Bassenthwaite hosted GNAC, sponsored by Trident UK, for a fleet of 68 boats. A dry afternoon with a cooler F3-5 ENE breeze meant there was some champagne sailing conditions that required sailors to remain alert for other boats while beating, tacking, and reaching, especially if planing! Unfortunately, not all boats managed to keep clear all of the time, so there were a few collisions, and many more crash tacks…
The first four races of the eight race series were held on Saturday. A problem with the starting horn for the first race helped keep the fleet cautious for the start with no-one OCS. They were well behaved for subsequent starts, with only a few OCS boats, so the black flag remained tucked away (for the time being!).
Several boats missed going through the start/finish line at the end of each lap hindering their chances considerably. For everyone else, there was great, close racing with Pix/Matt Sharman securing overnight lead ahead of Alistair/Tom Coates from Leigh & Lowton, and Richard/Heather Marsh from Hollingworth, all separated by just three points.
Sunday started clear sunny skies but with a wind that refused to settle, so it was to be a waiting game. As the wind bedded in from the forecast NE the OD set off with the aim of starting at 1230 (a delay of two hours). The flukiness returned, but there was a good WSW breeze south of the Scarness narrows so the course was set there, but it took the fleet an extra half hour to get there, then the wind faded as it swung back to the forecast NE!
The course was repositioned into the main bay and racing started at 1320. Consequently only two races were held to conclude the series. There were a few more boats OCS, but there was no need for the black flag during the weekend. The winds were as challenging as Saturday, possibly stronger at times, giving way to more exciting planing conditions.
Some great racing and results by Ollie Groves/Esther Parkhurst, and Alistair/Helen Norris, both in RS200s leapfrogged them into 1st and 2nd overall, with Paul/Jude Allen in their 59er 3rd.
Final results: