Results / Great Northern Asymmetric Challenge Bassenthwaite SC - 22/04/2017

Photo: William Carruthers

Bassenthwaite Race Report

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/195464

http://www.bassenthwaite-sc.org.uk/great-north-asymmetric-challenge-4/

Eight RS400’s turned up at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club for the 2017 Great Northern Asymmetric Challenge and the second traveller of the Northern Tour. The sun was out as everyone arrived in what has to be a solid rival for the most beautiful scenery on any of the tour events. With a building wind and sun forecast all weekend the outlook was good.

The racing started in a light breeze with regular shifts from the shoreline. This produced some interesting racing through the day as the breeze built. The local boys, Mark and Joe, showed the fleet a clean pair of heels in race one as the fleet was trying to figure out the shifts, with plenty of people ending up on the wrong side. As the day continued the racing was close, Chris Pickled and Matt Sharman managed a clean sheet for the following three races with the rest of the fleet chasing hard, leaving them overnight leaders. Mark and Joe followed up with Ben Robertson and Jenny Douglas sitting in third.

The race officer did an excellent job of getting the races restarted throughout the day despite regular swings in the wind.

Day two started in a similar manner to day one with light and unstable winds but that filled in steadily as racing approached, up until the fleet launched to plane out to the start line. Big swings and getting the shifts right were once again the name of the game.

Once again the race officer managed to fire away four races. Chris and Matt gave the rest of the fleet a masterclass in how to play the shifts throughout the day and led the way to a solid win in each race, despite David Moore and Ben Murrell giving them a run for their money in the final race. Mark and Joe once again put in a solid performance to secure second overall.

Some close racing was had by everyone in gorgeous scenery in the sun, shifts aside, and the race officer did a fantastic job of getting eight races away. Congratulation to Chris and Matt for putting in a great performance to win the event.

Ben Robertson