Report - Duncan Greenhalgh                                                                       Full Results                                                                        Photos

The GP14 Scottish Area Championship was hosted by Annandale Sailing Club on the 17^th and 18^th of April, a weekend of starkly contrasting conditions.  Visitors from as far afield as Nottingham in the south and the Isles of Arran and Skye in the north joined local sailors.  The particularly large contingent of Bassenthwaite sailors was notably successful and dominated the prizegiving.
The boats began launching in near perfect conditions on Saturday, but before most had left the jetty the south westerly breeze increased by two forces resulting in several competitors opting to stay ashore.  Race 1 got underway in a force 5 with severe gusts accompanied by some alarming shifts which caught out more or less all the crews keeping the rescue team busy.
Phil Smith & Mike Cowan led the way around the first lap, with Dave & Lynn Lawson in second.  Defending champions John Telford & Andy Smith were one of the few who were brave enough to attempt the spinnaker, but ended up swimming.  Phil & Mike also capsized allowing Dave & Lynn into first, a position they held until the finish.  Phil & Mike capsized again and Andrew Greenhalgh & Colin Midgely and Richard & Philip Hodgkins took advantage to score second and third.  As a squall recorded at force 7 along with horizontal rain crossed the loch, Race Officer Duncan Greenhalgh wisely postponed race 2 until Sunday morning.

The gale had obviously blown itself out as Sunday dawned windless.  Fickle breezes filled in from all directions of the compass, but nothing lasted for the duration of a race.   Short triangular courses were the order of the day and conditions proved infuriating with some of the triangles containing three beats and some three spinnaker legs.  However this did provide some close and tactical racing with positions changing regularly throughout the fleet.
Dave & Lynn Lawson had the conditions mastered and won races 2 and 3 to effectively seal the championship.  The ever consistent John Telford & Andy Smith were never out of the top three and deservedly claimed runners up position overall.  Another two Bassenthwaite partnerships took top spot in the final two races.  A team to watch for the future are teenage brothers Richard & Philip Hodgkins who won race 4 to finish third overall and also took the Junior trophy.  At the other end of the age scale, Mike Fairlamb & Eric Smith won the fifth race as well as the Master trophy.

 With the visitors packed up and on their way home, a pleasant north westerly breeze filled in and the sun came out –  typical!

Abbreviated results as follows: