Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 7 at Ullswater Yacht Club

Katy Munro and Beth Hurst finish 1st girls in the Harken 29er GP at Ullwater © Kirsty Wilson

Dan and Fin Armstrong win the Harken 29er GP at Ullwater © Kirsty Wilson

Shifty winds but Torbay team win in the end

For the 7th Harken Grand Prix of the 2015/2016 series the fleet headed to the Lake District and Ullswater Yacht Club.

17 boats made the start line from as far afield as Torbay, Cork, and Aberdeen – true 29er travellers! The event was shared with the VX One fleet – a cool looking "old guys 29er" from Ovington Boats.

Saturday morning dawned over the campsite and club with the weather clearly showing it was going to be a difficult day for the fleet and race team as the lake was glassy calm. This meant the race officer was forced to postpone the start while we waited for the wind to fill in.

The fleet launched at about 11 am – little did they suspect it would be 7 hrs before they returned to shore. The day was characterised by 180 degree shifts, difficult waits between races in zero wind, and some one sided courses where it was difficult for boats to gain or lose places. It was a very hard day for the race team but well done though for persistence and getting the races completed.

As for the race positions, the long distance travellers fared well. Huw and Josh had started well in race one, but then Fin and Dan from Torbay, mastered the difficult conditions (often sub 5 knots) and posted a 2, 1, 1 in the next 3 races. The two Harrys from Cork also did well and went into second overnight. The fleet returned ashore very tired at 6pm hoping for better conditions on the Sunday.

Bolstered by excellent evening food at the club, and for many a good nights sleep in the campsite, (midges not welcome!) the Sunday morning looked much better with 12- 15 knots over much of the lake. The fleet headed south out of the clubhouse to a much better sailing area with big bays. The start line was close to the land to make the beat as long as possible across the lake. The fleet enjoyed five solid races in good lake sailing conditions. Bends and shifts off the hills were persistent, and those who unlocked the key to the beats and downwind legs fared well.

Harken 29er GP at Ullwater - photo © Kirsty Wilson

Dan and Fin Armstrong ontinued where they left off on Saturday posting 2 firsts and a second to give them the overall GP win – well done. Irish Harrys were second justifying the long trip from cork. Ullswater local boys, Ethan Leahy and Robert Richardson scooped first Junior in 9th Overall. Katy Munro and Beth Hurst took top ladies.

Next up on the GP series is Hayling on the 16/17 the July – looking forward to a great turn out there to end the series.

Many thanks to Ullswater YC teams (both Race and Galley) for hosting the event the weekend.

Overall Results: