Zenith Travellers Trophy Open at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club
by Dee Hutchins 17 Aug 16:17 BST
15-16 August 2026
Zenith Open at Bass Week © Adrian Charlie
The first weekend of Bass Week 26 was a Zenith open and six boats made the trip to this beautiful corner of Lakeland from five different clubs.
Saturday saw light to moderate winds forecast for the afternoon but the big mountains had different plans and delivered extremely tricky conditions with gusts in the high 20's from all over. With over 110 boats on a very short start line it was like banger racing without the engine fumes. All Zeniths survived unharmed whilst trying to predict huge shifts in randomly swinging gusts and even some very light areas at the windward mark so you could sit and watch all your hard work wiped out by the boats behind.
David Pickering (The Chase SC) was consistent from the start in his nearly new boat number 173 and took the win ahead of Chris Swallow (Burton SC). The places changed regularly behind but most came together at the finish to within a few boat lengths once they had found clearer air out of the pack of the medium handicap fleet. Race two was much the same with David and Chris taking first and second once again.
Sunday started dead calm so racing was delayed while a hoped for sea breeze kicked in. It did, but not so strong. David was again dominant whilst always looking cool as a cucumber and took a third win sealing the event. Chris took his third second in winds more suited to his light weight and Dee Hutchins (Berwick-upon-Tweed SC) moved to third glad to be more in the weight range after Saturday's blow. The last race saw David drop out as his work was done.
Paul Jones (Coniston SC) saw himself over the line so returned for a restart. The lighter crews of Chris and Dee took advantage in failing wind and pulled out from the rest. Side and side with two legs to go Chris got a flurry of wind that Dee missed which took him 100m ahead, a lead he would hang onto for his first win. Dee was second whilst the remainder were swamped by other boats in now seriously failing wind. In the end all were lucky to finish as the wind died completely.
Final results show fantastic consistency by David Pickering and Chris Swallow with everyone else sharing lower places but all had the big 'Z Factor' smiles on their faces.
1. David Pickering 173 (The Chase Sc)
2. Chris Swallow 134 (Burton SC)
3. Dee Hutchins 116 (Berwick-upon-Tweed SC)
4. Adrian Tattersall 149 (PYC)
5. Paul Jones 148 (Coniston SC)
6. Rob Slack 178 (Chase SC)
In other Zenith related news, the demonstrator for the all new sister boat, the Zenith II two person asymmetric, was showcased by the very capable Sam McKay and James Vyse from The Chase SC. They were fast straight out of the blocks, despite being new to the boat, and did well in their fast handicap fleet where they were mostly doing battle with the RS400's. They took many wins in the fleet, in a variety of conditions, which also won several trophies overall during the week. Meanwhile the boat regularly attracted a small crowd off the water and several demos were sailed where one buyer declared it simply the 'best boat he had ever sailed' and ordered one there and then (as did several others). The march of the 'Z' boats goes on and on.