Trident-UK Great North Asymmetric Challenge 2026 at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club

Oscar and Rory Davenport win the Trident-UK Great North Asymmetric Challenge © Arthur Dembinski

The 2026 Trident GNAC had pretty much everything: a big fleet, some seriously windy sailing, a few slightly bruised egos, and a pair of school-age brothers winning the whole thing in an RS Feva. This year's GNAC was sponsored by our friends at Trident UK, so a huge thanks to them for their continued support.

The event also incorporated the RS200 Northern Championship, formed part of the RS400 Northern Tour, and saw the Northern RS Feva fleet turn up in force, with an excellent 10 Fevas on the start line.

The obvious question was whether the Fevas could actually compete with the adults.

As it turned out, they could. The forecast promised wind, and it really delivered. Saturday was filthy: gusty, physical and averaging a solid force 4 with gusts near a force 6. It made for spectacular sailing from the shore, although perhaps less spectacular if you were actually in the boat. Plenty of competitors found out just how quickly things can change on Bassenthwaite when the breeze gets up.

Among those caught out were two recently crowned European champions, who were looking particularly sheepish in the bar later that evening. Four races were completed on Saturday, with the conditions providing a proper test. The downwind legs in particular were fairly lively, with boats accelerating rapidly in the gusts and plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong.

Sunday promised something slightly more manageable, with winds forecast in the mid-teens. It started stronger than that, with solid blasts downwind again putting the crews to work, and was crucially windy enough for the Fevas to plane off wind. Eventually the breeze settled to around Force 3-4, and the sun even made an appearance for the final two races after lunch.

After 8 races, the big story of the weekend was undoubtedly Oscar and Rory Davenport, who won the GNAC overall in their RS Feva. And they didn't just win it by hanging on through eight races. They scored four race wins in a fleet of 64 boats, which is a seriously impressive record in itself. Oscar is just 14, while his brother Rory is just 11, making their performance even more notable given the conditions they faced on Saturday.

Their victory also ended an 18-year wait for a youth team to win the Great North Asymmetric Challenge. They took three of the four races on Saturday and then continued their form into Sunday, holding off the adult fleets to take the overall title.

Second overall were Chris and Jack Pickles in their RS200, with last year's champions Alistair and Helen Norris, also in an RS200, finishing third.

Within the RS200 fleet, it was Alistair and Helen Norris who took the Northern Championship title. The overall GNAC scoring was slightly different, however, with the two RS200 starts combined into the main fleet results. This meant Chris and Jack Pickles finished ahead of the Norrises in the overall GNAC, despite Alistair and Helen taking the Northern Championship title. It was a very close battle at the front of the RS200 fleet.

The three leading boats shared all eight race wins between them. Alistair and Helen took three, as did Matt and Oliver Sharman, with Chris and Jack taking the remaining two. The performances of the younger sailors were particularly impressive given Saturday's conditions.

The RS400 fleet was similarly competitive, with the 24-boat fleet producing a different mix of race winners throughout the weekend. Fresh from the RS400 National Championship, Dave Exley and Dee Osmond took one race win, as did Richard and Heather Marsh and European Champions John Reekie and Justin Denny. Mark Somerville and Joe Roberts won two races, as did Paul and Jude Allen. The final race went to Caroline Exley and Jonathan Bullen.

Despite not collecting a large number of race wins themselves, Dave and Dee were remarkably consistent. Their string of second places gave them the lowest average score by some distance after eight races, which was particularly impressive given the conditions. Mark and Joe finished second overall, with Hamish Gledhill and Ross Southwell taking third. Paul and Jude Allen finished just one point behind them in fourth.

RS400 fleet at the Trident-UK Great North Asymmetric Challenge - photo © Arthur Dembinski

A proper GNAC

The 2026 GNAC was one of those weekends where the conditions became part of the story. Saturday's 20-knot average and 30-knot gusts gave the fleets plenty to think about, while Sunday provided a mixture of stronger breeze, more sensible conditions and, eventually, some sunshine.

It was also great to see the different fleets mixing it up, with 64 boats on the water and the Fevas not only holding their own but taking the overall victory.

Congratulations to all the competitors who took on the conditions and completed eight races, and particularly to Oscar and Rory on an outstanding performance and a well-deserved GNAC victory. A huge thank you to Trident UK for sponsoring the event, to the Bass safety crews including the brilliant Red Seal Rescue (a busy weekend for them!), the team on the start boat, the shore team and all the volunteers who make the GNAC possible.

bassenthwaite-sc.org.uk

Overall Results: