GP14 National Championships 2014 at the WPNSA - Day 2
by Matt Thursfield 29 Jun 2014 14:51 BST
27-29 June 2014
With the GP14 World Championships taking place in Northern Ireland in August, the condensed three day, 8 race nationals sponsored by Zhik, Sunny Republic Brewery, Gul Watersports, GingerBoats, Elite Sails, Allen Brothers & Moores Dorset Biscuits, are taking place on water sailed by some of the most talented yachtsman of our time, at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in Dorset. With impressive facilities, a perfect 3-4 Westerly breeze, the 67 GP14s left the shore on the morning of Friday 27th June for the sail out to the race course outside of Weymouth Harbour.
A 12:30 gate start, opened by Sam Watson and Andy Hunter, released a very strong fleet comprised of National & World champions, as well as an Olympic Silver Medallist, alongside club sailors attending their first national event. It was a clean getaway for the majority as they made their way up to the windward mark; leading the way were current World Champions Ian Dobson & Andy Tunnicliffe, their Goacher powered Duffin hull pulling away from Graham Flynn & Adam Froggatt in their new SP Boats machine. The reaching angles set by the mark layers were exceptional, the first allowing some tactics with a range of options available, the second was just a touch tighter, combined with a different wave angle, meant some excellent surf-reaching. With three laps set, the next downwind was the sausage. You know it's a well-set leg when the helms can opt to go inshore, out to sea, or sail the rhumb line; the boats around us were spread right across Weymouth Bay to re-converge at the leeward mark. The next time that buoy was seen was just as the leaders approached the finish line. Dobson had held the lead to take the bullet, however coming through to second were Mike Senior & Andy Davies, third taken by Stuart Bithell & Tom Pygal having to cut their way through the fleet after a poor start, their downwind speed bailing them out, having been perfected with months of training off the Dorset coastline.
Race 2: not much change in the direction, but the wind strength was starting to build by a few knots, the gate was opened by Justin Jones & Chris Anderson. Leading this one were Senior and Davies whose Boon Boat with HD Sails pulled away around the race track. With the slight increase in wind strength, those reaches were becoming even better; get the second one right with the wind/wave combo, the adrenaline was pumping. The sausage leg was a different proposition altogether too; get it wrong and the boat was a real handful, capsizes were aplenty as helms struggled to cope with the increase in breeze with the unusual swell angle. Mike Senior and Andy Davies led for two thirds of the race, however a slightly misjudged kite leg allowed Dobson & Tunnicliffe to scrape by to take the gun. Third in this one were Matt Burge & Rich Wagstaff sailing a Winder Hull with P&B sails.
Onto the final race of the day, plenty of sailors were feeling the effects of two hard races, some calling it a day early. Fortunately, the race officer took some sympathy and only made us sail for two laps, as the breeze was still building and the sail back to shore was going to add an extra hour onto the day. The gate was unlocked by Will Croxford and Rich Hales; again it was Mike Senior and Andy Davies to lead the fleet around. This time it was the leeward mark where Dobson & Tunnicliffe took the race after a rogue boy was mistaken for the base mark, the error noticed too late to stop them coming through. Third again were Bithell & Pygal sailing a Speed Sails driven Duffin.
At the end of Friday, it probably should have been Senior with a 2,1,1 results set, rather than Dobson with a line of 1s. Leading the way in the Silver fleet were Will Croxford crewed by Rich Hales, top bronze boat was being sailed by Chris Hawkes and Russell Wheeler, both boats to sail on day 2 brandishing a blue and red dot respectively.
Day 2, an eleven o'clock start, a fair few of the 134 competitors rigging, with that "morning after the day before" weathered look. It was an early start with the race officer taking the fleet east out the harbour for the three race programme. Justin Smith & Sarah Davies opened the gate of race 4 just after 11am, the fleet showing them respect, the majority starting late. That was the place to be, as those going early got trapped on the wrong side of a shift. Again it was the HD/Boon helmed by Senior who finally put a whole race together, taking the gun ahead of Dobson, Ross Kearney & Jane Alexander showing great form in the somewhat lighter conditions to cross in third.
Race 5 was started by Shane MacCarthy & Damien Bracken and finished by the familiar Dobson & Tunnicliffe who had recognised the backing pathfinder, started early, put a tack in and port-crossed the fleet by 20 yards. They sailed into a healthy lead followed home by Graham Flynn & Adam Froggatt. Third across the line were the Burge-Wagstaff boat.
The final race of the second day was started by Ed Bradburn & Chris White. This was the only race where being late out the line was not the place to be. Being pathfinder cost those two, rounding the windward mark 30 or so places below where they'd expect. Ross & Jane continued their successful second day, leading the fleet around for the majority of the 45minute race. Had the race officer finished us at the end of the run, victory would've been theirs. It was the final beat where Matt Burge & Rich Wagstaff picked the shifts and left the P&B powered Ross & Jane to finish in their wake. Third was the consistent Bithall/Pygal boat.
So at the end of the second day, Dobson & Tunnicliffe had consolidated their lead, needing only a point from the final day's races to secure the championship. Mike Senior & Andy Davies are the only boat who could prevent them taking the event.
Silver is not won yet, but at the end of Saturday, Will Croxford and Rich Hales have a healthy lead in 12th, over Tim Harper & Paula Fisher. Bronze is still being led by Will Hawkes & Russell Wheeler in 25th overall, ahead of Peter Craggs & Phil Nelson.
Racing comes to a close after two further races on Sunday, the forecast looks light, probably leading to sailing in the harbour and the end of the gate starts.
The GP14 committee, chaired by Gill Beddow are extremely grateful to our sponsors; Zhik, Sunny Republic Brewery, Gul Watersports, GingerBoats, Elite Sails, Allen Brothers & Moores Dorset Biscuits.