GP14 Northern Area Championship at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club

Silver Fleet Winners Nick Devereux and Geoff Edwards (Budworth) in the GP14 Northern Area Championship © Justin Smith

Bronze Fleet Winners Poppy James and Ben Swainson (Southport) in the GP14 Northern Area Championship © Justin Smith

The penultimate event of the 2015 Craftinsure Grand Prix Series was set against a backdrop of rolling hills and the long impressive water that is Derwent Reservoir over the weekend of 26-27 September 2015.

With wind speed under 5mph forecast for the whole weekend a few were put off from travelling to Derwent. For those who made the journey they were rewarded with some decent wind, four races and some northern hospitality.

Twenty-two boats registered, with Lawrence Creaser from Northampton Sailing Club the furthest travelled. Day 1 didn't look inspiring when competitors were un-packing their boats and with only occasional ripples troubling the glass like lake the Race Officer delayed the start. The wind picked up not long after 1pm and the fleet had decided to get out onto the water whatever the weather.

By the start of Race 1 there was a decent breeze of around 9mph right across the water. The race officer managed to set a good course and the sequence started. After a messy first start and a general recall the black flag went up reign the enthusiasm back in. However Nick Deverux/Geoff Edwards (Budworth) and Bob Skelly/Doug Mills (Derwent) were still found pushing their luck a little and as a result they were OCS and disqualified from the first race.

It was Andy and Rob Smith (Bassenthwaite) that got away showing the fleet that their experience from sailing at a very shifty lake combined with a quick Gingerboats built hull was going make them early contenders in the championship as they crossed the finish line in first place followed by Lawrence Creaser and Andy Hunter.

The second race got underway on the first attempt and Justin Smith (Derwent) and Seonaid Young (South Staffs) managed to round the windward mark in first position after a clean start finding some favourable shifts across the port side off the course. In hot pursuit was the rest of the fleet lead by Lawrence/Andy. Justin/Seonaid managed to defend their lead until two legs before the end of the race where Lawrence/Andy tacked early around the leeward mark as the wind shifted. It was then a one tack beat with Laurence/Andy finishing the race in 1st closely followed by Justin/Seonaid in 2nd and Andy and Rob Smith in 3rd.

After the first day's racing the P&B boat of Lawrence Creaser and Andy Hunter were leading overall with Andy and Rob Smith, Justin and Seonaid, Gary Deighan and Dale Knolwes (Bolton) all still in contention. In the Silver fleet it had been a good day for leading boat Jean-Louis Simons and Mark Hinton (West Kirby) with a 4th and a 6th and the Bronze fleet leaders over night were the new pairing of Hugh Deverux (Budworth) and Vicky Ford (South Staffs).

With the Rugby World Cup in full swing the evening was a stand-off between the Rugby and the Band. Eventually a compromise was reached with Irish folk band Happy Cats providing a musical back drop to the second half. After the English fans had finished drying their eyes the dance floor filled for some high energy dancing. Competition was never far from the sailor's minds though with table football and giant jenga tournaments taking us into the wee small hours.

There were one or two sore heads for Day 2 which the blazing sunshine didn't ease! Initially it looked like no racing would happen but the wind gods obliged and it filled in enough to get out. Race 3 saw all competitors get away from the start line cleanly. The wind had now built similar to the previous day to a nice 8-9 mph. Justin and Seonaid managed to find themselves leading again after rounding the windward mark with a good 10 boat length lead. Second placed Lawrence and Andy were quick to apply the pressure on the downwind legs however Justin/Seonaid managed to pull out over the next few legs. Lawrence managed to close the gap however with wind filling in from behind. After some good decisions up the next beat Lawrence/Andy were soon in the lead again and another bullet under their belts followed by Justin/Seonaid (2nd), Andy/Rob Smith (3rd) and a very impressive 4th place from Ben Swainson and Poppy James (Southport).

By Race 4 the wind had died just behind the top five leaving the rest of the fleet stuck at the top of the reach. For most of us this turned out to be the slowest leg in history to make it to the finish but for Ann Penny and Clare Patton (Derwent) it proved to be just what they were waiting for, sailing from the back of the fleet with beaming faces they passed 15 boats to finish with a seventh.

The overall win went to Lawrence and Andy with a commanding performance of a second and three firsts. Nick and Geoff won the Silver fleet (5th overall) and Ben and Poppy won Bronze Fleet (9th overall).

Despite the sometimes flagging wind all enjoyed cracking event hosted by Derwent. The next, and final, event in this year's Grand Prix is the End of Season Championships at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club, 17 - 18 October.

Overall Results: