GP14 National Championship at Pwllheli Sailing Club - Overall
by Michelle Evans 26 Aug 2016 20:22 BST
20-26 August 2016
After yesterday's float the forecast of 14mph generated a buzz of excitement in the boat park in the morning of the final day of the event. When we headed out it became apparent that it was more like 20mph plus with the waves up to 8 feet crashing over the foredeck and soaking you every two seconds.
It took no time at all to get out to the start and we lined up down at the pin end ready to attack the day head on. However, thanks to kamikaze start specialists Sam Watson and Andy Hunter I spent most of Race 8 waist deep in water waiting for my helm to bring out a new rudder. As we powered up about to cross the line with Sam and Andy underneath us the pair realised they were going to hit the anchor line of the pin end boat and tacked onto port and on top of us to avoid it. That left us with a choice of hit them or hit the anchor line and we did the nice thing and ended up with a snapped lifting mechanism on the rudder having got caught.
After our pit stop we got back out to watch the finish and saw Shane MacCarthy and Andy Thompson (Greystones SC) taking the win with Gary Deighan and Dale Knowles (Bolton SC) coming up in second. Having their best Nationals to date the Bolton boys thought they would drop the kite and then gybe for the tight reach into the finish rather than risk their second place 10 boat lengths from the finish. Unfortunately it sent them in anyway but as they had such a big gap on third it looked like they would still get over in time after the first time they got the boat back up. But alas it was too full of water and they went over two more times, eventually taking 11th. Overnight leaders Mike and Liz Senior ended up doing turns on the last run and eventually took fourth.
So for the final race of the day it was Shane and Andy's to lose but as they rounded the windward mark in second, behind the Budworth SC pair of Nick Devereux and Geoff Edwards they looked pretty set. Nick and Geoff had quite a commanding lead at one point but didn't manage to hold off Shane and Andy who are having quite a year in the GP14. It was all up for grabs for the rest of the top ten with Gary and Dale having another great race and a third, lamenting the loss of the second the race previously which would have seen them finish sixth overall but instead they had to settle for a final position of eighth.
Elsewhere the eventual silver fleet winners had a port starboard incident with Shane and Andy and an emergency tack with a cleated gib saw Frank Nickless and Ben Pickering (Chase SC/Dovey SC) over and out and final standing of 11th overall.
Towards the back end of the fleet it was suggested that we would be fine with the kite up on the reach but as we sailed past gold fleet sailors Justin Smith and Sarah O'Neill (Derwent SC/Poole YC) capsized I suggested we should wait. As it happened it was a dropped mainsheet that sent them in and not the kite. After an unplanned gybe at the end of the race I was glad to have gone with caution rather than chasing places.
The overall top five shows once again the strength and diversity of the fleet with Liz Senior the top female crew with Mike in second, new to the class and top youngest combined age Fergus Barnham and Ellie Devereux (Northampton SC/Budworth SC) third, great grandmaster Ian Willis and Keith Dutton (South Staffs SC) in fourth and Sam Watson and Andy Hunter (Nantwich SC) in fifth. A very well deserved win for Shane and Andy, two of the nicest blokes in the fleet.
Thanks to Super 6 sponsors Craftinsure and Plas Heli for hosting the event.
Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the GP14 nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here
Pos | Sail No | Helm Full Name | Crew Full Name | Club | Fleet | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
1st | 14158 | Shane McCarthy | Andy Thompson | Greystones SC | Gold | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑11 | 1 | 2 | ‑15 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
2nd | 13417 | Mike Senior | Liz Senior | South Staffs SC | Gold | ‑4 | (OCS) | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 17 |
3rd | 14174 | Fergus Barnham | Ellie Devereux | Northampton SC /Budworth SC | Gold | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ‑7 | 5 | 2 | ‑9 | 20 |
4th | 14021 | Ian Willis | Keith Dutton | South Staffs SC | Gold | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ‑11 | 5 | 8 | ‑14 | 6 | 43 |
5th | 1417 | Sam Watson | Andy Hunter | Nantwich and Border SC | Gold | (DSQ) | (DNF) | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 46 |
6th | 14121 | Andrew Clewer | Mark Taylor | Poole YC | Gold | 9 | 4 | 6 | 6 | ‑12 | ‑18 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 49 |
7th | 13977 | Alan Blay | David Johnston | Sutton DC | Gold | 5 | 3 | 1 | (OCS) | 8 | 13 | 18 | 3 | ‑23 | 51 |
8th | 14091 | Gary Deighan | Dale Knowles | Bolton SC | Gold | 7 | 10 | 9 | (OCS) | 14 | ‑15 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 57 |
9th | 13721 | Nick Devereux | Geoff Edwards | Budworth SC | Gold | 3 | (OCS) | 10 | 16 | 7 | 11 | ‑27 | 9 | 2 | 58 |
10th | 14117 | Johnny Sinclair | Hayley Ramadhar | West Lancs SC | Gold | 11 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 15 | ‑17 | ‑16 | 13 | 5 | 62 |
11th | 14199 | Frank Nickless | Ben Pickering | Chase SC/ Dovey YC | Silver | 6 | 8 | 18 | 13 | ‑36 | 12 | 2 | 8 | (DNF) | 67 |
12th | 14089 | Paul Simes | Tom Simes | Cardiff Bay SV | Silver | 13 | 9 | 15 | ‑24 | 13 | 9 | ‑17 | 16 | 7 | 82 |
13th | 14166 | Richard Ham | Vicki Ford | Tollesbury SC/ South Staffs SC | Silver | ‑20 | 13 | 16 | 12 | ‑20 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 18 | 87 |
14th | 14116 | Peter Boyle | Steven Boyle | Sutton DC | Silver | 12 | (OCS) | 12 | 15 | 4 | ‑29 | 23 | 7 | 15 | 88 |
15th | 4047 | Ciaron Jones | Tim Jones | Holyhead DC | Bronze | 16 | ‑21 | 13 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 19 | (DNS) | 91 |
16th | 14077 | Curly Morris | Josh Porter | East Antrim / Newtonwards SC | Gold | 8 | 14 | 20 | 17 | ‑24 | 16 | ‑29 | 10 | 10 | 95 |
17th | 13838 | Justin Smith | Sarah O
Neill | Derwent Reservoir SC/ Poole YC | Gold | (DNF) | 12 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 14 | ‑25 | 12 | 21 | 97 |
18th | 13796 | Lewis Coppinger | Meg Hicklin | South Staffs SC | Silver | 21 | ‑25 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 10 | 4 | ‑26 | 25 | 107 |
19th | 14155 | Joseph Butterworth | Toby Chapman | Solent SC | Gold | 17 | 17 | ‑24 | ‑28 | 23 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 13 | 110 |
20th | 14130 | Hugh Gill | Tim Coyne | Sutton DC | Gold | 24 | 7 | (RAF) | 7 | 9 | (BFD) | 11 | DNF | 19 | 114 |
21st | 14135 | Paul Owen | Alan Jones | South Staffs SC / Nantwich and Border SC | Gold | 22 | 16 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 21 | ‑30 | 21 | (DNS) | 117 |
22nd | 14168 | Chris Hawkes | Duncan Greenhalgh | Poole YC/ Bassenthwaite SC | Silver | 18 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 19 | 6 | ‑28 | ‑29 | 124 |
23rd | 14109 | Greg Thomas | Joel James | Southport SC | Silver | 19 | 11 | 21 | (OCS) | 17 | (DNC) | DNC | 18 | 12 | 135 |
24th | 14151 | Stephen Cooper | Sarah Jarman | Welsh Harp SC / Royal Lymington YC | Silver | 14 | 20 | 19 | ‑23 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 23 | ‑24 | 137 |
25th | 14090 | Lawrence Creaser | Sam Marshall | Hollowell SC | Gold | 15 | 15 | (DNF) | 27 | ‑32 | 25 | 28 | 15 | 17 | 142 |
26th | 14201 | Hugh Devereux | Malcolm Bird | Budworth SC | Silver | 23 | (DNF) | 22 | 20 | ‑27 | 22 | 13 | 24 | 20 | 144 |
27th | 141 | Jacob Murray | Richard Abenstern | Todbrook SC | Bronze | 29 | 22 | 25 | 26 | ‑31 | ‑30 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 166 |
28th | 14039 | Ben Swainson | Poppy James | Southport SC | Silver | 28 | 26 | 26 | 25 | ‑34 | (DNC) | 21 | 27 | 22 | 175 |
29th | 13421 | Helen Allen | Maciej Malyjaszczuk | Welsh Harp SC | Bronze | 26 | 24 | 28 | 18 | 26 | ‑31 | (BFD) | 30 | 26 | 178 |
30th | 14102 | Simon Redhead | Indeg Lllewelllyn Owen | Poole YC | Silver | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 19 | 29 | 24 | 33 | 25 | 14 | 181 |
31st | 14051 | Chris Beddow | Michelle Evans | South Staffs SC | Silver | (DNF) | 23 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 23 | 31 | (DNF) | 28 | 191 |
32nd | 13777 | John Toone | Catherine Toone | Chelmarsh SC | Bronze | (DNS) | (DNS) | DNC | 22 | 10 | 26 | 32 | 29 | DNS | 193 |
33rd | 14014 | Andy Wadsworth | Andy Shrimpton | Welsh Harp SC | Bronze | 25 | 19 | 27 | ‑33 | 33 | 32 | ‑34 | 33 | 27 | 196 |
34th | 14088 | Duncan Fraser | Graham Fraser | Ceylon Motors YC | Bronze | 27 | 27 | 30 | ‑31 | 30 | 28 | 24 | ‑32 | 30 | 196 |
35th | 14057 | Ann Penny | Lisa Carpenter | DRSC / South Staffs SC | Bronze | (DNS) | 28 | 31 | 32 | 35 | 27 | 22 | 31 | (DNF) | 206 |
36th | 13727 | Tim Davies | Mark Collingwood | Chelmarsh SC | Bronze | (DNS) | (DNS) | DNC | 30 | 22 | 33 | 19 | DNF | DNS | 215 |