GP14 Southern Travellers Venetian Trophy at Welsh Harp

GP14 Venetian Trophy at Welsh Harp © Richard Blackach

South Staffs conquers the Venetian Trophy

The 2011 Southern Region Travellers Series for GP14 dinghies started with glorious weather at the Welsh Harp (Brent Reservoir) on April 2nd.

The Harp is the traditional host to the Venetian Trophy, which always attracts a good fleet, and this year was no exception. Visiting boats were entered from South Staffs, Tollesbury, Frensham and Papercourt, as well as the local clubs of North Circular, Wembley, Seahorse and BTYC.

All in all, there were 33 entrants, beating last year’s event, and almost matching the record set in 2009. Some people had never raced at the Harp before, and they were welcomed with smiles, cups of tea, and the smell of bacon being cooked for breakfast.

The weather forecast of 10 knots, gusting 15 plus was true to form. Being predominantly South Westerly, the course could be set up with a chance of a long competitive beat almost the full length of the Harp, followed by a spinnaker run in the opposite direction.

Given the number of entrants, Race Officer Brian Jefferies (commodore of BTYC Sailsports) arranged a wide starting line across almost the width of the Harp. Nevertheless, there was some shouting at times, and the second race resulted in a general recall, followed by the subsequent start under the Black Flag rule.

The first race in the morning was a victory for the pair of boats from South Staffs; Mike Senior and Connie Hicklin being followed home by Sam Blocksidge and Chris Cook.

After the first race the contestants came off the water for lunch; One visitor was reportedly overheard saying that this was “the best lunch provided on any open meeting”, before the final two back-to-back races.

The challenge for the race team at lunchtime was to divide the 30 plus boats into three fleets, taking into account not only the positions at the end of the first race, but also people’s ability as recorded in the previous year. This resulted in a number of frantic discussions. In the end, the quality of the sailing in the mid fleet was so good that the silver fleet was the largest, with 15 boats. There were 6 boats designated as bronze.

The black flag for the second start of the second race unfortunately meant that one boat received a “BFD”.

The weather remained clear, and multi-coloured spinnakers were out in force, including rainbow patterns, and even a Welsh Dragon !

Yorkshire man Andy Wadsworth appropriately flew a white rose from the (Keighley-built) Winder Boat 14073, which was the newest addition to BTYC’s training fleet, and bore the no “1” designation.

Race 2 was won by Rob Janering from Wembley, assisted by Charlotte Cotter, who left both Staffordshire boats behind.

Race 3 also had it’s fair share of drama, with Rob and Charlotte being caught “OCS”. But the visitors were not let off lightly; Richard Lord and Lorna Davies won the third race ahead of Sam Blocksidge and Chris Cook. Frank Pearce and Richard Wang came in third.

When the points were awarded and discards taken into account, the final results of the Gold fleet were a first place to Mike Senior and Connie HIcklin, followed by Rob Janering and Charlotte Cotter (despite their final race OCS). Third place was awarded to Sam Blocksidge and Chris Cook.

The Silver fleet also saw the honours traded to and fro several times; Liz Hall and Sam Martin of BTYC gained a 6th place in the final race to win top prize in the Silver fleet.

The Bronze fleet prize was awarded to Edward Parks and Hannah Rose of Seahorse Sailing club.

The day also saw the awarding of the Jaldi cup for 2010. This is the “New Travellers” trophy, which is part of the initiative from the class association designed to encourage new boats to get involved in the Travellers series.

For 2010, the cup was awarded to Jim Faulkner and Steve Cooper / Ruslan Scutelnic of BTYC, followed by Andy Wadsworth and Dennis Adams/Helen Allen, also of BTYC. The third prize award was given to George Rogers and Jilly WIlkinson of Tollesbury. This will be awarded again in 2011 for those who have not qualified in a GP14 Travellers series before.

Summing up the day at the end, David Innes and Steve Browne of the GP14 Class International Association thanked the organisers, and looked forward to the next event of the Southern Travellers Series, and to the GP14 Masters and Grand Masters events which will also be held at the Welsh Harp later on in the year.

Special mention to the many club members including Ricardo, Agata, Helen, Wiebe, Richard, John and Mark, among others, who worked behind the scenes to ensure that this was a success.

Overall Results: