GP14 Midland & East Coast Champs at Bartley Sailing Club

Richard Estaugh & Simon Potts win the Midland & East Coast Area Championship at Bartley © Paul Simes

The fleet heads downwind during the Midland & East Coast Area Championship at Bartley © Paul Simes

Richard Estaugh and Simon Potts from Chase SC won the Midland & East Coast Area Championship held at Bartley SC on 9th/10th October 2004. 34 boats from as far afield as the Lake District and South Wales took part in a great event.

The fleet were met with a F2 to 3 for Race 1 with Race Officer, Peter Storey, setting a fairly long course which utilised nearly all of the buoys on the water and giving the fleet two beats per lap.

The pattern was set for the weekend by the 1st general recall immediately prompting the Race Officer, a GP14 sailor himself, to use the black flag for the restart. Justin Jones and Paul Owen from South Staffs SC fell foul of it on the restart and sailed in. Richard Instone and Russ Tovey from Chase SC rounded the 1st mark with a commanding lead with Graham Flynn and Frank Nickless from the host club in 2nd and Andy Hateley and Andy Thompson from South Staffs SC in third. These positions remained the same around the 1st lap whilst the fleet were led round by a powered lead boat but boy did the fun then begin. At mark A the 2nd time, Graham and Frank had managed to move into 1st place and rounded mark A to port, 2nd placed boat Richard and Russ rounded to starboard, whilst third placed boat Andy and Andy also rounded to port, significantly every other boat rounded to port.. Whilst Andy and Andy managed to pass everybody to cross the line first they subsequently retired when they realised their error at mark A. Graham and Frank also did the honourable thing, so the result for race 1 was, 1st Richard and Russ, 2nd Richard Estaugh and Simon Potts from Chase SC and 3rd Carl Jeffs and Jim Toothill from Trimpley SC.

After a short break for lunch, Race 2 started in slightly more breeze and after the customary general recall, Mark Chamberlain and Tom Simes fell foul of the black flag. Graham and Franck led round the 1st mark with Richard and Simon in 2nd and Richard and Russ in 3rd. Again everything went smoothly for the 1st lap with Graham/Frank battling hard with Richard/Simon until on the leg from mark 4 to 2, Graham/Frank rounded mark C followed by Richard/Simon and the majority of the fleet. Andy/Andy again showed remarkable speed to cross the line first only like the majority of the fleet to retire after the finish when they all realised their error. Eventually it transpired that Dave Young and Liz Pugh from South Staffs SC had sailed the correct course to win followed by Paul Leavers and Chris White from Midland SC in 2nd with Gregg Pitt and Andy Tunnicliffe from Royal Windermere YC in 3rd. Only 11 boats out of the fleet of 34 had sailed the correct course, so the overnight leaderboard looked strangely different than usual with most of the normal top guns now counting a RAF and poor old Andy/Andy and Graham/Frank counting two!

Sunday dawned with slightly more wind and a simpler course with only one long beat the length of the water. Peter Story, the Race Officer, was heard to say "Let them try to sail the wrong course today, I've made it simple for the simpletons!".

Race 3 again started with a general recall, black flag but with no takers, they were at last learning! Also significantly absent was the overnight leader Dave Young, who had overslept, something to do with actually sleeping in his own bed, rather than in a sleeping bag! Again the usual top four were in the first group around the 1st mark, however Richard/Simon moved off into a commanding lead to win convincingly from Richard/Russ in 2nd with Graham/Frank in 3rd. The gusty wind caught quite a few of the fleet out and quite a few capsized with more than a few retirements due to the cold water.

This left the Championship wide open with all of the top contenders having used their discard so they couldn't afford to make a mistake, Richard/Simon and Richard/Russ both had a 1st and a 2nd with Dave/Liz counting a 1st and a 4th. It seemed to be set for a right royal battle, however Richard Instone had badly cut his hand during Race 3 and under doctor's instructions left immediately for hospital, so provided Richard/Simon finished in the top three and Dave Young didn't win then Richard/Simon would triumph.

Race 4 started in a F4 to 5 with heavier gusts and a reduce fleet of 25 started again under the black flag after a general recall. Graham/Frank led round the 1st mark followed by Richard/Simon with Andy/Andy in 3rd. The 2nd reach was particularly fast but the gusts caught out a few and even Ruchard/Simon were seen to struggle down it at times. However they moved through Graham/Frank as did Andy/Andy, so at the finish Richard/Simon were 1st followed by Andy/Andy in 2nd with Graham/Frank in 3rd. The majority of the fleet suffered at least one capsize with several competitors heading for the shore, leaving 19 boats to complete the race.

The prizes were sponsored by Speed Sails so Richard kept the main prize but our thanks to him for his generosity and the prize winners can be seen in the table below.

Overall Results: