GP14 Youth Nationals at West Lancashire Yacht Club

GP14 Youth Nationals at West Lancs © Richard Craig / www.sailpics.co.uk

GP14 Youth Nationals at West Lancs © Rob Hicklin

The 2010 UK GP14 Youth Championships were held at West Lancashire Yacht Club over the weekend of the 30th and 31st October. The event saw 15 GP14s compete from 10 different clubs.

Racing started on Saturday with sunshine and enough breeze to allow full use of the water. An early lead by Connie Hicklin/Adam Parry proved too much for the following boats to pull back despite Eleanor Davies/Alison Norbury closing the gap on the last lap. Races 2 and 3 saw lighter winds with an eventual shortened course. Pete Mitchell/Andy Hunter took two firsts, being pushed all the way by Eleanor/Alison, Gavin Tullet/Johny Stevenson and Bruce Deppe/Edd Grey.

Day 2 saw a change in wind direction allowing for a longer first beat that showed off the very high standard of sailing amongst the top crews. Unable to attend the first day, Race 4 saw Alan James Roberts/Alex Pilkington from the Royal Navy SA having an epic battle with Gavin Tullet/Johny Stevenson and Bruce Deppe/Edd Grey. These three boats managing to break clear of the fleet with Alan/Alex eventually taking the win.

This meant that the last race took place with the possibility of any of the top few crews taking the title. The start saw trouble at the port end of the line allowing Connie/Adam the opportunity to get clear with Bruce/Edd close on their heels. Bruce/Edd managed to get through after the first lap, a position which they held on to take the race win. Further down the field, Pete/Andy were in a close fought battle with Eleanor/Alison and Gavin/Johny. Despite Eleanor/Alison managing to pip Pete/Andy, the fourth place was enough to secure the title for Pete/Andy.

So the title of GP14 UK Youth Champion 2010 went to Pete Mitchell and Andy Hunter with additional race win trophies. Second Place, First Lady Helm, First Lady Crew, First Lady Team and First Under 18 Helm all went to Eleanor Davies/Alison Norbury. Third Place, First Under 16 Helm and Winner of Race 1 went to Connie Hicklin and Adam Parry with the team trophy also going to South Staffs Sailing Club. Alan Roberts and Alex Pilkington collected a trophy for Winners of Race 4 with Edd Grey and Bruce Deppe collecting the trophy for winning the last race.

Special mention must go to Greg Thomas from Southport Sailing Club and his crew Emily Cole-Evans who innocently sailed the event despite not being eligible due to Greg’s age. This was a genuine mistake by Greg who showed great strength of character when being given the disappointing news that the age cut-off was the end of the year, not the day of the event! A lesson to us all to take care when reading the Notice of Race.

Thanks go to West Lancashire Yacht Club for hosting the event and worthy of note is the club’s comments about the exemplary manner in which all of the competitors conducted themselves throughout the event; a comment echoed, during the prize giving, by Ian Sinclair - President of the GP14 Association.

Overall Results: