GP14 Scottish Championship at Annandale Sailing Club
by Lynn Lawson 14 Jun 2011 07:24 BST
11-12 June 2011
The weekend's racing consisted of three races on both Saturday and Sunday. 23 boats ventured out on Saturday afternoon that started out sunny but as soon as we took to the water the clouds came in. This provided a nice breeze for the first race to which Dave Young and crew Seonaid Fleming (South Staffordshire Sailing Club) got a good start and kept the lead throughout the race with Andy Tunnicliffe and Chris Robinson (Royal Windermere Yacht Club) 2nd Dave and Lynn Lawson 3rd (Bassenthwaite Sailing Club).
As the day progressed so did the weather with a hail storm! The second race of the series (back to back) John Salomonson and Jessica Campbell (Manor Park Sailing Club) got off to a good start but soon to be challenged by Andy Tunnicliffe to the first mark and later Dave Lawson challenged Andy down the run and went on to win with John Beardon and Fergus Barrie from Annandale Sailing Club (the local competition) coming third.
A much enjoyed afternoon tea was had and an opportunity to put on dryer warmer gear ready for the third race of the day. The last race resulted in Andy Tunnicliffe 1st, Carl Jeffs and Steve Parker from Trimpley Sailing Club 2nd and David and Jackie Gebhard from Derwent Reservoir came 3rd.
As usual Annandale club members had put on an excellent evening of BBQ and hot/salad buffet with free punch, which lead to a few ropey heads the next day.
Sunday and there was a good breeze and we had an occasional appearance from the sun, the plan was all three races back to back so refreshments were sourced and out we went.
The fourth race started with local John Beardon leading but in hot pursuit was Andy Tunnicliffe and David Lawson, there was some close racing with positions moving around and Dave Lawson suffered some spinnaker trouble resulting in Andy Tunnicliffe 1st Dave Gebhard 2nd Dave Lawson 3rd and John Beardon 4th.
In the fifth race Andy Tunnicliffe got a good start with Dave Lawson in pursuit, 2 good beats for Dave narrowed the gap but not enough and Andy secured 1st which also secured the whole series so he opted out and had an early shower. This race finished with Dave Lawson 2nd and Carl Jeffs 3rd.
The final race had a false start with a general recall followed by the black flag going up so caution was needed. Dave Lawson and Dave Gebhard had a close race all the way with the wind picking up and the odd challenging gybe and the reach to the finish line was the fastest sail of the weekend. Race result Dave Lawson 1st Dave Gebhard 2nd Carl Jeffs 3rd and Dave Young 4th.
With all three races being back to back we were all keen to get ashore pack up and have lunch, some keener than others as they had a ferry to catch and long way to travel. Over to Ireland, Daniel & Gareth Gallagher and back to Isle of Arran for Angus Cambell and Gary Lewis together with Gus McLeod and Eric Borland, Andy Wadsworth and Helen Allen all the way from London.
Before the rain approached we managed to all pack up and attend the prize giving given by the Commodore. We shared the event with a National 12 event which also was well attended, many prizes were given out. Many thanks to all the volunteers at Annandale for organising a good event.
Overall Results: (top four, 6 races, 2 discards)
1st Andy Tunnicliffe & Chris Robinson (Royal Windermere Yacht Club) 5pts
2nd David & Lynn Lawson (Bassenthwaite Sailing Club) 7pts
3rd David & Jackie Gebhard (Derwent Reservoir) 11pts
4th Carl Jeffs & Steve Parker (Trimpley Sailing Club) 12pts