56th Venetian Trophy for GP14s at BTYC Sailsports

by Wiebe Nauta 23 Apr 2012 21:00 BST 14 April 2012

On Saturday April 14, the 56th Venetian Trophy was held at the Welsh Harp. The six visiting boats from Milton Keynes, Papercourt, Frensham and Tollesbury were welcomed by a strong fleet of locals from Seahorse (7), Wembley (1) and BTYC (20).

The wind was predicted to be moderate and northerly, shifting to north-easterly during the day, promising interesting wind-shifts with good gusts. Frank Pearce, the Race Officer for the day decided that a long figure of eight would provide a lot of opportunities to overtake (and be overtaken). The first race was won by Mark Wolf and Alain Renault, with visitors Richard Cornes/James Goodfellow providing stiff competition.

The second race used the same course as the first, but the location of the start line changed so that it was shorter, causing some over-excitement at the start. After a general recall, the fleet got off cleanly, but some serious wind shifts and sudden changes in wind strengths along the course caused a few minor collisions. This race was also won by Mark Wolf/Alain Renault in the Gold fleet, closely followed by Jim Faulkner/Suzanne Williams (Gold), with Brian Jefferies/Penny Abbott third – and first in the Silver fleet.

Because of the shift in wind direction, the course of the third race was changed to provide shorter beats across the Harp. As usual with a northerly wind, sailing near the north bank proved quite testing owing to wind shadow from the bank, and a number of boats had to do their 360’s or 720’s after touching buoys or other boats. A lot of boats changed places during the race which made it quite exciting! The third race was (again) won by Mark Wolf & Alain Renault in the Gold fleet, followed by Richard Cornes/James Goodfellow. Brian Jefferies/Penny Abbott dropped down to fifth in this race, but this was more than adequate to keep their first place in the Silver fleet.

After a good day’s sailing with only one capsize, the event concluded with homebaked cakes, tea/coffee or something stronger. The prize giving was extended with the presentations of the 2011 Southern Travellers Trophy (winner Mark Wolf/Alex Dotch/Alain Renault), the Jaldi Cup for best newcomer to the Series (George Rogers /Jilly Wilkinson from Tollesbury); and the WHSA prize - the Frank Hewlett Cup – awarded anually to the the sailor who best promotes the Welsh Harp at other events was presented to Mark Wolf.

A fantastic day like this can only happen with the help of a lot of volunteers: many thanks to all who put time into making this day possible.

Overall Results:

Pos	Fleet	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	gold	14014	Mark Wolf	Alain Renault	BTYC	1	1	1	2
2nd	gold	13949	Rich Cornes	James Goodfellow	Milton Keynes	2	dnf	2	4
3rd	silver	13696	Brian Jefferies	Penny Abbott	BTYC	20	3	5	8
4th	gold	13980	Roger Walton	Serene Counsell	BTYC	4	4	12	8
5th	gold	13594	Ruslan Scutelnic	Alexandru Scutelnic	BTYC	6	11	3	9
6th	gold	13316	James Ward	Richard Whitehill	Papercourt	16	5	4	9
7th	gold	13855	Ben Kaplan	Maciej Matyjaszczuk	Seahorse	3	8	11	11
8th	gold	13887	Jim Faulkner	Suzanne Williams	BTYC	14	2	10	12
9th	gold	14069	Chris Lomax	Peter Kay	SSC	8	7	13	15
10th	gold	12978	Andy Wadsworth	Andy Shrimpton	BTYC	9	15	7	16
11th	silver	13377	Steve Cooper	Eugene Shrimpton‑Phoenix	BTYC	17	9	8	17
12th	gold	13640	Phillip Taylor	Chris Bell	BTYC	12	17	6	18
13th	gold	13787	Liz Hall	Sam Martin	BTYC	10	ocs	15	25
14th	gold	13853	Lesley Kaye	Dennis Adams	BTYC	11	14	17	25
15th	silver	13603	Alistair Lambert	Giselle Sherwen	BTYC	18	10	16	26
16th	silver	14020	David Innes	Jon Denyer	Frensham	21	13	14	27
17th	silver	13679	Martin Hime	Maurice Futerman	BTYC	19	20	9	28
18th	gold	13958	George Rogers	Dan Spindler	Tollesbury	7	22	30	29
19th	silver	13656	Karen Wilson	Wiebe Nauta	BTYC	22	12	19	31
20th	silver	13421	Helen Allen	Yvon Kalmeijer	BTYC	24	13 SCP	18	31
21st	gold	13071	Gary Stewart	Martin Cohen	Wembley	15	21	25	36
22nd	silver	13578	Keith Toovey	Chris Higgs	Seahorse	27	16	20	36
23rd	gold	13876	Andy Beharrell	Jonathan Brooks	Tollesbury	13	25	29	38
24th	gold	13922	Eric Janering	Hannah Rose	Seahorse	5	dnc	dnc	40
25th	silver	14060	Paul Reenes	Hellen Benney	Papercourt	23	19	21	40
26th	silver	14044	Richard Connett	Cesar Mateus	BTYC	25	18	26	43
27th	silver	13269	Peter Law	Seamus O'Connell	BTYC	DNC	24	23	47
28th	silver	5	Sam Collin	Amanda Kwan	BTYC	30	23	24	47
29th	silver	13136	Ricardo Chacon	Miranda	BTYC	dnc	29	22	51
30th	silver	13568	Mick Dobson	Jamie Ellis	BTYC	dnc	26	27	53
31st	silver	13798	Gary Tucker	Philippa Parks	Seahorse	29	27	28	55
32nd	silver	13675	John O'Sullivan	Mick Printemps	BTYC	28	28	31	56
33rd	silver	13558	David Rose	Harvey Rose	Seahorse	26	DNC	DNC	61
34th	silver	10	Peter Dunton	Daphne Grey	Seahorse	31	30	32	61