GP14 Masters Championship at Chase Sailing Club

The promise of lighter winds for the GP14 Masters Championship held at Chase SC over the 6th-7th June did not materialise as the 16 competitors were greeted on Saturday with 25 knot winds gusting to 30+ knots. The PRO Paul Lester got proceedings underway at 13:00, two boats decided not to brave the conditions, for those that did plenty of capsizes were to follow in the vicious gusts.

At the front of the fleet a battle for the win was hard fought between Graham Flynn/Adam Froggatt (Chase) and Richard Instone/Jim Toothill (Blithfield) with the lead changing several times, however it was Graham/Adam who came out on top so laying down their marker for the weekend, third were Paul Owen/Mike Senior (South Staffs.)

Race two commenced after a break for refreshments with the wind still as unforgiving only 11 started with the rest suffering from boat failure or fatigue. Capsizes were almost avoided as crews adapted to conditions, but an untimely gybe saw Rob Stringer/Chris Morgan take a dip for the third time that day, but they recovered and in never say die fashion finished the race. By the end of the first lap Graham/Adam had pulled out a commanding lead and went on to take the gun unchallenged, second and third were a repeat of race 1.

A hot pork supper was laid on for competitors, a big thank you to Louise Pickering/Chris Tate and all their team of helpers who worked two long days to keep everyone fed and watered.

Those with any energy left enjoyed a fun evening of barn dancing, along with Chase members, although some were having difficulty with left and right!

Sunday dawned a beautiful day, the breeze had at last abated to a lovely force 3-4. The PRO got the fleet off first time, now a full compliment of competitors. With the wind direction having swung, it allowed the PRO to set two good beats down the pool. With two firsts already under their belts Graham/Adam were in superb form and took race 3 to be crowned Masters Champion with a race to spare, but there was still a fight for the runners up position, After a slow start by their standards Justin Jones/Chris Anderson (South Staffs.) took second, with elder statesman Ian Willis/Keith Dutton finishing 3rd.

A break for lunch then the final race of the series, Graham/Adam were not resting on their laurels, and came out fighting, four boats were still in with a chance of runner up, Justin/Chris now in the groove took the bullet, Graham/Adam had to settle for 2nd, however Richard/Jim secured 3rd which was enough to give them second overall.

Thanks go to PRO Paul Lester and his team for providing first class organization to ensure a successful event.

Overall Results:

1st Graham Flynn/Adam Froggatt (Chase) Masters Champion
2nd Richard Instone/Jim Toothill (Blithfield)
3rd Justin Jones/Chris Anderson (South Staffs)
4th Paul Owen/Mike Senior (South Staffs)
5th Ian Willis/Keith Dutton (South Staffs) Great Grand Master
6th Pete Jacques/Pete Tate (Chase) Grand Master
7th Richard Ham/Steve Browne (Tollesbury) Ton Up Trophy

Full results at www.gp14.org