GP14 Welsh Area Championship at Dovey Yacht Club
by Michelle Evans 7 Jul 2017 09:35 BST
1-2 July 2017
This year's Welsh Area Championship ended up being a Nationals warm up with 10 out of the 19 boats entered in the Gold Fleet. Held over two days with a sea training event the day before there was a nice holiday vibe as the sunshine greeted us Saturday morning and competitors tested out the local ice cream shops.
In what would be the first sea sailing of the year for some, and the first completed Championship event for others, we lined up on the beach waiting for the release flag like thoroughbred race horses chomping at the bit to be released from the paddock.
It took around 40 minutes to get out of the estuary in a steady F2/3 and over the famous boat breaking Dovey bar into the sailing area. The line was good and we all eagerly edged towards the front of our traps. It was Mike Senior and Chris White (South Staffs SC) that got away like Red Rum leaving the rest of us looking like donkeys trotting up Blackpool beach.
The left-hand side of the beat seemed to pay more than the right and it was Mike and Chris that rounded windward first and they were away off into the distance. It was another South Staffs boat that finished second with Dave Young and Nic Booth the only ones to vaguely trouble Mike and Chris.
Race 2 was a clean start for all but Nick Devereux and Geoff Edwards (Budworth SC) who were OCS. With Mike and Chris well away again it was John Hayes and Joel James from Southport SC who lead the charge for second and with both boats sporting very pretty pink spinnakers it was only the grey hull of Raceys Rocket that identified Mike and Chris as the leaders again. That's how the top two stayed to the end with Bolton Boys Gary Deighan and Dale Knowles having their best result of the weekend to take third.
The wind picked up to a good F4 at times for Race 3 Mike and Chris showed no signs of being one trick ponies by leading and winning once again. Having coming in on a run of good form, Fergus Barnham and Andy Hunter (Snettisham/Nantwich SC) had been having an unusually low key event until Race 3, finishing second behind Mike and Chris. Overnight Mike and Chris lead Fergus and Andy in second with SP Boats' Richard Instone and Steve Parker (Blithfield SC) third.
Coming back into shore it looked like Andy Hunter had a bit of energy to burn off as the fixed rudder floated off into the estuary and as Fergus was holding the boat Andy was left to swim off and recover the vital bit of kit. Team Gingerboats were also in need of a bit more exercise and as they trotted off for a quick 10k the rest of us headed to the bar.
For the bleary eyed of us the strong sunshine was not a blessing on Sunday. Neither was the dropping wind as we gently bobbed out to sea. With some port bias on the line for Race 4 we had the inevitable round of general recalls before we got away. Picking the shifts and the right side of the beats was key to exploit what little wind there was. The best example of this was Richard and Steve going from tenth to second on one beat and even Richard flashing a rare on water smile after the finish. With Mike and Chris securing another win they won the championship with a race to spare.
Race 5 had one restart before the black flag was hoisted and there was no messing from the RO as he booted 7 out OCS including three out of the top four (Mike and Chris, Fergus and Andy, Richard and Steve). This left John and Joel in the ideal position to capitalise and take the race win and with it second overall from Fergus and Andy with Richard and Steve finishing fourth and Dave and Nic fifth. Silver fleet winners, and eight overall, were Ben and Sam Pickering (Chase SC) with Tim Davies and Mark Collingwood (Chelmarsh SC) winning the bronze fleet.
Thanks to Race Officer Rupert Tildesley and his team for excellent race management and all at Dovey YC for their hospitality.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 13417 | Mike Senior | Chris White | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 4 |
| 2 | 14188 | John Hayes | Joel James | 3 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| 3 | 14132 | Fergus Barnham | Andy Hunter | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 15 |
| 4 | 14210 | Richard Instone | Steve Parker | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 16 |
| 5 | 14110 | Dave Young | Nic Booth | 2 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 17 |
| 6 | 14091 | Gary Deighan | Dale Knowles | 10 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 7 | 13300 | Peter Gray | Richard Pepperdine | 8 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 27 |
| 8 | 9 B | Ben Pickering | Sam Pickering | 7 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 27 |
| 9 | 13113 | Jean‑Louis Simons | Mark Hinton | 12 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 33 |
| 10 | 14206 | Andy Smith | Phil Hodgkins | 4 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 20 | 38 |
| 11 | 14157 | Lawrence Creaser | David Johnson | 13 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 41 |
| 12 | 14199 | Frank Nickless | Michelle Evans | 11 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 43 |
| 13 | 13851 | Edward Coyne | S Matyjaszczuk | 17 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 4 | 46 |
| 14 | 13721 | Nick Devereux | Geoff Edwards | 9 | 20 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 46 |
| 15 | 14151 | Stephen Cooper | Yossi Shahar | 14 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 48 |
| 16 | 13727 | Tim Davies | Mark Collingwood | 15 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 52 |
| 17 | 13870 | Maciej Matyjaszczuk | J Matyjaszczuk | 16 | 14 | 18 | 16 | 9 | 55 |
| 18 | 13794 | Nick Brandon | Lisa Carpenter | 20 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 63 |
| 19 | 4615 | Stephen Parry | Philip Green | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 11 | 66 |