International 14 Prince of Wales Cup Week at Rock - Days 1 & 2
by Luke Boughton 30 Aug 2017 08:05 BST
28 August - 1 September 2017
Day 1
After some concerns over lack of wind spilling over from previous days and an hour's sensible postponement, 24 International 14s from as far away as Germany and France headed out into the Camel for race 1 of PoW week, a single long race for the Hunstanton Plate.
Given the weak forecast and best breeze at the entrance of the river, the race officer wisely set the course, a long 4 lap windward leeward, between Daymer Bay and the infamous Doom Bar. A fairly square line and some absorbing choices between staying in favourable tide in the channel and the benefits of a wind bend under stepper point, almost in the middle of the beat, not to mention the usual pressure differences made for some involved discussions on most boats. At the off, a couple of boats were over at the pin, namely Douglas Pattison / Mark Tait and Liam and Tom Stacpoole from the burgeoning Restronguet fleet.
After the first beat, those that went right for tide in the first half of the beat, before coming in under Stepper point to exploit the bend were looking like a ten course tasting menu at Nathan Outlaw's place up the road, with those who had opted for a different route experiencing the sort of sentiment more associated with being charged twenty quid for cod and chips at Rick Stein's... after queuing for an hour. And so it was Pattison / Tait and McGrane / Gilbert looking all bright eyed and glossy coated at the top, with a chasing bunch not far behind headed by Partington / Partington all wanting seats at the chef's table.
The best route downhill appeared to be sailing around Pentire point and sticking inshore in some firmer breeze and less adverse tide. Leeward marks were critical as the ebb tide washed boats up tide onto the mark, making for a highly topical rich get richer capitalist type situation.
As the race progressed, Pattison / Tait in "Marilyn" started to pull clear, whilst McGrane and Gilbert started to get swallowed by the pack. Nailing the tide / wind bend on lap 3 were Katie Nurton / Nigel Ash who leapfrogged a number of boats expertly to get into second by the final run ahead of a number of boats, which at various points comprised Pearson / Hamilton; Jones / Fitzgerald and Holman / Ash. Pattison / Tait ran away with it in the end but close racing was had in the 4-6kts breeze throughout the fleet. The boats threaded back down through the narrow channel back to the beach, where it was hoped that the end of the bank holiday weekend in Rock would herald the end of the proliferation of women with comedically large sunglasses, unable to find the reverse button in the latest e-hybrid SUVs, leaving the way stress free and clear for 3 shorter races for the Weymouth Town Trophy.
Day 2
After an incredible bank holiday weekend in scorching sunshine, real English summer arrived with cloud, rain but most importantly some wind!
With 3 short course races scheduled with the winner of the day receiving the Weymouth Town trophy.
At start time there was 15 knots with a rather fruity sea state rolling in from the Irish sea.
Roger Gilbert and Ben Mcgrane lead off the committee boat end closely followed by Jones/FilzGerald and the Partingtons.
After the 0.7nm beat Gilbert/Mcgrane rounded first closely followed by Jones, Massey and Pattison. This is when the carnage started to unfold!
Jones and Fitz were the first to show the sky their transom followed by significant proportion of the fleet! By this stage the race management and rescue teams were having as tougher time as the sailors.
Roger and Ben sailed an impeccable race to take the win, the Partingtons recovered well from a capsize on the first beat to take 2nd with Jones and FitzGerald 3rd.
In light of the sea state and the stretch rescue cover the race officer had no choice but to cancel racing for the day.
Wednesday is the big day with the PoW Cup race scheduled for an 11am start with a rather light 6-8 knots forecast.
Results after Day 2:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm / Crew | R1 | R2 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | GBR 1541 | ‑ | R Gilbert / B Mcrane | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | GBR 1559 | ‑ | A Partington / T Partington | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | GBR 155 | Roxanne | N Jones / E FitzGerald | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 4 | GBR 1561 | Marlyn | D Pattison / M Tait | 1 | 9 | 10 |
| 5 | GBR 1548 | ‑ | J Pearson / J Hunter Hamilton | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| 6 | GBR 1530 | Smash It! | A FitzGerald / R Dobson | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| 7 | GBR 1523 | ‑ | K Morrison / J Fowke | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| 8 | GBR 1527 | Blue Fire | P MacDanell / L Boughton | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| 9 | GBR 1545 | Hoff | J Reid / E Dyer | 15 | 8 | 23 |
| 10 | GBR 1500 | ‑ | L Stacpoole / H Stacpoole | 17 | 7 | 24 |
| 11 | GBR 1557 | ‑ | K Nurton / N Ash | 2 | DNF | 26 |
| 12 | GBR 1556 | ‑ | D Holman / D Ash | 5 | DNF | 29 |
| 13 | GBR 1519 | ‑ | O Sloper
H Mclean | 19 | 11 | 30 |
| 14 | GBR 1563 | Puff | A Massey / H Hillary | 9 | DNF | 33 |
| 15 | GBR 1529 | ‑ | R Pascal / M Pascal | 11 | DNF | 35 |
| 16 | GBR 1531 | Eagle 2 | A Penman / C Watson | 13 | DNF | 37 |
| 17 | GBR 1517 | ‑ | G Yeoman / J Yeoman | 14 | DNF | 38 |
| 18 | FRA 18 | ‑ | B Fritsch / R Thibaud | 16 | DNF | 40 |
| 19 | GBR 1488 | ‑ | D Van Essen
S Saccani | 18 | DNF | 42 |
| 20 | GBR 1554 | ‑ | P Crokford / C Bell | 20 | DNF | 44 |
| 21 | GBR 1551 | Not Yet Dead | C Smith / I Smith | 21 | DNF | 45 |
| 22 | GBR 1558 | Pink Dragon | K Hien / T Merkel | 22 | DNF | 46 |
| 23 | GBR 1562 | ‑ | A Cattanach / P Anderson | 23 | DNF | 47 |