GP14 Southern Travellers Open at Papercourt Sailing Club
by David Innes 5 May 2021 16:27 BST
2 May 2021
Papercourt GP14 Open © Frasier Hayden
Sixteen sailors from Papercourt, Frensham, Burghfield and Welsh Harp braved ongoing COVID constraints and a poor wind forecast to kick of the 2021 GP14 Southern Travellers season which will consist of ten events stretching from Welsh Harp in London, Brightlingsea on the East Coast and Poole in the Southwest.
Race Officer Frasier Hayden faced a daunting task in the light variable winds and sensibly kept the fleet in the northern half of the lake setting figure of eight courses and moving buoys as necessary to get the fleet away from the Committee Boat on windward starts for three out of the four races. Race One was won by Nick Craig and Tobytastic Lewis from Burghfield/Frensham who steadily increased their lead from Steve Cooper /Lucy Barrie and Tomasz Szakou/Maciej (Magic) Matyjaszczuk (all Welsh Harp) and James Ward and Richard Whitehill from Papercourt.
Race two followed a similar pattern but with Cooper/Barrie pushing Craig/Lewis hard initially and taking second from Tomasz and Magic.
Following lunch and with the local fleet having completed club racing a steady breeze set in from the southwest setting up some interesting buoy roundings and rule discussions. Craig and Lewis led again with Bruce Craven/ Tim Farnell-Watson (Frensham) leading the chasing pack from the leeward mark before a 360 penalty ended their challenge. Cooper and Barrie came through to take their third second place with David Innes/John Mcguinness (Frensham) taking third.
The start of the fourth race started in some confusion after a massive northerly shift with Innes/ Mcguinness following Craig and Lewis around the windward mark and maintaining second position from a hard chasing Cooper and Barrie.
Overall Results:
1st Nick Craig / Tobytastic Lewis (Burghfield/Frensham)
2nd Stephen Cooper / Lucy Barrie (Welsh Harp SC)
3rd David Innes / John Mcguinness (Frensham Pond SC)
Congratulations to James Isles/ Michal Szady, Bruce Craven, Neil Carruthers and Kevin Marshall who all attended a Travellers event for the first time and who can all now qualify for the Jaldi Cup which is awarded at the end of the season for the highest placed "New Traveller".