International 14 Prince of Wales Cup Week at the WPNSA - Overall
by James Cunnison 27 May 22:17 BST
22-27 May 2025
A sensible decision was made by the fleet and the race officer to cancel the racing planned for Tuesday and complete the PoW Week a day early, leaving PoW dinner to be a rather more open ended affair than might have otherwise been possible with the only weather window being before 10am.
Completing eight of the nine scheduled non-PoW races was a triumph given the forecast. At this point we should say thanks to PJ and team, who were able to manage the event around tight weather windows and had an open ear for suggestions from the fleet. Weymouth in a blow proved to be perfect for 14s, flat water really letting the boats light up the race track.
This left Glen and Ed with the Wind Whisperer trophy for the eight race series with one discard, the Royal Cornwall for the whole week including PoW race, no discard, and a slew of race winners trophies. Rumour has it that Ed maintains his legendary fitness using a workout involving the lifting of all his trophies. For the first time since 2019 though Glen and Ed will not leave with the Prince of Wales cup, which went to Andy and Rob.
The dinner on Monday night included prize-giving, and the annual crews' union event. This year saw the crews celebrate the career of Philip after 57 years, Philip first attended a PoW in the 1970s, entering the union by virtue of a top six finish in PoW race as a crew, before helming for many years.
With Philip on a throne the two crews (Aidan and Hugh) up for inauguration raced those helms selected for punishment by the union. Omerta prevents disclosure of the terms of the race, but this might have been the crews at their finest.
The boats packed away thoughts turned to the rest of the season, Itchenor's calendar is open to any I14 for free, with the Gallon, Hoptons, and Royal Bermuda to be raced for in June. The northern contingent have plans to attend the Birkett en mass, with some south coast boats found on Google maps planning a trip up there too.
The Europeans is in Germany this year, next year the Worlds are in Kingston, Canada, and it is anticipated that the 100th anniversary PoW regatta will take place the year after, likely returning to Itchenor after a successful 30 boat event in 2023.
What have we learned? The northern fleet is growing, and starting to work together with the Scottish fleet. Danny Boatman proved that it is possible to jump into the 14 after competing at a high level in other classes and compete out of the gate, taking a couple of race podiums.
The Cornish boat proved that you don't need to be big to sail a 14 in a blow, taking fifth in the week, eighth in the race. 1484 proved that the latest tech isn't required, a 24 year old Bieker 4 with sails from a small loft able to be top half over the week, with top five race results.
If you would like to try a 14 please contact the association. There are four pedigree boats available, at a range of budgets, from £3,700 to £14,500: a PoW winning M12 (Bargin), a B4 which came seventh in the race this year (great boat to learn in), a B5 (unbelievable rocketship), and a B6 (same hull as the last three world champions, current national champion).
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | PoW | R8 | R9 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 1553 | | Glen Truswell | Ed FitzGerald | | -2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 1569 | | Andy Shaw | Rob Struckett | Itchenor SC | 1 | -3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| 3 | 1567 | Synchronicity | Martin Jones | Harry Kennedy | | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | -5 | 4 | -4 | 3 | 2 | 20 |
| 4 | 1575 | Seeing Pink | Andy Fitzgerald | Daniel Johnson | | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | -13 | 6 | (RET [19]) | 4 | 5 | 34 |
| 5 | 1568 | Pat Clifton | Liam Stacpoole | Wayne Barnicoat | Restronguet SC | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | -8 | 6 | -8 | 42 |
| 6 | 1565 | | Danny Boatman | Bill Maughan | | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | (RET [19]) | (DNC [19]) | DNC [19] | 47 |
| 7 | 1484 | Honk!! | Josh Kerr | Ali Kent | Largs SC | -12 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 8 | -10 | 10 | 6 | 59 |
| 8 | 1572 | | Peter Bromley | Hugh Maclean | Itchenor SC | 7 | (RET [19]) | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | -5 | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | 64 |
| 9 | 1522 | | Andy Brown | Stuart Keegan | Tynemouth SC | -13 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 9 | -7 | 8 | 11 | 66 |
| 10 | 1545 | The Hoff | Paul Anderson | Luca DeJong | | -15 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 10 | -14 | 12 | 9 | 79 |
| 11 | 1531 | | Andrew Penman | Chris Watson | Itchenor SC | 8 | 8 | 9 | (DNC [19]) | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | -11 | 7 | 14 | 84 |
| 12 | 1520 | Hiccup | Roger Ewart Smith | James Bayliss | Itchenor SC | 14 | 13 | 15 | 9 | 12 | (DNS [19]) | -13 | 11 | 10 | 84 |
| 13 | 1558 | Dragon | Robin Pascal | Martin Pascal | Itchenor SC | 11 | 11 | 10 | (DNC [19]) | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | -9 | 9 | 7 | 86 |
| 14 | 1544 | Pamela | James Cunnison | Aidan Mobley | Itchenor SC/Royal Thames YC | 10 | 9 | 12 | (DNS [19]) | 11 | DNS [19] | -6 | 14 | 12 | 87 |
| 15 | 1559 | Penguin Dance | Andy Partington | Tom Partington | | (DNC [19]) | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | 8 | RET [19] | DNS [19] | -3 | 5 | 4 | 93 |
| 16 | 1566 | | Philip Gladman | Natasha Gladman | Itchenor SC | 9 | 12 | 13 | (DNC [19]) | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | -15 | 15 | 14 | 101 |
| 17 | 1527 | | Philip McDanell | Luke Boughton | Itchenor SC | 16 | (DNS [19]) | DNS [19] | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | -12 | 13 | 14 | 119 |
| 18 | 1546 | Jungle Fire | Charles Duchesne | Thomas Bracewell | Itchenor SC | (DNC [19]) | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | DNS [19] | 10 | DNS [19] | (RET [19]) | DNC [19] | DNC [19] | 124 |
