GP14 World Championship - Dobson and Tunnicliffe victorious

by GP14 Worlds on 20 Aug 2012 The final day of the Aigua Charter GP14 Worlds took place on Friday, 17th August on Cornwall’s south coast. The forecast did not look good for sailing to take place in Looe Bay, gusts were expected to be in the region of 35 knots, the waves getting on for 4m in height.

The Fireballs down the coast in Penzance had their day knocked on the head, so when Roger Hocking, the PRO for the event, had his second meeting of the week in the Lifeboat station with the congregated masses, having already postponed the 11 o’clock start, he was expecting to advise the fleet that Thursday had been the end of the regatta. However, the wind had dropped, the tide had turned, and the race was on for a 2.45 gun; according to the SIs, within fifteen minutes of the latest possible start.

With only one race taking place, a second discard kicking in, the winners of the event were already known, it was a race for the top ten placings to be confirmed that was being sailed for. Second place going into this final race were Matt Burge and Rich Wagstaff and it was their responsibility to get the race underway in the choppy waters, left behind from the morning’s strong breeze.

For the second race in a row, being pathfinder and forced to go right, paid; Matt and Rich were able to consolidate their position in the standings by rounding the windward mark in the lead, sailing away to a deserved victory leaving the rest of the fleet to fight for the minor places in Gold, as well as Silver, Bronze and Youth positions. Ger Owens and Melanie Morris took their second second of the week to squeeze into the top five overall, Dobson and Tunnicliffe, despite not having to sail, coming in third to cement their position at the top of the leader board. Taking second overall were the winners of that final race, Matt Burge and Rich Wagstaff, Christian Birrell and Ben Ainsworth third.

Leading Silver, going into the final race in the regatta was Mark Wolf and Alain Renauld. They had an anxious race, unable to work out whether their final result of 30th was enough to clinch their trophy – as it turned out, just – by two points from Colin Rainback and Andrew Burge. A further two points behind were the overall Youth winners, Sam Blocksidge and Connie Hicklin, they had done enough to pip Sam Watson and Andy Hunter, the lighter wind being Sam and Andy’s downfall.

The Bronze fleet was not so tight, clear winners were Chris Winters and Julian Forde who had pretty much dominated throughout the week, despite the best efforts of Ed Dutton and Megan Hicklin and early pace setters Lee Tennant and Finn O’Hirley.

Prize giving in the Fish quay on the banks of the River Looe was a celebratory affair, stunning prizes of distinctive GP14 models being awarded throughout the fleet, rewarding not only the top-end crews, but those who had excelled in a range of categories. One of the most hotly contested competitions was leading lady helm, like many of the trophies going down to the final race; Jane Alexander beating Ellie Davies by four places.

Gill Beddows drew to a close the prize giving with sincere thanks to Looe Sailing Club who has welcomed the fleet with such excellent organisation both on and off the water. As stated in my previous reports, the launching and landing has been exceptional, without the support of the members of the club, many of the sailors would’ve had serious second thoughts on giving the conditions out in the bay a go.

The next Grand Prix events on the calendar are all in September. The Midland Areas nominated event at South Staffs SC on the second,the Midland Areas at Hollowell SC (RYA Club of the Year) on 22nd/23rd,followed by the Welsh Areas at Llandudno SC on 29th/30th. All are welcome to join this great fleet on its travels around the country.

Full results here