GP14 End of Season Championships at Royal Windermere Yacht Club
by Matthew Thursfield 23 Oct 2012 08:30 PDT
20-21 October 2012
The weekend of 20th/21st October drew to an end one of the most talked about years of GP14 sailing for some time. An incredibly successful travellers' circuit, the Elite Sails Grand Prix including a three-day Inlands at Northampton and "The Worlds" held at Looe during August. It really has been an amazing year for this 60 year old design that keeps going from strength to strength. Modern wooden & epoxy hulls competing with boats over 20 years of age made from a variety of materials, the contemporary hulls just having the slightest of edges over their older counterparts. Sailmakers developing their rigs with another range of materials are allowing the fleet to push themselves even faster, again with the strict class rules keeping each boat competitive.
With an entry of 42 boats at the End of Season Championships, including several past World Champions coming out to play to put themselves up against the current crop of quality sailors, it was an extremely busy boatpark on the shore of the "New England" like, autumnal Windermere. With the race officer planning on taking the competing crews south of the Hawkshead ferry, it was an early launch to get to the start area in the fairly light Southerly breeze.
Race One was underway bang on time in slightly building pressure, at times crews getting fully hiked around the traditional triangle-sausage course, four laps long; of key importance to one or two of the decision makers on the water. A hazardous beat with plenty of red buoyed shallow outcrops, saw a large windshift at the top end, trapping those on the left of the lake. Andy Tunnicliffe, crewed by Ian Dobson were up there, leading Gavin Tullett and Mark Wilson on the reaches across the water. The wind was filling in from an array of directions, allowing the pack to concertina, no one getting too far ahead or lost off the back. With three laps gone, the leading helms of Tunnicliffe, Tullett & Neil Marsden headed towards the finish to take the gun; an error that ultimately allowed Mike & Lizzie Senior to take the victory. The race was four laps long, the leading three helms had made a bad call, which left them chasing back up the beat with rushed kite drops, to try to close the gap on the boats they'd let through. Crossing the line in the lead were the Seniors after they'd sliced their way through from a relatively low first mark rounding with their exceptional downwind speed. The other benefactors of "Lap Threegate" were Will Croxford & Chris White and Richard Instone & Jim Toothill. They took second and third. Will was lead silver helm, bronze taken by Tim Davies & Mark Collingwood.
Race 2 required a 'Flag I' to keep the helms at bay; a pin end biased line was always going to give a close one, half the fleet must've been over before the race officer even thought about dropping the class flag to get the race underway. He obviously thought it was a good line, no alterations, so again the fleet pushed to the limit despite round the ends being in play. Only one boat returned on the individual recall's use – ex-world champion Simon Relph of all people - Welcome back!!
Getting the shifts was key on the first beat, some quality helms missing out on a top ten rounding by again getting caught on the wrong side, this time it was right. It was the other returning World Champion Neil Marsden &Derek Hill who led the way in this one, in their wake were Mike & Lizzie, Paul Owen & Linda Instone pushing them. With the wind starting to drop, the fleet spread out more than in race 1, however the PRO allowed the race to run its course, five laps this time, Marsden & Hill taking the bullet, ahead of the Seniors, Instone & Toothill drifting through to take third. Silver were brought home by Paul & Linda; bronze fleet again by Tim Davies and Mark Collingwood.
As the fleet crossed the line it was a long run back to the Yacht club, all being entertained by the dining cruisers as they made their way south, jazz music drifting as they cut through the returning sailors.
The whole concept of the end of season championships was to celebrate the success of those who had qualified for the Grand Prix series. A black tie dinner hosted at the RWYC saw over 140 people gather for the fleet's first formal gathering since the 60th anniversary do. Generously donated and received prizes of Elite Sails and covers from Steve Parker were distributed by Gill Beddow, our Championship Committee Chair, to sailors of differing fleets. Lead Bronze going to James & Judith Downes; taking the Silver Fleet prize were Sam Blocksidge & Connie Hickiln. The Grand Prix winners for the second year in succession were Mike Senior & Chris White, with a helping hand from both Lizzie Senior & Chris Cook.
Sunday saw a mirror like Windermere, the far shoreline just visible through the mist, the trees again giving the landscape an ethereal quality. That was the only way that the sailors were going to get any sense of fulfilment, racing being abandoned by one o'clock.
So that decision at the end of lap three in the first race, allowing Mike & Lizzie through, determined the destination of the first victory in the 2013 Grand Prix Series. With only three events to qualify this year, just the seven Area Champs and the Inlands, qualification has already begun in earnest. Will it be the Seniors third year in a row, or can one of the new arrivals in the fleet challenge them for overall victory? Only time will tell.
The next event on the circuit currently stands as being the Midland Areas at Staunton Harold in Derbyshire in mid-April. The final dates will be on the website at www.gp14.co.uk over the coming weeks. Fewer events, bigger fleets, more competitive. A recipe for further success.