GP14 Midland Area Championship at Chase Sailing Club

GP14 Midland Area Championship at Chase © Michelle Evans

GP14 Midland Area Championship at Chase © Michelle Evans

Some challenging sailing to get the GP14 season under way

The Craftinsure GP14 Grand Prix 2014/15 kicked off at the end of last season with the End-of-Season championships, and after a winter lay-off the series resumed at Chase Sailing Club over the weekend of 28/29 March 2015. It was a two-day event that promised challenging sailing, with 45-knot gusts forecast.

Thirty-two boats registered, but the wind strength put a few off from taking to the water for the first race, and with Justin Jones out before the first gun with a broken rudder, 29 started Race 1. The OOD team got the fleet away with an almost clean start, though Dave Young and Dodge recalled putting them on the back foot from the off.

The first beat divided the fleet nicely, with Graham Flynn & Adam Froggatt taking an early lead, with Peter Jaques & Peter Tate and Sam Watson & Andy Hunter on the chase. One lap in and the forecast gusts came to play, flattening three boats with Meg Hicklin and her crew, Mike Senior, over then hit. Heading into the final lap Jaques and Tate had dropped back with Watson and Hunter moving up to second and Shane MacCarthy, crewed by Andy (Taxi) Davis, warming up with a 3rd. Only 21 boats finished with the Silver fleet boat of Josh & Eden Hyland (4th) and the Bronze fleet boat of Will Hawkins & Sam Thomson (7th) profiting from the capsize chaos to post good opening results.

The second race saw more boat bits break and sailors swimming, but MacCarthy & Davis had got into their stride with their first win of the weekend and Watson & Hunter showed their consistency with another second. Instone and Toothill were 3rd, pushing Flynn & Froggatt to 4th. After an individual recall and retirement through boat malfunction in the first race, Dave Young and crew Ollie Goodhead made up for lost time with a solid 5th.

Twenty-two finished the third and final race of the Saturday, with MacCarthy & Davis 1st, Flynn & Froggatt 2nd and the patched-up boat of Hicklin & Senior back on the water making up for lost time with a 3rd, Young & Goodhead 4th and Watson & Hunter with their lowest placing of the weekend, a 5th.

Those who stayed after the racing were treated to a curry evening by host club Chase but no late night for the very tired looking sailors. Overnight MacCarthy & Davis were topping the results table, but with the same partnership not sailing on the Sunday the final day was set to be a scrap between Flynn & Froggatt and Watson & Hunter for the overall win.

Heading into Day 2 the strong winds had put a few off sailing but no one was put off charging the line early, with the ODD forced to recall the whole fleet and start under a black flag. With a wind strength that was challenging but manageable Flynn & Froggatt took the win from Watson & Hunter in Race 4.

Race 5 is where the fun started for the spectators! With the white horses breaking on the water only 17 boats took to the water for what ended up being the last race of the day. The start was clean but the first boat was over two lengths out, then another, then another... Going round the first mark it looked like no one was going to risk the spinnaker, but the Gold fleet eventually showed willing. This proved costly for some, who went over and out of the race. Halfway through the first lap only 11 boats were left sailing and the safety team were starting to get stretched by the number of boats struggling to get upright. The decision was taken to shorten the race with seven left in it – and Flynn building a good lead over Watson. On the final beat Watson & Hunter reined the lead boat of Flynn & Froggatt back in, but it looked like Flynn's win. Coming up to the line Flynn's last tack left just enough room for Watson to charge into gap and take the race. Five boats finished, and then Ben Pickering and Andy Berry, having suffered several capsizes, persevered to take the 6th and final spot.

GP14 Midland Area Championship at Chase - photo © Michelle Evans

With the wind picking up the OOD made the call to abandon the last race, much to the relief of everyone apart from 2nd place Sam Watson! Despite the heavy winds a good weekend was had by all and Chase put on a great (and safe) event. Graham Flynn and Adam Froggatt from Chase were worthy winners, with Sam Watson and Andy Hunter (South Staffs/Nantwich) only one point behind overall in 2nd. Dave Young and Ollie Goodhead rounded off the top three. It was a good event for the up and coming younger sailors on the circuit, with Ollie the youngest crew at 15, Meg Hicklin (South Staffs) first female helm, Eden and Josh Hyland (Chase) first Silver fleet boat and Will Hawkins and Sam Thomson top Bronze fleet.

Many thanks to Craftinsure for their sponsorship of the Grand Prix series, and to Gul for their support of the Midland Area Championship.

Overall Results: