Lennon and the International 14s
by Mike Lennon 25 Jan 2017 08:03 EST
25 January 2017
Glen and Sam sail testing in Weymouth Bay © Mike Lennon
Glen Truswell and Sam Pascoe dominated the 14 class in 2016 as they have since 2014. In that time the pair has won every major championship they have entered.
The only title they did not win was the 2016 POW Points Regatta which was however won by Stuart Blithell in Glen's boat with Sam on the wire. Glen had broken his foot and was unable to sail in that event. Stuart and Sam did not take home the Prince of Wales Cup itself; this was won by Katie Nurton, the first time a helmswoman has won this wonderful old trophy which carries so many illustrious names of past winners including that of Mike Lennon.
Throughout this run of success Glen has used Lennon Sails exclusively. He and Mike Lennon have worked closely together to develop the current shapes which have proved so successful. Glen is taking a sabbatical in 2017 which may come as a relief to the rest of the fleet who have looked at his transom for so long. 2017 will be a most interesting year.
Mike Lennon will not be resting on Glen's laurels. The advent of the stiffer rigs has necessitated alterations to the mainsail which in overpowered conditions was not sufficiently automatic in its gust response and was sensitive to luff curve. Neale Jones and Ed Fitzgerald have agreed to work with Mike in 2017. They agree with Mike that the rig set up has become too stiff and lacks response and they will be working to eliminate this in 2017.
Mike and Glen were working on spinnaker shapes in 2016 The standard Lennon sail is very straight in the exit which makes it easy to use and gives the boat good acceleration-Glen wanted more power so Mike deepened the mould and produced a sail which had that extra power but was a little more difficult to handle. Glen used it last year and told us that his speed downwind had enabled him to win races when he was struggling (a relative term in his case) with his stiffer rig upwind. The jury is still out on the new shape, Andy Fitzgerald has one and will let us know what he thinks of it. In the meantime we will stick with the current standard sail unless a customer insists on having the deeper shape.
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