GP14 Bell Trophy Weekend at Poole Yacht Club
by James Stafford 31 Jul 00:12 PDT
25-26 July 2026
James Stafford and the weekend's winning team - GP14 Bell Trophy Weekend at Poole © Sue Southam
This event is unique to Poole Yacht Club consisting of two races around the harbour islands on Saturday and a conventional open meeting on the Sunday with four races around the cans. It was attended by ten GP14s including six visiting boats.
The weather started off with light winds on Saturday morning which became more challenging in the afternoon with gusts up to 28 knots.
The winning team on Saturday was made up of Sarah & Lucy Street from the Welsh Harp SC and Oli Hale & Harry Shaw from Poole YC.
Strong winds on Sunday morning, coupled with gear failures from Saturday, meant that only four boats competed for the Bell Trophy in the 26 knot winds.
Oli & Harry won all three races back to back closely followed by Colin Rainback & Barry Southam from Poole YC. Both teams flew their spinnakers despite the gusty conditions.
The two top teams then retired leaving the remaining two boats to fight it out for third place. This heavy wind duel was eventually won by Andy Wadsworth & Caro Mitchell, a combined team from Paignton & Welsh Harp SCs with James Stafford & Dante Dunbabin from Poole YC a creditable fourth.
Oli also won the Bell Trophy in 2024.