Poole GP14 Open

The second day at Poole was very light winds, and a fairly frustrating day.

Yasmin did brilliantly - I don't think I know any other crew member with such a strong work ethic! We kept the boat really flat in the beats, but ended up near the back of the fleet every time.

I think part of the problem was that the helm (me!) never really got into the "zone". I got my timing wrong at the Starts; in light winds if you don't start well you might as well give up.

Yasmin also thought that I had a tendency to "go wide, both on the beats and on the runs, and this meant we had more distance to cover. I thought we were working the wind-shifts reasonably. However, I guess the lesson is to keep close to the rhumb line in light winds - "bow forward" as I understand the late Richard Estaugh used to say.

The first race was so slow that it was abandoned. Then the sea breeze kicked in and we had two further races. Our final position was 14th out of 21 entries. Although, in practice, all of those behind us were "DNC", and we only really beat Den Valentine - by just one point. 

A humbling experience. But all experience is good if you take advantage of it.

Photo by Mike Millard of Poole Yacht Club shows 13941 with Spinnaker.

Mike's photo sets are here: Mike Millard Flickr Albums

Poole - Round the Island (again!)

The annual Poole Round the Island race was the first time back on the water since the GP14 Nationals - how would I do? Would the experience at Brixham translate into improved confidence on the water at Poole?

Poole Yacht Club is a favourite place to visit - always welcoming - a sort of "second home" to some people from Welsh Harp Sailing Club. The Harp also had a couple of novices in a club boat this year. It was also the first event I had helmed at - back in 2014.

The event consists of teams of 3 boats. We were with Richard Lord and "Scooter" in the WHSC "A" team, which ended up second overall. Our positions  were 16th & 17th out of 22 boats; so we provided the "discard" scores!

Great crewing from Yasmin Hales, who has only been sailing a year, but did brilliant work. 

No prizes - but the Adams/Hales team acquitted themselves well! 

Final races - final reckoning

It was not clear whether we would have races 8 and 9 at the GP14 Nationals today; the wind in Tor Bay was expected to be very light.  Bearing in mind that it took half an hour to sail to the race area, racing today might have been cancelled. 

In the end, the race officer let us out and we had the final two races back-to-back. 

It was a pleasant way to finish off the week. The light winds meant that it lacked the scare factor of the first few days. Light conditions should have suited "pond sailors" like myself, but I was unable to improve on my typical 37th or 38th places.  

So the 2015 Brixham Nationals are over. 

It has been a real mixture of different sailing conditions.

The final reckoning for me was that I competed in all 9 races, my best score was 24th, and final score (based on 2 discards) was  37th out of 44 registered entrants. 

It is the fulfilment of the idea of going to the National Championships in my own boat - two years in the planning & preparation. 

A big thank you to everyone at Welsh Harp Sailing Club who has encouraged and helped me, particularly Andy & Helen, and crewmen Mike, Maciej, Penny and especially Chris who sailed with me this week. 

Thank you to everyone who has followed on social media. 

Thanks to Dixon, who is towing the boat to Poole, ready for the next event...

Thanks to my extremely patient wife Jeanette; how do you feel about a holiday in Barbados, at the GP14 World Championships in 2016?

Races 5,6,7 GP14 Nationals

Thursday was much quieter winds in Brixham - 10 to 15 knots, so a bit more manageable for someone with my experience. 

In contrast, feedback from many people afterwards suggested that it was an eventful day - difficulties getting boats to "point", getting spinnakers to fly properly, a couple of "close encounters", with minor damage. 

Fortunately, we had a relatively easy day compared with others - no issues or incidents. 

My own focus was to ensure that I picked up wind shifts from the prevailing wind coming across the land. So much of my time was spent "head out of the boat".

The fist race was a Gate Start, which we managed to achieve reasonably successfully.  After that, it was a case of managing the wind shifts and trying to get used to spinnaker reaches. We ended up with 24 points - best result to date. 

The other two races were "line starts", which we were less successful at. Maybe I was loosing concentration. Either wsy, we ended up 35 & 36, respectively.  

Going into the final day, we are 34 out of 44 boats. We need some good results on the last day tomorrow to consolidate the position.  

The photo was taken at the end of race 7, and shows the Welsh Harp Salling Club representatives at the Nationals.

From left to right: Andy W, Helen, Dennis, Chris, Andy S, Steve, Michal, Duncan. 

Rest, Recuperation and Repairs

Today was a rest day from the GP14 National Championships. 

13941 had a problem with her centre-board during the racing yesterday. So Chris & I had to jack up the boat to remove it, then re-do the fixings.

Apart from a bit of basic repairs, it was a quiet day. A few of the guys took the chance to grab some sleep. I just read a (non-sailing) book. 

I don't have any photos from today, but the one above was taken when we were checking the rig tension on day one. 

Then it was time to swap sailing stories, and discuss tactics. 

This photo shows Andy & Dennis discussing different tactical approaches (to deal with the seagulls, who keep making such a nuisance!)

Tomorrow will be some hard sailing, with 3 races. Looking forward to it. 

Champagne Racing at the GP14 Nationals

We nearly didn't sail on day 3 of the GP14 National Championship at Brixham. 

Winds were forecast for 23 knots plus gusts for much of the day, so the race organisers kept us waiting from 10:30 (the normal time for leaving the harbour) until after 15:00. By that time, the winds were still 20 knots, but there was a possibility that they would die down - gradually. So we had just a single race. 33 boats braved the elements. 

In view of the high winds, we reverted to the older Dacron Salis. On heading out from the harbour, we had a long planing reach to get to the start line. Chris remarked that the amount of planing in half an hour was equivalent to a year at the Welsh Harp where we normally sail. 

The conditions did get quieter after the line start, but we still had a few hairy moments going down wind and nearly gybing without warning. 

We were quite near the back most of the time. However, we did manage to overtake one boat in the last few moments of the last leg - we came planing in on a Reach to the final mark, whilst other boats were just Running. As a result, we overtook another boat and ended up with 31 points. 

We are currently lying overall 37 out of 44.   

Tomorrow is a rest day; that will give us time to fix the centre board which keeps popping up. 

Thursday will be 3 full races! 

Day 2 = Spectacular Capsize!

Day 2 at the GP14 Nationals at Brixham was notable for two things; my GP 13941 probably went faster than she had in her life, and the most spectacular windward capsize I have ever experienced. 

Winds were 15 knots with gusts. Quite strong, but as the wind was south westerly, the waves were not as bad as yesterday, and it was possible to pick up transits from the land. Nevertheless, it was a tough day. 

The first race we had a reasonable gate start, and finished around 40th. 

Second race was a line start. Thanks to Chris tactical calls we made reasonable progress up the right hand side of the course, and had half-a-dozen boats behind us at the windward mark. We kept a reasonable (for us) pace, despite some scary moments with the spinnaker. At the last leg of the final lap we caught a gust, bore away too fast, and the boat collapsed on top of us. 

Chris was able to right the boat, but the spinnaker was trapped around the spreaders. Boats shot past us as we tried to recover. We limped over the finish line, with Chris gamely holding on to the trapped spinnaker to prevent it filling. We ended up second from last.  

The photo shows the repair to the torn spinnaker. 

Just for the record, this was our boat going out at the beginning of the day. 

Tiring day - real learning curve. 

Still enjoying things. 

First Race of GP14 Nationals

First "Gate Start" in a dinghy race. 

Largest fleet I have seen (43 boats). 

First time 13941 has been in the open sea. 

Learning to surf downwind with waves. 

Quite a learning curve !

In practice, winds of 15kts and a slight swell was not too bad. 

A relatively gentle start to the week. 

Thanks to Chris Lomax for his crewing. 

There was one practice race, then the first points race. I think we were 40th. 

Enjoyable start to the week. 

Brixham - view of the Racing Area

Tor Bay is the racing area for the GP14 Nationals this year. 

The photo was taken from the veranda of our home for the week. 

In the foreground is Brixham Harbour. Tor Bay is in the background. Winds are expected to be Easterly - and quite strong - for the first race tomorrow.