This October 5th and 6th saw us back on the water, with a vengeance !
Lesley Kaye & I had sailed together in the past; she was the Instructor that taught me RYA Seamanship, and I had crewed for her during a couple of seasons before I purchased my own boat.
As we were both a bit “rusty” as far as sailing was concerned, we talked about entering the 2024 GP14 Masters event at the Welsh Harp. Talk then turned into “why not??”, and eventually led to action. We were registered - and committed.
The original idea had been to use 13853, Lesley’s GP14 which was based in Portland. But plans changed, so we re-registered with my boat instead.
I dug out the sails that had previously been used in the Nationals many years ago. And applied some “Elbow Grease” to clean up the hull.
GP14 number 13941 looked impressive with the Competition Sails:
Lesley completed the ensemble by bringing along her famous “Union Jack” spinnaker.
The First Race was a nervous time for both of us. There must have been others struggling a bit as well; there were quite a number of boats “OCS” at the start, leading to a General recall, followed by a “Black Flag” restart. Lesley & I were probably a boat length behind the starters, so we were innocent during this whole period. Everyone re-grouped, and the restart went without incident. We were making reasonable progress up the first beat, but our lack of recent experience began to tell. There were 21 boats on the fleet; we ended up in 17th place.
We re-grouped for the Second Race. Unfortunately, I was struggling with the Spinnaker. It became clear to me that the spinnaker bags were impeding me; I had added some elastic cord to the mouth of the bags, to prevent the spinnaker being pulled out unnecessarily, but I had over-done it, and the spinnaker was struggling to exit the bag. We also had a few annoying tangles. Our final position was 15th.
The Third Race that day did not count, because it was dedicated to the GP14 “Victor Trophy” contenders. But Lesley & I wanted to practice our skills. Besides, might as well take part in the Victor, hadn’t we? Our starting was now more aggressive - too aggressive, in fact, as we were pushed over the line, and were OCS at the flag. We rounded the committee boat, and rejoined, in last place. But we were not dismayed. Press on. We managed to overtake a few boats. One one downwind leg, the Spinnaker pulley broke lose on the “guy” side. So the spinnaker guy was fowling the Genoa. During the remainder of the race, I was able to do a jury-rigged re-connection of the pulley to the decking. I am bless I always carry spare rope in my buoyancy aid! I think we ended up 16th in the Victor race.
I think this photo shows the start of the first race that day. You can just see 13941 behind the first line of boats, which were "OCS" at the start.
That brought us to the Evening events, after 3 very tiring, but enjoyable, races. Sarah and Tom provided a wonderful evening meal for the competitors. I did not indulge in the Dancing, though !
The next morning, there was some fettling needed on the boat. Firstly, I re-tied the spinnaker pulley which had broken on the previous day. I also got rid of the bungee cord which was constricting the spinnaker bags; this would make it easier to drop the spinnaker into the bag, and hopefully prevent the numerous tangles which had dogged us the previous day. My final work was to lengthen the lead-line between the spinnaker up-haul and the forestay; the previous day the spinnaker up-haul had fowled the tell-tails on the genoa, making it more difficult to point the boat on the beat.
We were ready for action !
Next Day we started off Race Four. Due to a timing issue, we were behind the start line, but were able to tack off into clear air on the starboard side of the course. Clear air meant that we were on our own, and making good speed on Port Tack. Crash ! With a sudden jolt we were hit on starboard bow by a boat on Starboard. There was a very last-minute cry of "Starboard" from the other crew. Neither they or I had seen each other until the collision was unavoidable. Although it was a "racing accident", the rules were clear that it was our responsibility, so we had to do our "turns". We later discovered some significant gouges in the starboard side of the decking, but nothing on the hull itself. It would all be repairable, however. But it did put our progress back. By the end of the race, we were 15th, which meant that we had successfully overtaken a few boats and regained some semblance of pride.
So that led up to the final race of the Regatta - Race Five. I think we were both determined at that point to do well. The Spinnaker system was working better, our timing and coordination was slicker, and so many of the little irritations with the boat had been addressed. We made a reasonable start, and were in the middle of the fleet, alternating with a few boats across each lap. Three quarters of the way through the race, we rounded the windward mark (Mark 2, I think), and ducked into the main part of the lake to launch the spinnaker. Most of the fleet in front of us were near the southern shore, so we wanted clear air. As I focused on the "kite", I was aware that we were sailing smoothly. Suddenly, Lesley said, "Dennis, look behind you". Not the sort of thing you usually ask your crew to do when they are meant to focus on the third sail. I looked behind; we had overtaken a significant number of other boats. There were no more than 6 other boats in front of us. We held our nerve. Here was the opportunity we needed. I can't remember much of the rest of the race. It was a question of focusing on "doing what we knew we could do", and trying to not make any mistakes. We finished in 7th place. Our best result in the entire Regatta, and a great way to finish the weekend.
All-in-all, it was a great weekend, only marred slightly by the dink in the starboard side from the Sunday morning coming together.
We were both pleased that "the old team" still had some life in them !
Finally, I've added some more photos. I've focused on the famous Union Jack Spinnaker, which contributed to the 7th place in the final race.
On a personal note, I want to get back on the water as soon as I can, and take the helm some time. The enthusiasm has returned.
See you on the water !
