GP14 Nationals at Tenby - Day 5

Thursday 7 August

The forecast for Thursday is 15 Knots, gusting 20 Knots. That’s near the top of our ability.

So should we go out today?

It was a difficult call. I wanted to go out on a “high”. It’s been a great holiday. But I don’t want to spoil it.  So I really really preferred to call it “done”.

So we arranged to check out of our B&B and de-rig the boat that morning. 

As we were doing so, the visibility out to sea was very hazy, and we saw an “AP over one” (one hour delay to the start). Later on, this became a two hour delay. And in the end, all racing was cancelled for the day.

Meanwhile, with rain down the backs of our necks, we had taken 13941 to bits ready for transport, and were on our way back home.

Mid-afternoon, the organisers released their “Notice number 5” to competitors:

“Notice to competitors No. 5. 7/8/25
I’m sorry that we could not race today. Conditions in the race area were not safe, with large waves rolling at different angles , heights and lengths. The sea state was kicked up overnight, and even if the wind moderated as per the forecast, the sea state would not flatten off until late afternoon. The safety team doubted that they would be able effectively to assist boats that required it. On Tuesday in similar wind, but better sea state they assisted 18 boats. The visibility was coming and going, most of the time we could not see Tenby at all.
Rather than keep you all hanging around in case we could run a race in the late afternoon - and there was no guarantee that this would be possible- we decided that postponing for the day was the best option.
The schedule is now changed for Friday as follows:
Three races for all fleets, with first warning signal at 1057. Target time is reduced to 40-45
mins. We may have to do more W flag finishing than we have so far to facilitate turning round races quickly.
The latest time for a warning signal for the first class to start is changed to 1500.”

So leaving early had not penalised us. 

It had been a great event for us:

- four sea races, if you include the “practice race”

- tried out the high winds on Tuesday

- learnt a lot

- gained a bit of confidence 

So it’s back to the Welsh Harp.

Will we do other “Open” Events? Who knows?

Happy Sailing !

GP14 Nationals at Tenby - Day 4

Wednesday 6 August. GP14 Nationals Rest day replaced by Race Day

Wednesday was originally intended as “Rest Day”, but the storm on Monday had changed that.

After the strong winds of Tuesday, we were hoping for calmer conditions today.

Race 5:

The wind conditions were better for this race, compared with the previous day.

Encouraged by the experience of Sunday - and even the attempt on Tuesday, we set out in what turned out to be 10 Knots, with gusts of a few Knots more.

There was only going to be one “points” race today, so maximum focus.

Thanks to Richard, who gave us a spare burgee - we had lost the previous one in the overhanging trees when we went back to the boat part on Sunday afternoon.

Having fitted the burgee, we set off, only to discover that the rudder down-haul line had parted - the knot I had tied when I re-built the rudder down-haul. Fortunately, I was able to re-tie it. 

Arriving at the sailing area, we saw we had a “IL3” course of three “sausage” legs followed by a rhomboid at the end (diagram here).

High tide on Wednesday was at 17:09. So the tide would be coming in - and forcing us to the right hand side of the course. Talking with people who had sailed yesterday, the advice was “go hard left”. What was needed was a helpful transit.

And such a transit presented itself - the shape of the hills beyond the windward mark.

We did not have a good start - I was trying for the left of the line, but had to tack off to port and duck the fleet in order to cross the line.

Nevertheless, we were able to “middle” and “left” the course. We weren’t the fastest or most efficient boat on the race, but we were keeping up with the tail-enders.

Sarah “Queen of the Spinnaker” helped us gain spaces down-wind, as I tried not to lose them in the beat.

Looking around, we saw the yellow boat of Adeel, and Jamie’s green boat within our sights.

Coming down the penultimate leg of the rhomboid, I wanted to drop the “kite”, but Sarah said “no”. She was right; we kept sailing and were inch-by-inch gaining on Jamie. Almost there. Almost. Not quite. They both stayed ahead.

We ended up 33rd.

But we were pleased with our efforts.

What about the Crew’s Race?

The “crews race” was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was re-scheduled for Wednesday. 

Sarah decided to pass on this one, so that was sailing over for the day.

State of the Competition

At this stage, we are 35th in the competition, out of 37 entrants. Not last - so we are content to take part.

We sailed home towards the Tower at Tenby. It had been a great Regatta so far. We had competed within our own ability, and enjoyed the sailing. We had learnt from the experience, and grown in our sailing confidence.

We aren’t sure if we will be sailing tomorrow.

Either way, a great time.

The score sheet is here: https://www.sailwave.com/results/tenbysc/2025-GP14-Nationals.htm

GP14 Nationals at Tenby - Day 3

Tuesday 5 August:Day three of the 2025 GP14 Nationals:

What would Tuesday bring?

Maybe three races to “catch up” with the schedule?

Monday evening brought the announcement that we were only doing two races on Tuesday. Maybe that was because the forecast was still showing up to 20 Knots. But at least the gusts looked to be manageable.

Setting off

Tuesday dawned with winds of 20 knots westerly.

We put down the shrouds on the mainmast, to de-power the Mainsail. We were ready.

Launching 13941 was fun; a gust hit us from the land side and nearly capsized us as she came off the launching trolley. 

Although the wind on the shoreline was on-shore, by the time we were heading to the starting line the wind was behind us. Trying to maintain a “training run” approach was difficult. A couple of gusts hit us & we nearly broached. It was enough.

Sarah had kept the boat very flat, but despite dropping the shrouds, applying lots of Cunningham and Kicker, this was proving too much. It was time to go back in.

We turned around, and headed back to shore. We were joined by at least three other boats. And a further three had not even left the shore but decided not to race.

We were not the only ones to be beaten by the conditions.

It was a good seamanship decision. 

We could at least be proud of the fact that we had tried. We had even gone out. That’s something to be proud of.

Races three and four

We didn’t get a score on these races. 

Conclusion?

We had at least tried. We looked at the conditions and came back in. We weren’t the only ones.

In the end, sailing has to be Safe and Fun. We kept ourselves Safe. Thats good seamanship.

Tomorrow promises to be calmer. 

Looking forward to it.

GP14 Nationals at Tenby - Day 2

There is a storm brewing:

The BBC headline on Monday said it all; “Trains cancelled and events called off as Storm Floris brings wind and rain to the UK”

We had had advance warning the previous couple of days that Monday might be difficult. 

The organisers were obviously making contingency plans, since we had 3 races the previous day instead of the planned two. 

Speculation was that we might be able to get one race in around 3:00PM. 

The committee notified us that a decision would be made at 8:00 Monday morning.

So we waited patiently at breakfast. 

AP over A

Very soon the message came out that “AP over A” was being displayed at the clubhouse.

This immediately sent some of us scrambling for our Rule Books - or Google, depending upon our preferences.

The mystery was soon solved.  No more racing today.

I needed a rest anyway.

Let’s see what Tuesday brings.

I think Sarah summed it up very well in a WhatsApp post; 
“So no sailing today- a day to recover from pulling boats over the sand 🤩”

GP14 Nationals at Tenby - Day 1

Tenby is really beautiful.

But there was work to be done. Boat rigging, and fitting the new spinnaker catcher. Sticking the laminated course details onto the deck. Working out our Tally Number (14 = very appropriate !).

Practice Race

We carefully made our way to the start line. Enterprises with their blue sails, and Miracles went first. Then it was the GP14 start. We started behind the fleet. General recall. Restart with a black flag. 

High tide in an hour, so that would push us to the right hand side of the course. So head left.

Course was two “sausages” with a leeward “gate”, followed by a rhomboid to the finish. 

We flew the “kite”. Lots of concentration, and we finished with a few boats behind us. 

We scored 29th. Not bad. We now know who to watch out for near the back of the fleet.

Grab a quick snack before the next start.

Race 1:

This was the big one. Wind was 12 or 15 knots, with gusts. We made a Good start.

Great progress up the course.

The only hairy incident was a Near hit on Richard and Tom, who went in front of us on Starboard. We were on Port. Fortunately, we were all going so fast that our boat responded rapidly to the jerked rudder, and we ducked behind them.

Going down-wind was a chance to practice “wave riding” - a skill I still need to work on.

We scored 32nd in our first ever National race.

Race 2:

For the final race, we went to the right hand side of the course behind a couple of other boats. 

The tide had turned, and everyone was heading right.

But we were both tired. I think my concentration was on “following”, rather than “racing”. So we tracked other boats rather than progressing our own race.

Andy Wadsworth in 14014 was ahead of us, but we were loosing ground. And last.

At the top mark, the powerboat took pity on us, and offered the “Whisky flag” = we are counted as finished 35th, and could go home early. 

But Where was Tenby? I was completely disorientated. But we were shown the Tenby Church Tower - time to sail home.

Exhaustion !

Arriving back at the beach, we had to drag the boat over the sand. 

I was completely exhausted, I could barely help push the boat up. 

We also lost our burgee due to the overhanging trees near the dinghy park.

No matter. Time for a shower, plenty of water (followed by beer later) and rest.

We had done it. 

Not National Champions. But we had competed. 

GP14 Nationals at Tenby - Day 0

The story so far

The dream of doing another National in 13941, this time with Sarah, had been with us for some time.

The penultimate test was when we went to the Poole weekend, which was a chance to do some sea sailing with waves and tides. We did both of the “round the island” races, which helped build confidence. Like many people, we decided not to sail in the high winds on the second day.

The only major casualty at Poole was one of the road trailer wheels that was badly gashed on the side of a kerb as we entered the sailing club - but that is a story for another day. 

Last minute breaks

Having braved Poole, and a capsize in medium winds at the Harp due to over-confidence, we were ready to go.

Our last preparation was a gentle sail at the Harp in the Saturday before Tenby. 

As we sailed out to the race area, the boat did not “feel right”. It took a while to work out the problem. The rudder lifting mechanism had broken. The string attached to the forefront of the rudder had broken. We sailed a complete race with a lifting rudder, then headed back inland.

That week, some PVA filler and re-varnishing, plus adjustment of the lifting mechanism meant we were ready to go.

Last minute fabrication

Another issue was the spinnaker catcher. Our metal one was outside Class Rules. 

So I cut out some plastic whilst in the passenger seat of the car on the way down.

Installation would have to wait until we arrived at Tenby.

Trouble at Reading

We were making good time along the M4 when we stoped at the Reading Services. Parking in a caravan spot, we had to unhitch the boat. But when we reattached it and checked the lights - nothing worked ! Panic. What do you do if you have 150 miles to go, and an illegal lighting system?

A German caravan owner helped out. He had a measuring meter, and concluded that the problem was the cable or light board itself. WD40 did not help. We connected the light bar to the car of another sailer who was taking his “Miracle” to Tenby. No joy.

Another caravan owner suggested it could be a fuse problem. But we could not find the fuse anywhere.

We even made a call to the local Halfords to find out if they had a replacement light bar (the “nuclear option”). 

Jeanette solved the problem - using a Screwdriver to prise the pins open resulted in an improved connection.

We cancelled the RAC call-out - the second one - and made our way. We were over two hours behind schedule. 

Made it at last.

We eventually arrived at Tenby at 5:30. There was no time to rig the boat. 

Tomorrow would be another day. But at least we had arrived.