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.