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