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.

Venetian Trophy 2025 - 1st in Bronze Fleet

Saturday 26th April saw the return of full-on sailing to the Harp with the running of the Venetian Trophy. This typically kicks off the GP14 Travellers series. 

I well remember the Venetian, since it was the first regatta I ever saw at the Harp, when I first went along to learn to sail. So it has a particular fond place in my heart. To take part is always a pleasure. To take part well is a massive privilege, and sets up confidence for the future. 

Sarah & I had sailed together a few times already this year. It has been some serious practice times, trying to improve our roll-tacking, and launching, gybing and dropping spinnakers for what seemed like ages. We are not front-of-fleet. In fact, we are not yet middle-of-fleet. But at least we are hopeful that we have a couple of boats behind us in club racing.

We entered as "Bronze" fleet, with the expectation that we would be fighting around the back. As it happened, there were only two other Bronze entrants, so we had a chance at least be third in that fleet !

The day was characterised by flashes of brilliance, together with some significant errors and mistakes. 

The first race saw us following another boat as we crossed the start line. As I tried to tack off into clear wind, it touched his transom. Turns !  Sarah and I sailed across the lake to the south shore, and performed some impressive tacks and gybes, to our delight. Laughing at our achievement, we re-joined the race. Thanks to some strong beats, we ended up in 16th place (out of 18), chasing the tail of a few other boats.

The second race was shorter, and we gained 13th place - our best of the day.

It was then time for lunch, where we realised we were leading the Bronze fleet.

After lunch, we managed to get 14th place. Again, this was creditable, since it put us ahead of a couple of Silver boats. 

The final race was not so enjoyable - the wind had become very fluky, and we seemed to be forever gybing the spinnaker. We ended up with 17th place (our discard), having touched a buoy on a spinnaker run. It was possible that part of the problem was having too much kicker on the beat, slowing the boat down. Or maybe we were just tired near the end of nearly 4 hours of racing.

In the end, despite the tiredness at the end of the last race, we were awarded first prize in the Bronze category. Prizes were a Mug, Woolly Hat, and some stickers. More than that, it was a boost to our confidence. 

We are already booked into the National Championships in Tenby, Wales, for 2nd to 8th August. We may not be at the front, but we are keen to ensure that we are not at the back.

Lessons learnt: put on the appropriate amount of kicker, try to improve the smoothness of our tacking so we don't slow down the boat. And keep consistent.

Let's see what 2025 brings !

 

The Return of the Jedi? = GP14 Masters Championship 2024

 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 !

New Start at Fishers Green Sailing Club

The last 12 months has been a bit quiet as far as sailing is concerned. 

But matters came to a head recently when it was announced that the Welsh Harp water area would be drained in November 2023 until the new year. So we were forced to find another club if we wanted to sail during the winter. 

Fishers Green Sailing Club is situated on Holyfield Lake in the Lee Valley Regional Park. They were one of the clubs that kindly offered to take Welsh Harp Sailing Club members on a temporary membership basis.

I managed to trailer 13941 to Fishers Green at the start of October, but last Saturday - 4th November 2023 - was the first time I had sailed her at the new club.

It was raining when I first arrived, but began to clear up by the time 1:00 PM had appeared for the race start.

Quentin Drain from WHSC kindly agreed to sail with me; the first time I recall we had actually sailed together. Nick Yannagoroykos from Fishers Green managed two races that afternoon. As well as ourselves, there was a  Laser with Standard Sail, Laser Radial and a Streaker. We were the only GP14. Hopefully, others from WHSC will be joining us in future Saturday races.

Conditions were reasonably strong - about 10 or 12 knots, with occasional gusts which were stronger, but most of the time the wind direction was at least consistent. We never got onto the plane, although it felt like we were close to that at times.

We took it in turns to helm - I did the first race, and Quentin the second. 

In each case, we managed to find our way between the various islands that make up the lake where FGSC sail. There were a few wind shadows to navigate.

The finishing sequence at the end of the first race was Laser Standard, Streaker, our GP14 and Laser Radial.

We had a couple of issues with our genoa sheets - the rope is quite short, and the ends can easily pull through the genoa fairleads, leaving us scrabbling under the genoa through-deck sheeting system desperately trying to untie, re-thread and re-tie the sheets. 

We also did not have a burgee (which subsequently arrived by post the day after the race!).

On the other hand, the new black mainsheet worked well for us.

In Quentin's race, we were in the down-wind run with spinnaker flying, with the Streaker bearing down on us. I started the spinnaker drop a bit early for him, so we missed the chance to "close the door" and prevent him overtaking us at the leeward mark. He finished ahead of us in the final lap. Sorry, Quentin. 

Also in the second race we were interrupted by calls from a nearby RIB.  It was other members of WHSC who were visiting Fishers Green, and were shouting out encouragement to us. Thanks, guys !

Going back to the clubhouse area was the final bit of excitement, as there are all sorts of wind shadows around the "RIB Island" and "Fireworks Island" leading back to the mooring area. But we survived without incident. 

It started to rain again after the boat was put away.

Very satisfying "re-boot" to sailing. Let's hope this can continue for a long while. 

Commodores Cup 2022

It's been a while.

A long time. 

A very very long time. 

But if ever there was a chance to get back on the water, then the 2022 was the time to do it. Maciek was going to stand down as commodore this year, so this was the last cup he would be able to award. There was the equivalent of a "three line whip" to encourage everyone from the Welsh Harp Sailing Club to attend. So Sarah and I answered the call. 

You need to realise that my wife and I moved house in September 2021, and I had hardly been on the water since. I was seriously out of practice. Sarah had been doing some Laser sailing recently, so she probably had a better feel for wind and sailing than I had. 

Conditions were not ideal - about 4 or 5 knots of wind, with the occasional gust to capture our attention, but by the end of the day we were in "drift mode".

The first race was a massive hour-plus. Due to the southerly wind, the course was 4-7-8-5 for the Laster and GP14 fleets. There was also a race for the juniors in the club. So a complicated bit of logistics to manage.

I was helming and managed to get the timing completely wrong for the starting. As a result we started last, and were last at the end of the race as well. We almost managed to catch up with one of the boats before, but failed in the end. We were last and had the experience of being "finished on the water".

Then it was in for a buffet lunch, before we took part in the second and third races back-to-back. 

Sarah helmed the second race, and made a cautious start. we had two or three boats behind us at one time, but a few overtook us, so we ended up with a one boat behind us. And we were formally finished in the race - which was a distinct improvement.

The third race was a bit different: the instructions were to race one lap, and then change over the helm and crew on the water, for the second lap. Not only that, the race course was very different. As the juniors had completed their racing, we had the entire lake to play with. So the course was 4-1-2-7-8-5

Again, my timing for the start was not ideal. And the lack of wind towards the end of the day did not help, since my light-wind sailing is not very good. Nevertheless, we did manage to keep up with the back-markers. We had just one boat behind us at the end. 

So results were not very good. But we did feel that we were beginning to get back our "sea legs"

It sounds like a miserable day. Yet, despite all that, we did feel that we had enjoyed ourselves. We could improve. More practice needed. Looking forward to the next opportunity to sail.