The GP14 Class International Association is pleased to announce that it will once again be helping to provide up to 12 young sailors with a fantastic opportunity to access quality coaching at Crosby Watersports Centre, Liverpool.

The Howard Davies Memorial Training Week is a well established, advanced race training course run over five days. Sailors between the ages of 14 and 20, who actively sail GP14s are eligible to apply for a place on this heavily subsidised course. This year the course will commence on Sunday, 23 October.

This full board, intensive, fun training week, which ordinarily would cost upwards of £400 per person, is available for just £150.

Why should I go?

Former participant Pippa Mitchell, who took part with her brother Alistair when she was aged 15, commented, “we had a fantastic time, sailing all day (weather permitting) and having a great laugh with new and old friends at night…If you ask me whether I would do it again, without hesitation the answer would be a “yes””.

It sounds great…how do I get onto the Howard Davies Memorial Training Week?

The Selection Guidelines for the Howard Davies Memorial Training Week 2011

Potential participants for the Howard Davies Training Week will be assessed according to the following guidelines, but the final decision on who is invited to participate is at the absolute discretion of the course organisers:

1) Any recent GP14 events participated in as helm or crew, additional weight will be given to major events such as the GP14 National Championship

2) Participation in other GP14 coaching/training events

3) Access to a GP14 of very good racing order

4 ) Ability to handle a GP14 ashore

5) Ability to sail (either helm or crew) to good club racing standard in a range of wind conditions, including planing conditions, and to right a capsized boat

6) A letter of support from the Commodore of the individual’s sailing club

7) A letter about your sailing experience so far and areas you would like to improve

8 ) Availability during the week commencing Sunday, 23 October

9 ) Full payment received by 31 Aug 2011/on acceptance for course

Sailors who have previously participated in the Training Week on one or more occasions, but who fulfil the requirements set out in the guidelines will be eligible. However, priority may be given to those who meet the guidelines, but who have attended fewer times.

We hope you agree that this is a great opportunity so what are you waiting for? If you are reading this and you are not a Youth sailor, perhaps you know someone you can help to get involved.

Download the application form from the GP14 Website

Phil Hodgkins, GP14 Association Training Coordinator

The GP14 is the perfect boat to improve your sailing technique and tactics, helping making you a better sailor. Sailing as a fleet shows your gains and losses on the race coarse and so you don’t have to look at the results on shore to see where you finished. “Where you finish on the water is were you finish in the race – easy”

If you’re looking to get into the fleet then don’t hesitate to give me a call on 01204 596682 and I will do my best to help you in anyway I can.

This season is going to be exciting one for the club with loads of enthusiastic new and old members eager to get back into sailing in a full lake.

Heres to a successful and rewarding new season, see you on the water.

Andy Bury

GP14 Fleet captain.

Clearly not the easiest undertaking and it’s taking most of the year to prepare for this. Consequently it seems appropriate to raise some money while meeting this challenge and our chosen charity is CLIC Sargent which specialises in caring for children with cancer.

Any donations would be greatly appreciated at www.justgiving.com/ctoc2010 or via sponsorship forms with Dale, Gary and Graham.

Merlins from across the North-West descended on Bolton for the Annual Open Meeting, this year a Silver Tiller event. The wind wasn’t kind to the sailors fanning out across the lake from Turton (Number Eight) towards the club. This made for some interesting racing with not much chance for spinnaker work.

The GP14s headed down to Budworth for a blustery GP14 Open Meeting. Due to the weather conditions only two Bolton boats made it on to the water with Gary Deighan and Becca Paul finishing 8th with Julie and Chris Waddington finishing right behind them in 9th out of 24 entries.

Finally, Stuart Catterall and I made our way up to Windermere for the Annual Waterhead race. Starting at the bottom end of the lake, near the Lakeside Hotel at Newby Bridge, the race was up to the Waterhead 6mph speed limit marker and back – 20 miles as the crow flies. The first part of the upwind leg to Bell Isle involved an awful lot of taking and battling the wind as it swung across the lake in all directions. By the time we got to Bowness the local boats were a long way ahead – obviously used to the fluky conditions. Stuart had followed the pack and was now quite a way ahead of me.

After what felt like an age, I made it round Bell Isle to be greeted with a change of wind direction and thoroughly enjoyed the close reach to the top of the lake where I pulled away from the boats that I’d been stuck with up the beat and also caught up to some of the boats that were at one point way ahead. On the way I passed Stuart as he desperately tried to repair a broken halyard by capsizing his boat. Stuart sorted his boat out and was catching again when he was informed by the rescue that as he’d received outside assistance one of the other competitors had threatened to protest (BOO!) so Stu swung round and headed back to the club.

I made it round the 6mph limit mark at the top and with another good reach down the lake soon made up some time. It was a dead run down from Bell Isle to the finish which was made worse by the gusts coming from different directions. I crossed the line 3 hours after the start and finished 13th out of the 29 boats with Stuart lying 29th due to his retirement. It was good to finish the full length as I head the last few years have suffered light winds and the races have been shortened.

The event raised over £500 for McMillan Cancer and was well supported by local companies who donated some excellent prizes. Thanks to South Windermere Sailing Club for their hospitality and Stu and I have said we’ll be back next year, hopefully with a few more boats…and cleats for our mainsheets!

Despite the early season date of the Bolton SC GP14 Open it was warm sunshine that greeted the 17 competitors at the club on Sunday April 5th.  A tricky Southerly force 2 made it a tough day for Andy Flitcroft and his OOD team as they attempted to set courses in the variable wind.

Race 1 saw a clean start, no more so than for Bill Kenyon and Ben Ditchburn who raced from the blocks into a clear lead as the wind swung and made it a rather one sided beat to the first mark.  In hot pursuit were Ian Platt and Alex Pilkington and before long these leading two boats had built up a comfortable gap ahead of a chasing pack.  Position changes were few and hard fought as the wind made for a processional first race that resulted in Bill and Ben taking the first winners gun of the day.

Bolton’s recently refurbished clubhouse hosted a hearty lunch for all before the competitors returned to the water for race 2.  The first and only general recall saw the end of attempt one of race 2 before the fleet got away cleanly at the second time of asking. A number of boats showed at the front of the fleet as each shift came down the reservoir.  Gary Deighan and Becky Paul showed first around the windward mark with Mark Platt and Malcolm Marsden battling Innes Armstrong and Daniel Wood for second spot behind them.  Gary and Becky worked up a nice gap at the head of the fleet as the race unfolded before a navigational indiscretion saw their cushion evaporate and ultimately the lead relinquished to Mark and Malcolm who retained this spot to take the gun.

Race 3 and the event was still wide open with any one of a number of boats in with a chance of taking the overall victory.  In a carbon copy of race 1 Bill and Ben lead around the first mark and once more had Ian and Alex on their tail intent on making the leaders work really hard for any victory.  Work hard they did and once more the Platt strangle hold on the Bolton open trophy was broken with a well deserved victory going to Bill and Ben from Budworth Sailing club.   Ian Platt’s consistent second place finishes couldn’t stop brother Mark pipping him for second overall with a first and third leaving Ian and Alex having to be content with third overall.

Ian Thompson and Mark Newton sailed hard all day amongst the leading boats and were duly rewarded with a silver fleet victory. Dave Burrows and Kate Billinge from Winsford also showed good speed and consistency to take the victory in the Bronze fleet.

A testing day perhaps for the OOD but an enjoyable and sun drenched one for all those that competed.

Photos are available on sailpics.co.uk

Overall
Sailed:3, Discards:1, To count:2, Ratings:PY, Entries:17, Scoring system:Appendix A

Sailwave Scoring Software 2.00 build 4 www.sailwave.com

By Craig Hewett

North West Dominates

An excellent turnout of 39 GP14s at Budworth SC for the UK Grand Masters’ and Masters’ Championship was dominated by Ian Platt and Alex Pilkington from Bolton SC. Ian & Alex posted 3 bullets in succession to claim the GP14 National Masters Trophy. The Grand Masters Trophy was retained by John Salomonson and Tim McGovern from South Staffs and Hollingworth Sailing Clubs with a consistent performance over the weekend.

With the forecast of very light winds over the whole weekend, Budworth’s Race Officer, Graham Tinsley, was presented with the challenge of changing the race schedule from the traditional 2 + 2 format. As visitors arrived from clubs across the UK on the Saturday morning they were presented with picture postcard tranquillity of Budworth Mere. But gradually a light South-Easterly filled-in and Graham made the brave decision to run the 3 qualifying races on the Saturday afternoon.

The gamble paid off, with the breeze increasing to a shifty, gusty force 3-4. Close racing was enjoyed throughout the fleet, though Tinsley and his team had their hands full shifting marks and coping with the fleet pushing the line.

The mirror sheen of Budworth Mere on the Sunday morning convinced a few that racing was impossible. The Race Office signalled a postponement. Despite calls to cancel the last race, Graham was convinced the wind would fill in, and sure enough, a lovely westerly force 2-3 came in for a couple of hours providing another highly competitive fourth race.

Neil Platt and Nicola Brook of West Kirby took second position overall from Paul Owen and Andrew Hattley of South Staffs by virtue of their second place in Race 3.

Helming, Joanne Platt crewed by Gary Deighan came top of the Silver Fleet, Joanne also securing the First Lady Helm position to take home to Bolton SC. Chris & Gill Beddow of South Staffs SC came second with Peter & William Gardner of Coombs SC third in the Silver Fleet.

Sailing the oldest boat of the fleet, Ray & Jackie Bailey in GP 2629 won the Bronze Fleet for Budworth from Mary Cunningham and Alan Thompson of West Kirby with Dennis O’Byrne and Fraser Kerr of Budworth in third position.

The meeting was generously supported by Dedicated Micros, who are leaders in CCTV systems design and installation. Dedicated Micros have provided Budworth SC with a CCTV installation that provides both club CCTV security and also allows members to record and replay the racing on Budworth Mere. This support ensured excellent hospitality and a memorable weekend for sailors and guests alike.

All in all, a great UK Masters and Grand Masters competition with North West sailing clubs dominating the entire event.

Other results:

Dale Knowles took 7th place crewing for Tim Jones

11th Mark Platt with Malcolm Marsden crewing

20th Gary Deighan with Dave Jobson crewing

27th Ian Sinclair and Alan Jones, who also took 3rd Place in the Silver fleet

38th Ian Thompson and Andy Flitcroft

42nd Julie and Chris Waddington

49th Tony Critchley and Sue Foster

56th Graham Hutchinson and Andy Bury

… out of 107 entries

A testing time was also had in the OOD box as the fickle southerly wind came and went with each black cloud that passed slowly over making setting the first course an arduous task. Surprisingly as first gun sounded conditions had significantly improved with the rain stopping and a light, if not somewhat fickle breeze establishing across the whole lake.

Innes Armstrong and Oliver Dewhurst of Burwain SC were quick out of the blocks and seemed to be making the most out of the light winds up the first beat. However a little extra breeze on the right in the latter half of the beat saw Bill Kenyon and Ben Ditchburn of Budworth squeeze in front at the first mark to lead everyone down the first testing run. Places began to change downwind as the fleet spread across the lake each looking for those pockets of extra breeze to help push them past their rivals.

Perhaps local knowledge, but most likely the considerable experience and talent of the Platt’s began to show and Mark crewed by Malcolm Marsden and Ian with Alex Pilkington made their way to the head of the fleet. They weren’t to have it all their own way though as Matt Mee and Andy Tunnicliffe tussled hard pushing for their place at the front. At the line Mark Platt and Malcolm had hung on to take the first win with Ian and Alex close behind and Matt and Andy on their heels in 3rd.

Race 2 followed a good lunch in the club but with little change in the conditions positions were going to be hard fought again as was getting the fleet off the start cleanly. Two general recalls saw the emergence of the black flag, which ensured that Neil Platt and Tom Robinson plus Mandy Mitchell and John Close could head back to the club to watch race 2 from the shore having both fallen foul of a premature start.

Positions at the front soon resembled those of race 1 and despite changes throughout the race it was once again Mark and Malcolm that took the victory that secured them the overall event win. Ian and Alex and Matt and Andy’s results also mirrored those of race one with Bill and Ben sailing consistently taking the fourth spot.

Despite having the event in the bag Mark and Malcolm took to the water for the final race a decision they must have regretted as the rain returned and the wind departed. The downpour, the bunching up of the fleet at marks and the desperate downwind legs ensure there were frustrations and dampened spirits with one helm heard to scream “get that kite filled, everyone else around us is moving” a thought I am sure hadn’t even entered the crew’s head!!!

Matt and Andy picked their way around the lake with the greatest success and took the final race thus ensuring that despite Ian and Alex’s third second place they pipped them for 2nd overall. Bill and Ben made up the top three in the race giving them a deserved 4th overall ahead of Neil Platt and Tom who completed the overall top 5.

David and Pete Mitchell of Winsford Flash Sailing Club headed the silver fleet with the Bronze title going to James and Judith Downes of Budworth Sailing Club. Bolton sailors took the lady helm trophy with Julie and Chris Waddington coming out on top and a junior prize went to Ruth Shevelan and Rebecca Paul also from Bolton.

All that remained was for Matt Mee to thank Bolton Sailing Club on behalf of the visitors and collectively the fleet to thank Andy Flitcroft and his team for a job well done on very testing day for any OOD.