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National Championships - Poole YC – Report and Full Results

Report: D Withers                     Gold Fleet                     Silver Fleet                     Bronze Fleet                    Qualifying Results

Poole Yacht Club very nearly had a run of three firsts in the Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets of the GP14 National Championships.

Local boys Matt Burge and Simon Wheeler were left crying in their beer when a miscounting of the number of laps in the last race, lost them the title, laying second they had only to cross the line to take it, but continued, by mistake on another lap, to finish the race in 21st, and ended the week in 7th spot overall.

Better fortunes for other Poole sailors though, Andy and Alison Macgregor finished the event on top of the Silver Fleet podium, whilst clubmates Andy Welch and Taras Palamarcuk headed the Bronze Fleet table. So the Gold Fleet prize was handed to Graham Nelson and Mike Senior of Blackpool and Fleetwood YC, who had left it to the very last race to snatch the title in a very tightly fought championships.

When organisers saw the forecast for the week they prayed for sunny weather, as only a good sea breeze would give a chance of a steady wind direction. Sure enough, Sunday dawned with an offshore northerly, but bright and sunny.

With a practice start and practice one lap race planned, the fleets hit the water but achieved only the practice start, before being sent for lunch, where they waited for the the sea breeze to kick in. The afternoon saw only one scheduled race take place as the wind faded to nothing and Race Officer Laurie Thornton-Grimes sent the fleet ashore.

Monday saw a NW breeze give hope of a better combination of gradient wind and sea breeze, it was not to be and after a long, hot wait in scorching heat, the much needed sea breeze appeared from the SW and two good races were sailed in a cracking force 3/4. All the usual suspects were at the front along with a couple of interlopers often seen in 420s in the shape of Ian Dobson and Matt Burge.

Tuesday brought a stronger NW breeze and the fleet was launched in the hope of getting a first race in on this, before the direction changed. Frustratingly as the start sequence was about to run, a massive shift signalled that the fight for supremacy, between the gradient wind and the sea breeze, had begun.

In hope of fitting in the race lost on Sunday the fleet was kept afloat, but the breeze had other ideas and it was around 14.30 before the first gun was fired.

Two good races again followed and the front of the fleet was beginning to take on a decidedly young look as Nelson, Dobson, Matt Mee and Burge all started to post good results, but the old guard were not going to give up without a fight and many familiar names were to be seen near the top of the flight lists.

Wednesday and the last chance to get all qualifying races complete, was defeated by the now customary late arrival of the sea breeze.

Two races were again run successfully, but it was around 18.15 before the last boat returned to shore where the free tea and cakes rounded off the day as usual.

Thursday and the much anticipated fleet allocations were posted which brought delight and gloom in equal measure as it became known who had made it where. There seemed to be no real surprises with all the top names making the Gold fleet.

In Silver and Bronze there were a few smug looks on display as it be came apparent that some people had ended up advantageously at the top of one fleet rather than at the bottom of the other.

The racing was now noticeably closer and the black flag was getting out and about a bit more. The final day and everybody knew what they had to do. It was incredibly tight at the top of all three fleets and the nerves seemed to be showing with Nelson posting a lowly 18th in the first race. Other hopefuls were also falling by the wayside and on the last lap of the last race Poole's own Matt Burge had only to get to the line in second place and the title looked like his. Inexplicably he miscounted the number of laps completed and set off for another lap before crossing the line.

In the confusion that followed Nelson and Senior made no mistake and stormed through to take the title. The week was well received by the sailors and at the prize giving the Race Officer was given a standing ovation in acknowledgement of how hard a job he had had.

Results:

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