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Pretoria Sailing Club, April 2010

The venue for the 2010 GP14 Nationals was selected to be Pretoria Sailing Club, on the basis that this was the home of the largest fleet and a good entry should result. As it happened, a fleet of 16 GP14's participated in this regatta, with 7 boats being from PSC, 6 boats came from other Northvaal clubs and 3 travelled up from the Cape.

The event coincided with cold, wintry weather, with rain around. But, it seemed that we were fortunate -i t rained at night and in the day, it rained elsewhere! A good breeze prevailed on Saturday and four races could be completed. On Sunday, no less than five races were sailed, in a lighter wind from the NE, but still producing good competitive conditions. The final races were sailed on Monday, with the wind lighter and forecast to drop. Race Officer Wendy Geekie was asked to set at least one race (in order to bring in the 2nd discard at 10 races) and two more if possible. Two races were completed, making a total of 11 races for the series.

The gusty wind in race one produced conditions tailor made for the top teams, but difficult for the less experienced. Pat Mitchell fought it out with Richard Parker at the front of the fleet and succeeded in winning this race. This pattern continued in the other races, but others joined the fray. John Wright won race two, Parker race 3 and Mark Biagio race 4. With Pat losing a protest in race 2, consistently good sailing by Richard had him leading at the end of day 1.

Good starts, choosing the right side up the first beat and good boat speed were the keys to success on day 2. Often, the leaders at the weather mark were not to be seen at the front at the end of the race - they only got the first two right. Richard Parker with long time crew Dave Hawkins succeeded in bagging races 5 to 7, entrenching their hold at the top. Then featured a remarkable performance by the teenage team of Stefano and Marcello Marcia. After missing 3 races to play Soccer, they returned to win the next two races very comfortably and getting a 2nd in race 9. This was followed up by a 2nd and 1st on day 3. Meanwhile, the others had less consistent results - the light conditions and subtle wind shifts  produced competitive situations throughout the fleet - racing was close.

The Prizegiving and Class Dinner was held on Monday evening, where it was announced that the 2010 GP14 National Champions were Richard Parker and Dave Hawkins. Second place went to Pat Mitchell and Andrew Marsh. Third place went to the versatile dinghy sailor John Wright (who also campaigns in Dolphin and Sprog), with his crew Tamzin Gennissen. The trophies were awarded as per the table below. As agreed at the AGM, these trophies would be retained by the committee after the prizegiving (in order to prevent trophies going missing).

Sailing Photos from day 1 and day 2 are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/107131832082133023967/GP14Nationals2010#

2010 GP14 Northvaal Provincial Championships

So, its seems we are growing. We had 13 boats arrive and that’s 2 better than last year. I actually think we might be one of the top 2 or 3 double handed boats in the country right now. We also sold a boat during the event to a keen sailor – so most boats are now active or we at least know who the owners are.  If you have a GP lying around that you’re not using - we have a few buyers around and I seem to have run out of boats, so please let me know.

Anyway a short report, from my view point, on the event. PSC is not known for its wind, but we were lucky in that the rain stayed away and we got in the allocated 6 races (all be it in a wind range of 7 knots to nothing!) and still had good regatta. The Geeps started with the dolphins and that other boat called an enterprise ;-), after the 505’s and before the finns and lasers . I thought that perhaps this was a bad idea, but it actually worked out great. We had clean wind on the starts and then we kept pace with the dolphins – “this isn’t a slow boat guys!”

First race saw a hotly contested start with the individual recall flag calling one boat back, but there were a few guilty parties out there who went back just to realise it was not them. (Thanks Pat !). This then gave Biagio/Doubell (BD), Clayton/Clayton(CC), Essak/Van Eeden(EV) the break they needed and they were gone! Mitchell/Marsh (MM) did what they do best and in some fantastic sailing managed to cut their way through the fleet back into second behind BD. CC was holding third when a “solar bee” (a “star wars” looking device used to kill algae at PSC) caught him unawares and in taking avoiding action they let EV through for the third. Sean Hadley/Debbie Petersen got off to a good start with a 7th.

Race two, the wind was now dying. Clean start this time except for BD who seemed stuck. After watching the fleet disappear they realised they had weed on the centreboard and rudder. Once cleared the boat came back to life, but MM and CC (and most of the fleet) were gone. Some skilled spinnaker work and some luck meant MM salvaged a third, behind the covering expert CC and the victors MM. Leo Gitelson\Alison Gitelson (GG) were back after sorting out mast issues and banked a 4th while Barry Cribb/Barnard sneaked in a 7th.
Race three, in my opinion, should not have happened. It was a drifter!! So much so that more than half the fleet could not finish in time. In light airs “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”.  Unfortunately MM, CC, BD got away and an intense light air struggle began. One minute you were first then next third.  By the end the MM side payed, CC went down the middle and got second, with the BD side not paying, leaving them in third. The Benoni boys of Santiero/Marcia showed how to sail in this light stuff getting a 4th (they then broke the centreboard and that had to be replaced).  Katakouzinos/Perdikis (KP) banked a consisted string of 5ths for day 1. Day one ended with MM leading followed by BD.

Race four. Well the bridge started on time, this meant that there were only 3 Geeps on the line. BD, EV, Wolhuter/Du Preez(WD). The rest were late. BD needed no further invitation and were gone! This time it was EV’s time to get the weed and they watched as all the late starters came by. WD hung on for a good second, followed by CC who had now come to grips with the spinnaker on the downwind, combined this with their upwind speed, they were now quick. New comers Jason Van Aardt/Rodney finished their first race in 9th – well done lads.
Race five started and halfway up the first beat a port lift separated the fleet. BD were again allowed to run away followed by WD and CC. MM seemed to have gotten the worst of the shift and were now fighting in the light shift stuff to survive. At the last mark CC managed to pass WD and then set about hunting BD on the last beat. BD now found themselves on the wrong side of the port lift and CC closed in the 100 odd meters in no time. BD just held on however, followed by CC and yet another good result for WX. Hakkesteeg/Keys posted their best result of the weekend a 5th.

Race six got under way with a case of whoever wins the last race wins, between BD and MM. CC was the wildcard spoiler sensing this probable match race, and looking for a victory, he pinned BD behind the start line. Match race over, BD were forced to take away and watch CC take the lead followed by MM. The BD side somehow started to favour with more pressure and soon CC tacked back to join in the breeze. MM persisted with the other side. Finding sudden speed was GG who had passed CC and MM and were now hunting BD. MM passed CC on the downwind leg, leaving three way tussle to the end. MM went left, BD down the middle, and GG went left. Halfway up the beat the left was working nicely with GG only a boat length away from BD. MM was seemingly dead in the water. But PSC does what PSC does, and no sooner did the left die and MM was flying toward the finish. BD stressed between tacking to cover or hoping the breeze would still come. It did and with it BD and GG tacked over to the cross the finish line 30 seconds apart. BD, GG, MM was the order.
This left BD winners followed by MM and CC. Special mention must also go to EV and WD who are showing they are really getting up to speed. Thanks to the Benoni and VLC guys for making the effort to come.

On a personal note, I do feel we really need to address the speed differential between the first boat and the last.  We all have old boats except two people, so its probably setup and decisions on the water that is causing it. It is important that people like myself, Pat and Peter (and there are other that were not at this event) assist in helping the newer guys out. It may be difficult to do “one on one” sessions but if we can get 3-5 boats together on a Sunday or Saturday we could do something. I am open to any suggestion, please feel free to email or call.

Mark Biagio

2009 GP14 National Championships

Mossel Bay 25 - 27 April, 2009

It was the turn of a coastal venue to host the 2009 GP14 National Championships and Mossel Bay Yacht & Boat Club was the chosen venue. This club isn't too far from GLYC, the local stronghold of this class. The event was held over the long weekend at the end of April. After the withdrawal of some prominent intended entrants, eleven GP14's took to the water to compete for the trophies. Three of these travelled down from the Northvaal sailing district. The event commenced on Saturday in a light south westerly. However local conditions caused windless holes to appear randomly over the race course. The first attempt at race 1 was abandoned when the wind suddenly swung from NW to SW. The favourites for the event, Richard Parker and Anthony Parker soon established a good lead in the 2nd start of the first race, but fell prey to one of these holes. They were passed by David Laing and Malcolm Osborne. They succeeded in staying out of this trouble in the 2nd race,with Richard in 1st place and Anthony 2nd.

A good wind from the west blew on Sunday, producing cool sailing conditions but enabled 5 tough races to be completed. Wind strength varied from 10 - 20 knots. Richard won the first 2 of these, but then Anthony compiled a series of 3 firsts. At the end of racing, they were tied on points but Anthony was in the lead on the basis of winning the last race. There was also fierce competition for 3rd place, between Dave Jones, Dave Laing and Malcolm Osborne, with scant points separating these three. Then there was also a tie on points between Trefon Katakuzinos and Arno Wolhuter for 6th place, broken in favour of Arno on the basis of some 4th place finishes.

 Monday dawned with mist and no wind. The fleet waited on shore all morning until the regatta was declared closed at 12:00 - not even the abandon flag produced any wind! Thus the results as of Sunday stood as final. The GP14 class extends its grateful thanks to Rob Holden and MBYBC for hosting this event.

Final Results: