SAILING NEWS
News 19
as GP14 champ
Close
finish in
Ireland
THE GP14 Championship of
Ireland took place over the
weekend of 25 - 27 August
2007, at Sutton Dinghy Club.
Thirty-nine boats, seven of them
from across the water, competed
in a full schedule of seven races
in a range of wind conditions,
mostly light and patchy, which
tested the competitors’ skills and
put a premium on consistency.
Ian Dobson and Andy
Tunnicliffe quickly showed the
skill that made them the current
World Champions, but they
national title in Cornwall
faced considerable competition
particularly from Tim Jones
and Christian Birrell from
Holyhead SC.
on the first race from the very first mark, leav- ing on a significant shift to the left in the sec- breed of young sailors, who want not just fast
By the final race of the cham-
ing Dobson/Tunnicliffe to settle for second ond beat and storming into the lead, to finish and furious sailing, but also to have their say
pionship, it was a toss-up
place. The next race, the penultimate of the second overall. Tim Jones and Dale Knowles in the organisation of race meetings – as evi-
between these two boats.
series, was the crucial one. Richard Instone, had taken a bath at the gybe mark, but they denced by the lively and well-attended AGM
Dobson/Tunnicliffe seized their
crewed by Steve Parker, got out of the blocks also spotted the shift and recovered sufficient- held mid-week, where a wide variety of sub-
opportunity at a leeward mark
early, tacked onto port to clear the fleet and was ly to finish fourth, ensuring third place over- jects were discussed. GP14s came from all
rounding, by sailing
first at the windward mark, closely followed by all. over England for this championship and there
Jones/Birrell down the fleet,
Justin Jones and Lucy Evans. At the end of the The competition was not all at the top of the were also visitors from Ireland and from Sri
before climbing back to finish
race, these two boats were in first and second fleet: there were exciting battles in the Silver Lanka. Mounts Bay Sailing Club worked hard
fifth and take the Championship.
places. The real battle, however, was going on and Bronze fleets as well. Kim Pickering and to put on a very professional and successful
Meanwhile, Justin Jones with
behind them, as Estaugh/Potts made sure at all Richard Cornes were the winners of a closely- championship, with a friendly welcome, good
16-year-old crew Drew Nickless
cost that they stayed ahead of fought battle with Ian Sinclair and Alan Jones food, copious liquid refreshment, expertly
rounded the windward mark in
Dobson/Tunnicliffe. A tense and close battle, in the Silver Fleet. In the Bronze Fleet, organised races – and excellent safety cover!
the lead, closely followed by
that few other dinghy classes can match, even- because of the system of scoring the Silver The GP14 World Championship next year
John and Donal MGuinness:
tually ended with advantage to Richard Estaugh and Bronze Fleets as separate entities, the will take place from August 2-8 at South
these boats took an impressive
and Simon Potts – which meant that they had winners were Tony Jukes with Adrian Smith, Caernarvonshire YC. To qualify, all you need
lead from the rest of the fleet
won the Championship with a race to spare. although they were beaten in the overall fleet is a GP14 with a valid class certificate and to
to finish first and second
Only one race was scheduled for the final by sixteen-year old Drew Nickless, whose be a member of the GP14 Class International
respectively.
day and Ian Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe crew was his uncle Bob. No doubt this scoring Association. For up to date information, visit
This left Jones and Nickless in
ensured they made the best of it, by capitalis- system will be debated at length by the new the website www.gp14.org
second place overall, whilst
Jones and Birrell had to make do
with third place. Timmy
Corcoran and crew Brendan
Brogan from Sligo YC finished
first Irish boat for the third year
running. Hugh Gill and Steven
Boyle from the host club
finished second of the Irish
boats, with Niall Henry and
Ossian Geraghty, also from Sligo
SC, third.
In the Silver fleet, Rob Lee
and Troy McNamara took the
overall honours. Cathal Sheridan
and David Cooke of Skerries SC
won the Bronze fleet.
Overall, the Championship
provided an excellent weekend’s
racing, and a special thank you
must go to Sutton Dinghy Club
for their organization, especially
to Hugh Gill and to PRO Harry
Gallagher and his team for pro-
viding great racing all weekend.
Full results of the GP14
Championship of Ireland are
available on the website:
www.gp14ireland.com
from the event, Andrew can be contacted at ajcphotography@hotmail.co.uk
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