GP14 National Championships at Largs Sailing Club - Day 3

GP14 nationals at Largs day 3 © Richard Craig / www.SailPics.co.uk

GP14 nationals at Largs day 3 © Richard Craig / www.SailPics.co.uk

Mirror-like! That was the state of the Firth of Clyde on Tuesday Morning as the 94 competitors of the GP14 National Championships arrived for the start of their third day on the west coast of Scotland. The forecast was light, however there was not a breath as the sailors uncovered their hulls, the postponement flag raised, PRO Chris Nichol looking out to sea, to the west for the gradient wind, to the south in search of a sea breeze.

Finally the southerly breeze kicked in, although every now and again, you could see the gradient wind trying to take over. This caused a nightmare for setting a course inside the channel between Largs and Gt Cumbrae Island. The first attempt at a start was binned with half the fleet assuming the sound signals were the start, it was that late in the sequence. The wind had swung back to the south with two mins to go, it was too port bias for the PRO's and fleet's liking. A half hour wait for the wind to settle and race 4, sponsored by Boon Boats was underway. A single sound signal at the start suggested at least one was OCS, MacCarthy was miles over, who else below him would be found out once the results were published.

The first beat had gust bands, 30 degree shifts, the Tactic was useless, hunting for the pressure was key. It was the Goacher kite of Ian Dobson with Andy Tunnicliffe at the front end that popped up first, ahead of the pale blue HD spinnaker of Mike & Liz Senior sailing their Boon Hull, Gillard & Hartley in third. The state of the racetrack was so changeable, when second and third split on different lifts on the second beat, Dobson had to track one of them; he chose Gillard, allowing the Seniors to sail away to take the bullet. Dobson also lost Gillard & Hartley on the next fluctuating beat to come home in 3rd. On the results however, that third had been raised to 2nd. The Seniors had been spotted by the Pin-end observers as being OCS, they'd been hidden by MacCarthy's mainsail from the committee boat and their video footage. Four hours later, a protest committee was gathered to hear Mike Senior seeking redress, the lack of evidence on the video used as evidence that they weren't over. An interesting call. The protest committee went in favour of Mike & Liz, they were back in play.

Race 5, sponsored by English Braids, was raced in similar conditions to race 4, although the wind had freshened and veered to the west, the windward mark under the lee shore of Gt Cumbrae Island. It was a very familiar story of Dobson winning from Gillard, this time however Sam Blocksidge & Connie Hicklin sailed their HD powered Duffin to the very sharp end of the fleet, the wind strength and swinging breeze ideal for their experience and crew weight.

Leading the way in the Silver Fleet for both races today has been Colin Midgley & Emily Cole-Evans with two races in the mid-teens. Bronze turned up in the top ten for the first time this week, Megan Hicklin & Hayley Ramadhar sailing sweetly in the lighter airs of race one to bring them up the standings after a tough start to the week for the "lightweights" from South Staffs. Mandy Mitchell, crewed by John Close brought the bronze fleet home in race 5, despite having a heavy collision with another beautiful Duffin in a blind Port Starboard crash.

Megan Hicklin & Hayley Ramadhar celebrating after their cracking top ten result in race 4 of the GP14 nationals at Largs - photo © Richard Craig / www.SailPics.co.uk

It's a well-earned lay-day on Wednesday for the nationals fleet. The forecast for the rest of the week looks pretty decent, not the strength of the first two days nor the lighter airs seen on Tuesday.

Finally, thanks again to our event sponsors; Gul Watersports, Boon, Creation Covers, HD, GingerBoats, Goachers, English Braid, Allen Brothers and Tunnocks. The fleet are fully aware of the support you have given. Also thanks to Richard Craig from www.sailpics.co.uk for the photos from today. These are all available online.

Results after Day 3: (five races, 1 discard)

More information at scottishsailinginstitute.com/events/gp14-national-championships-2013