International 14 Gallon Trophy at Itchenor Sailing Club

The Gallon Trophy. Second only in importance to the POW and, as is traditional in the International 14s, it is another one race trophy.

It is 4 laps out in Bracklesham Bay, before a winding course back through the harbour, generally 4 miles downwind to the Gallon Line finish near Itchenor in a south-westerly sea breeze. However this year, we had a North Easterly, so a long-long beat to the finish from out of harbour.

Douglas Pattison was talking it up, saying he won his first Gallon in a North-Easterly. Andy Fitz was just getting faster and faster in his steal-of-a-boat from Rob Greenhaugh. There was hope that the Partingtons would show the way in their new Beiker 6 from Ovington's that had achieved one race win out of one in Garda. Then there were the podium takers from the Easter Tray, Glen Truswell with Sam Pascoe, Archie Massey with Harvey Hillary and Ben McGrane with James Hughes. However Ben was out playing B14s.

The wind was offshore with enormous 30 degree persistent shifts, making life hard for the race committee. We had one aborted start, where the wind shifted so far right, the top mark could be laid. By the next start, the wind started to shift back, making the pin seem very welcoming. Mark Upton-Brown decided he'd go for the flyer, even though at least 3 boats would be there to meet him on starboard. He ended up having to pull the trigger early, clipping Douglas on the way and reached down over the line of starting boats before doing his turns.

Meanwhile, Archie/Harvey nailed the pin, with Christina/Damian on their hip. Glen/Sam tacked off early and took the long port to the top mark, (as the wind had shifted back left, making it one-sided). Archie/Harvey shook off Christina/Damian and then it was a left vs right coming into the top mark. The right won as the left meant Archie/Harvey had just overstood.

Up the next beat, Douglas/Mark put in a starboard hitch and hooked into an huge leftie that the lead 2 never really got. Perhaps if he'd not been so greedy, it would have resulted in him leading at the top mark, but Glen and Sam just snuck around ahead. The top 3 were now within 6 boat lengths of each other. It stayed this way for the triangle.

The next run, Archie/Harvey hooked into some pressure on the inside of the lead two, then gybed to stay in it and carried a 50 yard lead at the bottom mark. This was short lived as Glen/Sam, always sailing a touch faster in the unsteady winds, ground them down and then pulled away, which they continued to do right to the finish. Meanwhile on the long-beat home, Andy Fitz/Neil Jones slowly caught up with the tiring Douglas/Mark, and even passed them on one cross, before getting slammed on the next cross, thus cementing Douglas and Mark's 3rd.

Congratulations to Glen and Sam for sailing a dominant weekend, including 2 race wins during the Hoptons on Saturday.

Overall Results: