"Wednesday 6th August & Sunday 10th August 2014"
I have some great results to report , a 2nd on Wednesday and 2 x 1st's on Sunday . The golden rule's of "you have to turn up" and "get the course right " paid off . I sailed with Nicola on Wednesday and we had an eventful evening . Late for the start and then the spinnaker going under the boat twice ! With the wind direction there was a dead run the whole length of the lake meaning we had to gybe three times . This was ok but taking the spinnaker down with it billowing out in front resulted in the sheets going under the boat. We sorted it out both times with Nicola having to go to the bow and pass the sheet round the fore-stay . It lost us ground on the 3rd placed boat and it was a 3rd until John got the course wrong and we stole 2nd place .
On Sunday the word on everybody's lips was Hurricane Bertha . It was all over the news and was due to effect the North West on Sunday. The result of this and the heavy rain resulted in the worst Sunday turn out at HLSC I have ever seen . It was deserted . The wind wasn't too strong but it appeared to be increasing and only two boats went out for the first race . We didn't go out but the drop in the wind and change of direction tempted us out in the 2nd race . Now there was 3 but only us in the GP14 . The wind started to increase towards the end but we went out for the 3rd race . This race luckily was nearly over when the predicted strong winds arrived and we just got ashore in time . We did have a great sail and we both were pleased we went out.
This was in the news the following day !! 11th August
The Exe Sails GP14 2014 World Championship are taking place at East Down
Yacht Club this week. The event sees one of the biggest fleets of single class
twin crew dinghies assemble in Northern Ireland.
Competitors were on their way back to shore when the incident happened.
A spokesperson for the event said the first race had been due to take place
at 11.55am this morning, but it had been cancelled due to bad weather.
Following the rescue, organisers said boats had begun to head ashore when a
"strong squall of 31 knots" passed over the race area.
"The effect of this was that some of the GP14 boats capsized - this is not an
unusual situation and crews are trained on how to 'right' their boast, " a
statement said.
"Unfortunately a further squall registering 37 knots followed the first,
capsizing a further number of the fleet."
The Coastguard today said: "Belfast Coastguard was first contacted just
before 2pm reporting that some of the boats had capsized, while others were
struggling to cope in the strong winds and squally showers."
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt praised the efforts of the emergency
services.
"It was people of all ages, and some very high winds presented themselves. A
lot of the boats were ditched into the water," he said.
"It's very cold out there, all credit to the emergency services.
"Some people have minor injuries. some have some signs of hypothermia - but
the situation, thank God, appears to be under control."
One of the competitors, Tom Daniel, 20, from Halifax in Yorkshire, said his
boat overturned twice.
"A massive squall came through, a lot of boats went over. We got very wet, a
few got various knocks and bumps going over but nothing serious," he said.
"A bit further along the line a lot of people went in because a massive
squall came in and we ended up back in.
"We thought somebody was seriously hurt. We thought there was more damage
than there was because a few people did look like they were struggling but it is
part of the sport and this would not normally attract too much attention but
people from the shore saw that there was damage and it has been blown out of
proportion."
Mr Daniel said the wind was not extreme.
"The guys coped with it very well but some people did
struggle a bit," he said.
It made Sky news and Yahoo !!
 |
| Part of the fun !! |
