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The
PIPLERS GP14 Masters Championship 15-16 June 2002 |
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The
PIPLERS GP14 Masters Championship 15-16 June 2002 |
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| Overcast skies and showers could not dampen the spirits of the sailors in the 2002 GP14 National Masters Championship at Poole Yacht Club. | |
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The event, which was sponsored by Piplers of Poole, saw 53 boats competing, all helmed by sailors over forty years of age. Strong and gusty winds ensured that crews had to work hard to keep their boats the right way up.Crews were split into Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets and the top teams were given a wake up call when silver fleet sailors David Pugh & Jim Toothill from South Staffs S.C. won race 1 after a hard fought battle with Richard Instone & Mark Cheshire from Chase S.C. with Paul & Tom Simes from Cardiff Bay 3rd. |
| Instone stamped his authority on the event by taking race 2 with Graham Jones & Andy Hateley (South Staffs.) 2nd and Nick & Alison Eaves (Bartley S.C.) 3rd. Duels were fought throughout the fleets and it was a weary bunch of sailors who hauled their boats ashore at five o'clock to be greeted with a bottle of free beer supplied by local brewers Hall & Woodhouse. | |
| Duly refreshed, they sat down to an excellent dinner in the club house after which the local GP fleet put on a short cabaret culminating in "The almost full Monty" which had the visitors in hysterics. |
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| A few bleary eyes next morning meant some crews were hoping for a delay to the 10.30 start but race officer Laurie Thornton-Grimes was having none of it and teams hit the water only to be caught out by a strong rising tide which caused a general recall. With such a big fleet the black flag was flown for the re-start, three boats transgressed the rule and were banished from the race. Jones/Hateley went on to win with GP President Toby Taylor & Chris Anderson taking 2nd and Instone/Cheshire 3rd. | |
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The final race saw Instone & Cheshire take their second win and with it the Championship, Simes/Simes 2nd place left them 3rd overall whilst Jones/Hateley's 5th was enough for the runner up spot. |
| Ashore the sailors tucked into tea and cakes while the results were calculated and local man Graham Chase was the lucky winner of the raffle for a new spinnaker donated by Speed Sails. Prizes were presented by Catherine Gardner of Piplers before Toby Taylor thanked the club on behalf of the Association for a superb event. As for me, well, the Badger and Tanglefoot ales were wonderful and there's always next year. | |
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thanks to Our Sponsors |
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