Last weekend South Staffs once again hosted the GP14 Youth National Championship open to sailors from across the country under the age of 22. With 18 competitive boats entered, it promised to be a great event yet with the return of summer the wind was incredibly fickle taking the infamous South Staffs wind shifts to the extreme..!

The weekend began with a fully booked training day on Friday expertly run by our very own Ollie Goodhead, who did an amazing job in no wind to engage the sailors with boat set up, tuning & sail settings.

After a chilled Friday evening and following an excellent Q&A from this years runner up at the GP14 nationals – our very own Commodore, Ed Bradburn the racers focus for the event was anticipating and capturing the zephyrs of breeze from any direction around the lake and trying to eek out every bit of boat speed from each opportunity.

Saturday evening’s BBQ & glorious sunset set the tone for the evening, with a few games to entertain throughout.

Sunday dawned with it all to play for yet windless, holding off racing until after lunch, our race officer Dave Young did a great job to get 5 races completed over the weekend.

Well done to all our sailors, Harriet & Jack finishing 5th, Olly H & Oli R 7th, and Kyle T & Matt G 16th. With special mention to Mia H winning Youth helm / adult crew shield, taking a race win in the process, despite Dad’s crewing!

Huge thanks to everyone at the club who supported and helped make the event a success. In recognition the GP14 Class have already requested we host again as soon as possible.

Pics & videos of the event can be found in our Gallery

Y&J Team