HD Sails take 1st and 2nd at GP14 Irish Championships

HD Sails continued their 2012 dominance of GP14 Championship events by taking 1st and 2nd overall at the 2012 Irish Nationals.

Mike Senior and Chris White put in their best performance to date winning all 5 races against 39 boats in conditions ranging from 10 knots in the first race to 25+ knots. Mike and Chris most notably renowned for downwind speed in fresh conditions have recently been working hard with HD’s on their big breeze upwind speed. The results of which were clearly noticeable.

HD Sailors Shane MacCarthy and Andy Thompson had a strong second day to finish second overall. Focus now turns to the World Championships starting on the 12th August in Looe, Cornwall where 130 boats are expected to compete.

HD Sails win GP14 Northern Championships

HD Sails produced another championship winning performance at the GP14 Northern Championships over the 14th/15th July. 29 boats competed at this years event hosted by Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club. 2 races were held on Saturday in light and variable conditions. HD Sailors Mike Senior and Chris White put in a solid performance on the first day to win both races, only to find out later they were found to be OCS in the second. Pressure was then on for Sunday given their discard had already been used.

Motivated by their mistake on Saturday and a good force 5-6 Mike and Chris managed to take the overall win from current GP14 World Champions Ian Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe posting a 3rd and two 1st’s in testing conditions. For a full report visit the GP14 site here

Mike and Chris have just one more warm-up event for the Worlds at the Irish Nationals over the 21st/22nd July, where they will be looking to fine tune their HD set-up ready for Looe in August. Will keep you updated.

Podium Finish For Nick Craig at Warnemunde Woche

Congratulations to Nick Craig on his podium finish at Warnemunde.

60 OK’s from 6 nations descended on Warnemunde for the German nationals held as part of Warnemunde Woche.

With the World Championships in Denmark looming (160 boats registered) the four days of racing were used by many as a useful warm up event.

We wish Nick the best of luck in Denmark, we will keep you up to date on his progress.

HD Sails dominate GP14 Masters

John Billington and Mike Senior dominated the 2012 GP14 Masters Championship winning all 3 races in breezy conditions held from New Quay Yacht Club, Wales. Mike usually seen at the helm of a GP teamed up with top Lark sailor John Billington for the event. Having never sailed together before, they showed fantastic boat speed which made up for the inevitable odd boat handling error!

The score line doesn’t however paint the full story. In the first race John and Mike capsized during their first tack and rounded the first mark near the back. With just short 30 minute back to back races planned, John and Mike had much to do. A top 5 was the aim, but some nifty downwind speed and upwind tactical decisions they were quickly back in the mix and managed to just grab the race win at the finish line. Races 2 and 3 were a little more straight forward as they led from start to finish winning both by a comfortable margin.

Attention now turns to the 2012 World Championships in Looe, Cornwall. If you are thinking of GP sails for this years Worlds please don’t hesitate and get your order in soon so you don’t miss out, order slots are filling up fast! Mike will also be attending the GP Bolton Open this Saturday, the Northern Championships at Derwent the week after and the Irish Nationals at Ballyholme  on the 21/22 July and will be happy to chat about his HD set-up to help you with your preparations for this years Worlds.

HD Sails out & about this summer

This Summer Jim & Andy will be taking part in a few Championships. If you would like to meet up or have anything brought down please don’t hesitate to give them a call.

Jim will be attending;

505 World Championships in La Rochelle 17th-27th July

Enterprise Nationals in Tenby 11th-17th August

Andy will be attending;

Merlin Salcombe Week 8th-13th July

Solo National Championships in Mounts Bay 22nd-27th July

GP14 World Championships in Looe 12th-17th August

Snipe National Championships in Dale 18th-20th August

Merlin National Championships in Lyme Regis 26th-31st August

Hope to see you out sailing.