2024 GP14 World Championship at Plas Heli, Pwllheli - Overall
by Andy Johnston 18 Aug 05:22 NZST
10-16 August 2024
2024 GP14 Worlds at Pwllheli - Matt Mee and Chris Robinson World Champions © Andy Johnston
After a very mixed week of conditions where the weather gods threw either too much wind or too little, the 85 boat entered the final day hoping for two races to allow the second discard kick in.
It had been a difficult week with some light winds playing havoc with gate starts so keeping clean and clear was the order of the day for everyone. Aside from Matt Mee & Chris Robinson, pretty much everyone in the fleet was carrying a horrible number. Bar a disaster of their own making Matt & Chris looked to have one hand on the event which would make up for their close call in Skerries in 2022.
Tom Gillard & Shandy looked to have 2nd wrapped up, but if two races were managed 3rd place was still to play for, even though the odds were still stacked very much in Neil Marsden & Derek Hill's favour. They led their nearest rival Sean Craig & Stephen Boyle by 6 points. Ross Kearney & Daniel Nelson, Ger Owens & Mel Morris if things turned their way all still retained hopes of jumping into that 3rd medal spot.
In an event where two days were lost, the lay-day became a race day and multiple restarts, Friday's two races both got away without a hitch. Raced in 6 to 9 knots breeze with a little bit of chop and a fair amount of weed about just to keep it interesting.
The upset that the Irish were hoping for to allow one of their boats jump onto the podium never materialised with Neil Marsden & Derek Hill putting on a masterclass in doing what was needed. While both races were won by Tom Gillard and Andy Thompson, Neil & Derek had total control of their 3rd place. Their nearest rivals, Sean Craig & Stephen Boyle, unfortunately never got going on the day and dropped from 4th to 9th by the end.
Despite that it was a massive day for the Irish fleet with Ger Owens & Mel Morris putting in two great races including a 2nd and 7th to move up to 4th overall. Despite a horror show on the first day, the pair completed their best ever finish at a GP14 World Championship and were clearly delighted with their recovery.
Sutton's Hugh Gill & Richard Street also finished on a high. A 5th and a 7th moved them into 7th overall just ahead of Ciaron Jones & Sam Platt (RHBC). That was Hugh's best-ever Worlds finish and the pair just finished behind RNIYC's Ross Kearney & Daniel Nelson with Daniel taking the leading Youth crew prize.
Howth's Diana Kissane with Graham Curran up front finished as leading Female Helm in 18th.
The last race also provided huge Irish interest with another Sutton pairing Katie Dwyer & Michelle Rowley getting out of the gates and leading the whole fleet to the weather mark. The pair entered the day as the leading All Female pairing and were hoping to consolidate that position. Over the next hour they had the race of their lives as World Champions all, Tom Gillard and Neil Marsden chased them down. The pair were caught on the last weather leg, dropped to 6th but fought back to take a well deserved 4th. The drone footage shown in Plas Heli, stole the show last evening. Definitely a memory from the 2024 Worlds.
Sligo's David Evans & William Draper probably took away more prizes from the event than anyone as they finished the event as top Youths from Sam Street & Josh Lloyd and also took the Silver fleet.
The prize-giving for 2024 World Championship was held in the Plas Heli sailing centre. New World Champion Matt Mee & Chris Robinson paid tribute to the other competitors and the GP14 Class, remarking it was 20 years since himself and Chris had done their first GP14 event with most of that time looking up to Neil Marsden & Derek Hill. Some pressure now on Matt & Chris to ready themselves to defend their title in Ireland in 2026.
Earlier in the week, the formal launch of the 2026 GP14 World Championships in Royal North of Ireland YC was held and by the prize-giving last night, a very positive 35+ entries had already been confirmed. A proposal put together by Gerry Reid and his organising Committee in RNIYC and presented to the 2024 Worlds fleet by Ross Kearney went down very well with ten UK entries included.
A big thank you to Vanessa Devereux and her team of volunteers who managed the GP14 Race Office here in Plas Heli all week.
Many thanks to all our sponsors who include Impact Marine, Goacher Sails, Craftinsure, P&B, Rooster, Clamcleats, Wessex Epoxy Solutions, Allen, FM Sailing, Robline, Y&Y, Musto, F&M sailing, swimclub, Sailpics, Paintcraft, Winder Boats.