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Inland Championships 2010
Saturday was sunny, but the winds were light and shifty blowing across the lake from the North ish but with a little bit of east and west as it felt like it. It was unclear as to whether this was a greater challenge for the race team or the 30 entrants, but by the end of the day, it was clear that it would be a high scoring weekend.
Tom Stewart & Rachel Williamson won the first race which was shortened after two laps when it was clear that the big wind shift that had occurred during the first lap had wrecked the course and it was time to put the fleet out of their misery. John Meadowcroft and Rosie White took second ahead of Andy McKee and Clare Hunter. In the second race, Arthur and Mary Henderson took an early lead with Stewart and Williamson breathing down their neck. Behind them, chaos reigned at the leeward mark as many of the leading boats sailed into a hole and the back markers sailed around them in new breeze. The Hendersons emerged still ahead but with a very different pack of boats to contend with. At the final mark, the leading boats were all lined up bow to stern. As the breeze had increased a little, Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne and Jon Ibbotson & Charlotte Stewart had quickly worked themselves through the fleet and were adding further pressure to the Hendersons. However, showing the coolness that goes with their family name, the Hendersons stayed cool on the short final beat to take the win, Ibbotson/Stewart converted a fifth at the leeward mark to finish second, as Camm did turns and Nigel & Chris White took third with Stewart/Williamson fourth. And we thought that there had been chaos at the first leeward mark!
The start of the third race was delayed by a general recall under black flag which saw a number of competitors head in for an early shower. Once the race was underway, Chris Day and Sophie Richards got an early lead with the ever consistent Stewart & Williamson snapping at their heels. Day/Richards struggled to build a comfortable lead but held onto what they had with the tenacity of a dog with a bone as contenders lined up behind them to overtake. They held it together to record a very popular win with Stewart/Williamson second and Camm/Ballantyne third.
After a Guy Fawkes party and a great DJ (book him for next year please!) Sunday dawned colder but with more wind. Two races were held. Jo Richards and Sophie Mackley were the early leaders in the first race but a navigational miscalculation on the first run put Ibbotson/Stewart into a lead which they held to the finish, ahead of Stewart/Williamson and Camm/Ballantyne. Going into the final race Ibbotson/Stewart needed to win the race to win the Inlands or the title would go to Stewart/Williamson. However, it was not to be as Camm/Ballantyne took control of the race on the second lap to sail off into the horizon and hand the title to Stewart/Williamson There were five different race winners, but few consistent boats. Stewart & Williamson ended up with 5 races in the top 4 which was enough for them to secure the title of 2010 Inland Champions ahead of Ibbotson/Stewart and Camm/Ballantyne. These three crews have dominated competition in the Class this year, each of them in the Dead Cat Bounce design, winning between them the Burton Cup, Burton Week, the GILL Series, and the Inlands. Meadowcroft/White in a Paradigm 2 took fourth place on tie break from McKee/Hunter with Kevin Iles & Jane Wade just behind, both teams in Dead Cat Bounces..
Overall results
http://www.northamptonsailingclub.org/results/2010/National12Inlands2010.htm
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