Inland Championships

At King George Sailing Club

The National 12 Gul Inland Championships were scheduled to take place on 28th and 29th September 2014 at King George Sailing Club. Unfortunately, the weather was not co-operative on the Saturday and, after several hours of admiring the mirror-like reflections in the water, racing was cancelled for the day. On the Sunday, after an hour’s postponement, a light breeze gradually filled in and racing finally started.

In the first race, the majority of the fleet bunched up near the pin end on the start. Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne were nearer the committee boat end with space to tack off after the start. They headed right up the beat and popped out ahead at the windward mark. Newly-weds Chris & Sophie Day also showed good speed round the course, pulling through into second place on the final run down to the finish just ahead of Jeremy & Luke Hartley in their newly acquired Dead Cat Bounce.

The wind was determined to challenge the race officer in the second race. After three general recalls when the wind shifted so far that no boats could cross the line on starboard, the race finally got underway. The right hand side of the beat paid again and Graham & Zoe reached the windward mark again in first place, with Jon & Charlotte Ibbotson and Jeremy & Luke chasing hard behind. A lucky gust down the reach in marginal planing conditions extended Graham & Zoe’s lead, while Tom Stewart and Andrea Downham fought through into second place.

In race 3, the wind became patchier and being in the wind was crucial. In the first beat, the wind lifted hugely on starboard, benefitting the boats on the right. Steve & Jo Sallis, together with Nick & Tanya Copsey, got well ahead of the rest of the fleet as a result and maintained their lead for the rest of the lap. In the final lap, the wind filled in from both the extreme left and extreme right up the beat. Nick & Tanya headed hard left and picked up the breeze first, to overtake Steve & Jo, a position which they held to the finish.

Overall results

Photos courtesy of Peter Rowe