Gul RS600 Inland Championships at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by Chris Tilbrook 16 Oct 2013 13:52 BST
12-13 October 2013
RS Inlands at Grafham © Richard Janulewicz /
www.fotoboat.com
A light shifty breeze greeted sailors who spent most of the morning driving through gale force winds for the Gul RS600 Inland Championships, sharing the course with 300, 400, and Vareo classes.
After a recall due to a large wind shift, we got off the line and pick our way up wind in very patchy winds. Pete Nelson rounded the top mark first, followed by John Charles and Calum Terry. Pete drew out a modest lead on the other boats, the rest of us stayed close. John and Calum started to claw back Pete and in the final part of the race Calum found himself grabbing a first, not a bad start for his first event in his 600. Pete was second and John third.
The second race of the day was started but the wind went to nothing and we were eventually sent back to shore.
A stiff breeze welcomed us for day two, but this was thought to be a bit too much so we had to wait for it to drop off a bit. Eventually the flag came down and we are allowed to go and play.
Pete shot off the line with John and Tom Powell. Pete rounded the top mark first whilst Chris Tilbrook and John fought it out for second. Pete took the win, John lost his second place at the bottom mark so Chris took second and John in third place.
For race 3 the first beat was close with Tom showing good pace. Pete rounded the top mark first with Chris on his tail. John went up the far right but the wind shifted against him leaving a lot of catching up to do. Pete grabbed another first, Chris second and John managed to fight back to third.
Again everyone stayed close for race 4, Pete was up front but Chris and John kept close, and on the downwind leg Pete lost the lead for a while; this didn't last long and he was soon back for another win with Chris second and John third.
Well done Pete Nelson who won this year's Gul Inland Championships!
Thanks to Grafham Water sailing Club which had some tricky conditions to deal with for our races.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 920 | Peter Nelson | Northampton SC | ‑2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | 630 | Chris Tubrook | Paighton SC | ‑4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3rd | 702 | John Charles | Leigh on Sea | ‑3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 4th | 932 | Tom Powell | NSC | ‑5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 5th | 962 | Calum Terry | Rutland SC | 1 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 13 |