Streaker Inland Championship at Welton Sailing Club

by Veronica Falat 11 May 2016 09:35 BST 7-8 May 2016

A warm and sunny weekend at Welton S.C. in the East Riding of Yorkshire and a fleet of 31 Streaker dinghies were the ingredients for an excellent Inland Championships. Several of the boats were very new, their owners having taken possession of them in the last few weeks and so there was lots of interest in seeing who would be at the front of the fleet.

Saturday's three races were sailed in a north-easterly breeze which strengthened and became gustier as the day progressed.

In race 1 Ben Hollis, a newcomer to the class sailing a borrowed boat, took the lead early on and, despite being chased hard by last year's Inland Champion Ian Jones, took the win. Behind these two there was a good scrap for third place; Veronica Falat had moved up into third by the last lap but capsized in a gust at a leeward mark and it was Doug Horner who took over that place, with Jon Aldhous fourth.

The fleet came ashore for lunch and then races 2 and 3 were sailed back-to-back. These were tough races with the wind not only quite strong at times but very shifty and gusty. In race 2 James Dawes made a good start but gradually Ian Jones took control and at the finish Horner had moved up to second, with Dawes third and Ian Lees fourth. Several people decided to sit out Race 3 but it was good fun for those with confidence in their boat handling! Again Jones was out in front with several boats fighting for second. In the end it was Horner who finished ahead of Hollis and Lees.

So, overnight, Jones was leading, with Hollis and Horner both still in with a chance. The forecast for Sunday was for a south-easterly to build during the day. After the only general recall of the weekend, the morning race (race 4) was sailed in a pleasant force 3, with a windward leg that was the length of the lake. Jones took the win, ahead of Ben Ratcliffe with Steve Blackburn taking third after a string of fifth places the day before.

The final race, after lunch, was dominated by Graeme Bristow who led from start to finish. Behind him, Horner and Hollis were fighting for second place overall. Hollis had a narrow lead over his rival but this wasn't enough; he needed Horner to drop back into the chasing group of Ratcliffe, Jones and Falat but that wasn't to be and in the final calculations it was Horner who secured the runner-up spot in the Championships. Blackburn took 4th overall although Ian Lees' boat finished with fewer points – but it was sailed by Lees on Saturday and Ratcliffe on Sunday and so counted as two separate entries.

For Ian Jones this was his third Inland Championship win in succession. Counting 3 firsts and a second, he looked comfortable whatever the conditions but it was also encouraging to see that several new guys in the fleet were able to push him hard. In fact, wherever you were in the fleet, there was close racing, especially as the courses tended to feature starboard-hand windward marks, always a provider of entertainment and shouting in gusty conditions!

The Silver Spars trophy for the first in the Silver fleet (as opposed to the Gold fleet) was awarded to Ed Wheldon of Welton SC in 11th place overall. Runner-up was Paul Noble of East Lothian YC who was 15th.

Welton SC were very friendly hosts and were sincerely thanked by competitors, especially for the lunches and delicious cakes. The whole event was most enjoyable. Roll on the Nationals at Rutland in July!

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	1920	Ian Jones	Dovestone SC	2	1	1	1	‑5	5
2nd	1940	Doug Horner	Blithfield SC	3	2	2	‑6	3	10
3rd	923	Ben Hollis	Blithfield SC	1	‑7	3	5	2	11
4th	1881	Steve Blackburn	West Lancs YC	5	5	5	3	‑8	18
5th	1837	Graeme Bristow	Leigh & Lowton SC	7	‑10	9	7	1	24
6th	1933	Ian Priest	Scaling Dam SC	8	‑12	10	4	9	31
7th	1955	James Dawes	Redditch SC	‑15	3	8	15	7	33
8th	1772	Peter Robinson	Ripon SC	9	6	7	12	‑14	34
9th	1924	David Lawson	Bassenthwaite SC	6	8	11	10	‑15	35
10th	1703	Jon Aldhous	Beaver SC	4	11	12	‑18	11	38
11th	1619	Edward Wheldon	Welton SC	11	9	6	‑21	16	42
12th	1829	Veronica Falat	Waveney & Oulton Broad YC	14	14	‑17	9	6	43
13th	1888	David Smith	Welton SC	13	15	(DNF)	8	10	46
14th	1618	Dave Butler	Welton SC	11	16	13	17	‑20	57
15th	1716	Paul Noble	East Lothian YC	‑19	17	16	14	13	60
16th	1754	Chris Wright	Ripon SC	16	‑19	15	13	19	63
17th	1826	Ben Ratcliffe	Scammonden SC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	2	4	72
18th	1875	Steve Chilton	Welton SC	12	22	20	‑23	18	72
19th	1635	P. Fletcher	Welton SC	17	(DNF)	DNF	11	12	73
20th	1846	Mike Eggleston	Ripon SC	23	13	14	‑25	23	73
21st	1879	Bernard Wells	Welton SC	20	18	18	‑22	17	73
22nd	1826	Ian Lees	Scammonden SC	(DNF)	4	4	DNC	DNC	74
23rd	1763	Paul Jago	Attenborough SC	18	20	(DNF)	19	21	78
24th	1923	Barny Creaser	Hollowell SC	21	21	(DNF)	16	22	80
25th	1779	Sally Ratcliffe	Scammonden SC	22	‑24	21	20	24	87
26th	1911	John Toplis	Welton SC	25	23	(DNF)	24	25	97
27th	1816	Richard Brameld	Welton SC	24	(DNF)	19	28	DNC	104
28th	1670	Lianne Therkelson	Welton SC	26	(DNF)	DNF	26	26	111
29th	1572	Steve Abbott	Welton SC	27	(DNF)	DNF	27	27	114
30th	1570	Mike Holmes	Welton SC	(DNF)	DNF	DNF	29	28	123
31st	1814	Helen Voisey	Ripon SC	28	(DNF)	DNF	DNC	DNC	127
32nd	1561	Linda Holmes	Welton SC	(DNF)	DNF	DNF	30	DNC	129