Helly Hansen Lark Inland Championship at Alton Water Sports Centre

by Harry Pynn 29 Jun 2016 16:19 BST 25-26 June 2016

Lark Inlands at Alton Water © Emily Mitchell

19 teams descended on Alton Water, Suffolk for the Inland Championship. Amongst the teams competing there were 7 national champions. Weather conditions for Saturday were un-predictable with various warnings of storms, but light winds, whilst Sunday was forecast to have stronger breezes.

On Saturday race one started with Steven Videlo / Maddie Harris taking the lead. Second was Geoff and Amelia Mayhew but after a mistake at the wing mark this allowed Stuart Hydon and Rachael Rhodes slip through from fourth to second as the Mayhew's took Matt White/Jackie McKellar wide. Hydon/Rhodes eventually took Videlo/Harris after a tussle. After a quick turnaround race 2 began with Harry Pynn Gemma Cook leading the race but eventually were overturned by Pete Gray/Rich Pepperdine. Hydon and Rhodes proceeded to then overtake both taking the race from Gray/Pepperdine. Chris Whitehouse and Simon Haighton pulled up to third just ahead of Nigel Hufton /Matt Wood. The third race was wisely postponed to Sunday as the wind was dropping and thunder was overhead. Early retirement to bar meant that some could enjoy the Wales Vs Northern Ireland game.

Sunday began with the continuation of the remaining four race programme. Race 3 and 4 saw Hydon/Rhodes take both of the races, but chased down by Videlo/Harris in both who natched up two more second places. What was appearing to be a two horse race then saw upset in the race 5 & 6 with Gray/Pepperdine taking a first and second which closed the gap on Videlo/Harris. In race 5 Alan Krailing took second place ahead of the Videlo/Harris. In the final race Hydon/Rhodes managed to pass Gray/Pepperdine leaving the Videlo/Harris in third ahead of Krailing /Harris.

Thanks go to Alton Water Sports Centre and particularly the race officer's team for keeping the fleet to programme in tricky conditions.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Pts
1	2495	Stuart Hydon	Rachael Rhodes	5
2	2491	Stephen Videlo	Maddie Harris	12
3	2531	Pete Gray	Rich Pepperdine	16
4	2521	Alan Krailing	Ed Harris	22
5	2538	Nigel Hufton	Matt Wood	25
6	2471	Matt White	Jackie Mc Kellar	28
7	2523	Chis Whitehouse	Simon Haighton	32
8	2520	Harry Pynn	Gemma Cook	35
9	2483	Ian Videlo	Alyson Videlo	35
10	2537	Steve Hall	Holly Hewat	42
11	2527	Adam Parry	Ruth Johnson	48
12	2413	Geof Mayhew	Amelia Mayhew	63
13	2536	Will Kennedy	Chris Sycamore	64
14	2347	Nigel Scott	Hannah Edge	68
15	2502	Steve Chatten	Fiona Gray	68
16	2459	Nigel Drenchfield	Fiona Denchfields	72
17	2530	Chris Ellis	Judith Young	78
18	2410	Jeremy Linsell	Erin Marks	84
19	2534	David Russell	Gary Jackson	94