Europe Inland Championship at Northampton Sailing Club
by Emma Pearson 25 Oct 2016 10:27 BST
22-23 October 2016
Europe Inlands at Northampton © Malcolm Morley
A clear winner in not so steady winds
I have to admit, I was the last to are on the scene on Saturday morning which is not like me! As I rolled through the visitor's boat park area I was amazed to see so many other europes; so many wide/shallow transoms poking out into the road.
The event was held joint with a D-One open/End of Seasons – quite a difference in the sailors! The briefing was held outside on the patio in a chilly air and warm sunshine. It was really good to see so many new faces.
After a quick change of attire we launched to sail in what was light airs with some big gusts and shifts. The clubhouse weather station read 10 – 12mph prior to launching but it was more up and down than that. Light when the sun was out but as much as 17knotts under the dark clouds.
Race 1
I had a pretty poor start and was not on pace, 4th or 5th round top after Malcolm in his newly assembled restoration/project boat, with his son, Hamish, in hot pursuit. A quick down wind saw me catch up but the leading pair of Andy and Lucy were still a way off. The wind then dropped a little which meant that I had the opportunity to squeeze passed Andy final half lap. The fleet seemed to split into three packs for most of the races – a break-a-way group that flew away fuelled on their own speed; a middle group where anything could happen and any one could pull through and a final pairing of Charlotte and Hannah – both very new to the boat but having a great time chasing each other.
Race 2
For the second race the fleet seemed a little more settled – like they had blown away all the nervous cob-webs and were now in business. I was 4th round the first mark chasing Hamish in FRA5567 (imported from France earlier this year). With gritted teeth and a flash of determination (or should that be stupidity) I headed down the run all guns blazing. Unfortunately for me, this rather greedy approach did not work on this occasion and a shifty-shift or a doggy gust rolled me in to windward before I had any chance to correct it. 4 boats zoomed passed me while I was busy righting the boat. Fortunately for me ego 3 D-Ones over too – not so bad.... perhaps it was the killer shrimp after all! I caught one boat fairly quickly and proceeded to have "discussions" at the bottom mark with Pete and we then battled it for a further lap. There was a large black cloud overhead which had raised the windspeed up to somewhere around the 16 to 18 knot mark. I managed to claw back two places by the end of race two (the Morely boys were a fair way off and did well to maintain that).
Race 3
Finally a better start and the testosterone must have been pumping! The wind had suddenly dipped requiring gear change from pulling on control lines and pulling down the leech of the sail to loosening all controls and allowing the sail to breath a little more. To my surprise I arrived at the top mark first - I have to confess I am not sure what else went on for the remainder of the third race as I didn't have much interaction with anyone else.
In the evening we gathered in a corner of the bar and held a very pleasant, friendly and informal AGM. Gossips of boat building and future events and plans seemed to have everyone's eyes lit up with excitement. There are definitely some exciting times on the horizon.
Day two started slightly differently. It was definitely colder, no sunshine and felt like winter had really began to set in. There was a little more breeze across the lake and it felt like it was going to be another great day of sailing. We shared a few tuning and rigging tips with some of the newer faces and, as usual, the tape measure got passed around like another bad cold.
Race 4
After a 20 minute AP (wind swinging all over the plce) it was definitely feeling a lot colder. All boats came off the line better. I got spat out the back along with one or two others and had to take out to the right a little earlier than I would have liked. The so-called Lucky Left was definitely the one to take. Lucy and Andy separated off in their own break-away pairing and were flying! They were clearly loving the breezyer conditions and looking great. George in GBR394 was looking good too – another new sailor to the boat but he was looking very quick. After the first lap the fleet separated out into the same three packs. On my final leg up to the finish line I cast a quick eye over the race course and caught glimpse of boat cartwheeling into a gybe. It later transpire that Geoff (our most improved sailor over the year's ranking series) had also been pushed over by the killer shrimp too!
Race 5
After another AP the countdown got underway. Unfortunately the wind swiveled around again and another AP was put up with 44s to go. Annoying when you have a good start on the cards but essential for a good course (I like the option to tack when the hiking legs start to get weary). This was the final race of the weekend and became a real shufftle-a-thon. Hamish pulled off an excellent port flyer and crossed the whole fleet to tack and sit on top of me (starboard end boat). Playing shifts seemed really key in this race and I found myself repeating the mantra "Tack on the next sig' shift". Because the wind strength was still around 13 or 14 knots, I had my rig fully strapped down. I am one of those that really struggles in any wind and I was definitely missing the conditions of race three, yesterday! With my legs screaming and my back borderline spasmed it was definitely more windier than I would have liked and I was relieved to arrive at the top mark. Lucy, Andy, me, Malcolm formed an orderly line across the reach and proceed to jostle for space on the down wind leg. On the following upwind Lucy must have fallen out of sync and dropped to third with Andy ahead and myself in second. The Morley boys were not far behind and were becoming hassled by Pete who was gaining on them. Briefly, I managed to take the lead on the run but lost out after Andy politely asked for room and very definitely was right to do so. The breeze then began to pick back up leaving me to watch as the bigger sailors began to creep up the ladder. Lucy really began to fly – by top mark she was on the hunt and was catching Andy. I did manage to pull a little back down wind, I had my eye on the boats coming up behind me. Round last mark I was not far behind Andy but was out of options. Fortunately y for me he tacked for finish line and I managed to squeezed up to get it in one – just ahead... sorry Andy! If he hadn't have tack, I would have done – Risk it for a Biscuit.
Lucy won the event with head and shoulders above the rest of us with an almost clean sheet of 1s. It was agreed by all that there was enjoyable close racing for everyone, wether you have been tin the boat 2 years or 2 days. Lucy also won the Ranking Series Trophy for most open event wins. A triumph across all weathers (not all this weekend!) From Dabchicks mega tides and super light airs to Weston's 25knots+ with disturbed lumpy sea.
This was the final event of the season for the UK Europe fleet but next ear promises to be just as good, if not better. Hope to see even more little bots com out to play!