National Squib Inland Championship at Rutland Sailing Club

by Pete Richards 10 Oct 2017 08:11 BST 7-8 October 2017

Squib Inlands at Rutland © RSC

A fine entry of 37 Squibs travelled to Rutland on the weekend of 7 & 8 October for their Inland National Championship. Saturday dawned grey and forbidding but thankfully with a great, if somewhat chilly, shifty, force 4 breeze from the west resulting in an interesting and challenging day's racing. Some of the gusts were levelling.

First to the weather mark in the first race were the SCYC team of Malcolm Blackburn and David Shiel in Moonstone (96) closely followed by Alan Johnson and David Garlick, Cariad Bach (132) from the same club. They held these positions until the end of the race. After a poor start, current National Champions, Josh Metcalf and Mark Hogan, Ric O'Shea (136) pulled up to third. This early domination by the SCYC boats was not to continue.

Squib Inlands at Rutland - photo © RSC

Class Chairman, Nigel Grogan crewed by his son Jack convincingly won the second race followed by fellow Burnham / Royal Corinthian boats, Lady Penelope (819), Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey and Spoof (811), Micky Wright and Alex Porteous. The scene was set for a showdown between the two clubs.

Only to be disrupted by Bryan and Jenny Riley from WOBYC sailing Brimstone (73) who easily won the third race. However, the Grogans, Blackburn and Metcalf were there in 2,3 and 4 places keeping the pressure on.

Squib Inlands at Rutland - photo © RSC

The home fleet, Rutland SC, hosted a great evening dinner and the Squibs proceeded to drink the club bar out of bitter and nearly all the red wine before retiring for the night.

Sunday morning produced a clear, fine, sunny day with a gentle force 3 westerly – perfect conditions. Again it was shifty, but that is the norm for Rutland.

Metcalf and Hogan showed their prowess in these conditions gaining a 1st and a 2nd in races 4 and 5 which gave them the meeting and the Inland Nationals to add to their victory at Holyhead earlier in the year. The Grogans were a close second overall and the Rileys sailed consistently well to gain third.

Josh Metcalfe (left) and Mark Hogan (right) are presented with the Squib Inlands Trophy by Rutland Squib Captain Peter Dale (centre) - photo © RSC

Worthy of note was the performance of one of the new Rondar Squibs, sailed by Andrew Moore and Peter Hallinan from Felixstowe Ferry SC. They achieved 4th in race 2 and 2nd in Race 4, which combined with more mid-fleet performances gave them 15th overall. A great result for the new Squib showing its potential to compete on an equal footing with existing boats.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Sail No	Boat Name	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	Josh Metcalfe	Mark Hogan	136	Ric Oshea	SCYC	3	‑6	4	1	2	10
2nd	Nigel Grogan	Jack Grogan	105	Helmut Shoing 11	RCYC	‑9	1	2	7	3	13
3rd	Bryan Riley	Jenny Riley	73	Brimstone	WOBYC/RNSYC	7	7	1	5	‑8	20
4th	Mickey Wright	Alex Porteous	811	Spoof	RCYC	12	3	‑21	4	6	25
5th	David Wines	Keith Davies	828	White Magic	West Hoe SC	5	10	6	6	(DNS)	27
6th	Malcolm Blackburn	David Shiel	96	Moonstone	SCYC	1	8	3	21	‑23	33
7th	Gerald Dyson	Tony Saltonstall	800	Alchemy	Royal Yorkshire YC	13	9	15	‑23	1	38
8th	Alan Johnson	David Garlick	132	Cariad Bach	SCYC	2	18	5	13	‑20	38
9th	Malcolm Hutchings	Andy Ramsey	819	Lady Penelope	Royal Corinthian	‑17	2	7	16	16	41
10th	Mike Hughes	Gary Cateral	872	Pocahontas		11	12	14	‑18	5	42
11th	Nic Tolhurst		868	By the Lee	RCYC	6	14	8	14	‑19	42
12th	Brian Holland	Tony Sampson	789	Dream On	SCYC	4	‑19	9	12	18	43
13th	Philip Barnes	David Thomas	137	Atomic	TBSC	20	5	‑25	10	9	44
14th	Robert Coyle	Marc Rawinsky	823	Humphrey	RCYC	‑21	13	16	8	10	47
15th	Andrew Moore	Peter Hallinan	902		FFSC	14	4	‑28	2	28	48
16th	Ian Gray	Ian Simons	157	Cheque Mate	RCYC	19	‑22	11	17	7	54
17th	Phil Aspinall	Howie Enkel	72	Guy Fawkes	Royal Corinthian	10	24	‑29	9	14	57
18th	Martin Harrison	Jules Batchelor	500	Hussar	Royal Victoria YC	‑22	17	13	15	12	57
19th	Richard Sullivan	Sue Harper	855	Croc	RNYC/WOBYC	15	11	‑30	20	13	59
20th	Toby Taylor	Stephen Weakes	108	Ogo Pogo	SCYC	‑25	15	23	11	15	64
21st	Richard Roberts	John Jones	755	Cybi	Holyhead SC	‑27	21	19	25	4	69
22nd	Roland Wilson	Sam Prime	52	Bachante	RVYC	23	29	17	3	(DNC)	72
23rd	Ian Keeley	Matthew Keely	16	Squibbo	RBYC	8	23	12	‑33	29	72
24th	Will Davies	Kevan Gibb	832	Willpower	Royal Forth YC	18	16	‑27	26	17	77
25th	Chris Hill	James Pritchard	104	Wildfire	RDYC	24	‑32	20	31	11	86
26th	Simon Marfleet	Stef Oosthuysen	50	Firebird	WOBYC	‑30	28	18	19	22	87
27th	Peter Marchant	Andy Biddle	736	Magic Roundabout	RCYC	16	25	26	‑30	21	88
28th	John Sparrow	Ralph Banthorpe	845	Rock 'n' Roll	SCYC	26	20	‑31	27	25	98
29th	David Grindley	Pete Richards	760	Surprise	RCYC	28	26	22	22	(DNC)	98
30th	Simon Vines	Michael Brown	780	Quantum	Weymouth SC	31	(DNC)	10	24	DNC	103
31st	Peter Dale	Julian Smith	856	Second Time Around	RSC	‑29	27	24	28	26	105
32nd	Barry Searle	Gill Lamb	468	Ignite	Waldringfield	32	31	33	‑35	27	123
33rd	David Cannell	Ms Ricky East	40	Ruby	Waldringfield	33	30	(DNS)	32	30	125
34th	Tudor Roberts	Matthew Roberts	847	Little Quickie	Holyhead SC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	29	24	129
35th	Tony Gibson	Paul Sleeman	900	Top Dog	Stone SC	(DNC)	DNC	32	36	31	137
36th	Ben Lyddington	Amy Spare	727	Mosquito	RCYC	34	33	(DNC)	34	DNC	139
37th	John Griffin	Joanna Griffin	630	Elsie	RSC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	37	32	145