RS400 Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club

RS400 Inlands at Grafham © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

On Saturday 7th October, 37 RS400s arrived for their annual pilgrimage to Grafham Water Sailing Club for the 2017 Inland Championship which was the penultimate event of the RS400 Magic Marine Championship Tour.

The fleet launched into a gusty NW F4 at the North Western end of the lake providing some sizeable, thought-provoking shifts for the fleet to get their teeth into.

After a general recall, race one got immediately underway under a black flag, with previous National Champ Mike Simms and newly drafted in crew Jack Holden from Carsington SC digging hard into the left hand side of the course upwind and then carefully picking their way through the gusts downwind to take the win. Only after the race did Jack admit to their nearly missing the start, only realizing that it was a 3,2,1 start sequence, and not 5,4,1! Chris Pickles (last year's Inland Champion), with Laser star crew Jack Hopkins from Delph SC followed closely in 2nd, with Sam and Dad, John Knight, in 3rd.

RS400 Inlands at Grafham - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Race two saw the wind clocking slightly right and this made for some significant gains by those that dared to find the best of the right hand side. By the end of the race three completely different boats filled the top three spots. Richard Gray and Jon Dyas from Queen Mary SC were flying in the conditions and took the win from Ben Williamson and Charlie Ticehurst from Welton SC and then Paul and Mark Oakey from Porchester SC (2016 National Champions) in third.

RS400 Inlands at Grafham - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

In race three the PRO Peter Saxton re-aligned the course to take account of the shifting breeze which was still holding in strength. Big gains were now being had downwind with strong gusts down either side of the run, with many complaining about missing out in the middle of the course. Mike and Jack lead was never really challenged and won the race convincingly from Sam and John Knight, with Dave Exley and Mark Lunn from Leigh and Lowton (recently crowned Northern Tour Champs) nipping into 3rd.

RS400 Inlands at Grafham - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Tired bodies made their way back to the shore with many tails of score board snakes and ladders. Indeed, I could not find anyone who thought they had not already sailed their discard due to mixed fortunes and the very high quality of the fleet.

As usual, the quality of sailing was matched by some legendary socialising, both at the club and the local Wheatsheaf Pub where some of the Northern contingent were once again rumoured to be lining up shots inevitably followed by a bout of table walking!

Lighter winds greeted the competitors on Sunday morning as they tucked into a hearty Grafham full brekkie. Would the lighter winds bring a different group of sailors to the front?

RS400 Inlands at Grafham - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Race four kicked off in a F2, once again peppered with holes and shifts to frighten even the smallest pond sailors (that's size of pond, not sailor!). Howard Farbrother and Louise Hosken from Queen Mary SC (also previous winners of this event) had clearly got out of bed on the right side and were loving the conditions ("It felt just as holey as a piece of Swiss Cheese at Queen Mary SC – home from home" they were heard to say!). However, as Howard and Louise led at the end of the second lap, they didn't notice the shortened course flag and merrily led the entire fleet on a wild goose chase of an unnecessary 3rd lap. All that is, except eagle eyed Kayleigh Roberts who dared her helm Jacob Ainsworth (South Sheilds SC) to cross the line on their own to take the bullet, closely followed by equally aware duo of Christopher Stanton and Jules Thorne from Queen Mary who took second place. By the time the rest of the fleet had done their extra lap, Howard and Louise had managed to hold everyone else off to take third.

By now we had had no fewer than 10 different boats finishing in the top three, after just four races. Phew!

In race five, Dave Exley and Mark Lunn quickly established a lead on the first beat by staying in the pressure on the left and managed to hold onto the same side of the course downwind hotly pursued by Stuart Halman and Anna "Jager Bomb" Walsh from Leigh and Lowton SC. These two boats held onto their positions until the finish with Sam and John Knight pulling though the pack to slip into third.

RS400 Inlands at Grafham - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

In a dying breeze and after a small postponement to move the windward mark right the PRO once again magiced up a square windward leeward course to finish off before the breeze fizzled out. Once again, it was light wind gurus Howard and Louise who nailed it to take the race from Richard Catchpole and Gary Coop from Leigh and Lowton SC, with Mike Simms and Jack Holden in 3rd. By finishing the last race in better than 7th Mike and Jack were crowned 2018 Inland Champions.

At the prize giving Mike thanked Peter Saxton and his team for the well run event and Peter presented a special prize to Jacob and Kayleigh for cleverly spotting his flag signals.

The next event is the End of Season Championships at Queen Mary on the 11th and 12th of November with the not-to-be-missed bash on the Sat night. Online entry is at www.rs400.org/championships/mindex.asp?eid=1431

Overall Results: