Boss Inland Championships at Datchet Water Sailing Club

by Richard Davison 23 Oct 2003 11:54 BST 18/19th October

The Boss fleet arrived at Datchet for the final event of the year to realise that autumn had most definitely arrived even though the water hadn’t.

Saturday saw a very gusty 2-3 with plenty of shifts and wind bends due to the effect of sailing in a concrete fish bowl. Race 1 saw a close battle between Bennet/Shelton and Gandy/Davison that was only decided when Bennet tacked to cover so close that they ended up taking Gandy out. The following penalty allowed Gandy to take the gun. Race 2 saw Bennet/Shelton take the lead only to head off down wind to the wrong mark, which they only realised when they looked up to see the rest of the fleet with kites down on the beat, this allowed Gandy to take his second bullet of the day. Race 3 saw local knowledge benefit Steve and Nick Murray to what seemed like an unattainable lead, only to have Gandy/Davison catch and overtake them.

Sunday produced an unpredictable force 3-4 which led to testing conditions. Gandy/Davison snapped the top Gudgeon on their way to the start, which meant they missed the first race whilst lashing the rudder on. Race 4 was won by Bennet, followed by the Murrays. Race 5 was led from start to finish by Bennet/Shelton, with Stuart Jones and Adrian Hullier in second. Race 6 started with a wind shift that left Gandy/Davison swimming, as they had nowhere to go. Bennet/Shelton led from start to finish. This gave them the championship.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat Type	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	Pts
1st	Boss	812	Peter Bennet	John Shelton	Shoreham SC	8
2nd	Boss	780	Chris Gandy	Richard Davison	Draycote Water SC	10
3rd	Boss	796	Steve Murray	Nick Murray	Datchet Water SC	12
4th	Boss	744	Stuart Jones	Adam Hullier	Datchet Water SC	16