Scorpion Inland Championships at Northampton Sailing Club

The final class event for 2011 saw 23 boats converge on Pitsford reservoir for a weekend of close racing combined with an excellent 3 course meal and live entertainment on the Saturday night. The forecast said 12 knots but gusts up to 20 led to some exciting moments, especially if you hadn’t seen them coming!

The weekend also saw the launch of the newest addition to the fleet with Dave Wade & Ben Rayner launching their new epoxy boat #2026 complete with their own adaptation of the twin self launching pole system trialled on #2025 at the nationals (but more of that next week).

The first race saw Rich Jones & Hannah Livingstone leading the fleet to the first windward mark but 2 frenetic reaches created a lot of place changing. With Dave & Ben struggling to keep their shiny new mast in the sky it was Tom Gillard & Andy Thompson who quickly established a comfortable lead and pulled away to take the win. A close fight for 2nd developed although several others insisted on taking themselves out of the equation by either swimming or spinning. In the end Pete Gray & Rachel Rhodes edged out Baz Wolfenden & Simon Forbes and Janet & Alan Ritchie.

Race 2 again saw Tom & Andy dominating proceedings as they took their 2nd win of the day, this time they were chased home by Catherine Putt & Simon Maguire and Tim Parsons & Mike Hannan. Race 3 and for a long time it looked like we would have a new race winner as Janet & Alan pulled out a sizeable lead and Tom & Andy were caught in a fight for 2nd with Dave & Ben and Tom Jeffcoate & Alex Hayman. They eventually broke clear and following a big gust on one of the downwind legs they were eventually able to reel Janet & Alan in and complete a perfect scorecard for the day. Despite the dominance of the leaders the unpredictable nature of the results behind them showed just how close the racing was.

Following Saturday night’s superb entertainment the competitors roused grateful for the extra hours sleep and were greeted with slightly gentler conditions. The first race of the day saw Tom & Alex take the lead although again Tom & Andy were in close attendance followed closely by Baz & Simon, Dave & Ben and Janet & Alan. This time Tom & Alex were able to hold on for the win although 2nd was enough to give Tom & Andy the inlands title with a race to go. The final race saw Pete & Rachel establish a huge lead, plenty of time as they put it to watch the close fight for 2nd going on behind. Again Tom & Alex and Tom & Andy spent the race with only boat lengths between them and they just held off Dave & Ben who had to settle for another 4th.

Overall the winners were clear but the battle for the minor placings was decided on the last race. Even though their huge win didn’t merit anything different from normal Pete & Rachel had sailed consistently enough for 2nd while a 1 and 2 on the Sunday had dragged Tom & Alex up from 12th overnight to 3rd, equal on points with Baz & Simon and 1 point ahead of Janet & Alan.

A big thank you has to go to Ian Castle and his team for putting on some great racing and Northampton Sailing Club in general for a top weekend and a fitting way to end another great season.

With it being the last event of the year it was also the deciding event in the Silver Scorpion. Despite not being in attendance (some rubbish excuse to do with courses / being on call) Andy Mckee & Tarren Jones prevailed as Tim & Sarah Parsons couldn’t improve on their worst score to date with another top 3. Helena Pugh, having picked up a new boat at Northampton, had done enough to win the bronze scorpion for the junior helm with Mike Thackray picking up the crews prize.

Photos from the event can be found here.

Overall Results: