Volvo Gill Optimist Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by Valeria Sesto 23 May 2018 13:23 BST
19-20 May 2018
Sailors gather at the Volvo Gill Optimist Inlands © IOCA UK
Glorious weather and 263 boats started the Volvo Gill Optimist Inland Championships, the first IOCA class ranking event of the season and one of the all-time classics on the Optimist national circuit.
Hosted by Grafham Water Sailing Club and their experienced team, the championships continued the pattern typical for events so far this year, with very light and shifty winds, a lot of waiting around and much patience from competitors and organisers.
Callum Davidson-Guild and Emily Mueller were the winners of the main fleet, which completed only two races, whilst Sebastian Lyttle and Jessica Watson were first boy and girl in Regatta Fleet, which completed seven.
Saturday was very light and patchy and, despite the best efforts of the race management team, no races could be completed for the main fleet. The regatta fleet managed two.
Sunday looked a lot more promising. There were no delays in launching and everybody was lined up and ready by 10:25. After five hours on the water, two rather shifty races were completed in main fleet before the 3pm time limit. A third one was started but had to be abandoned.
The weekend also served as a platform for the newly-selected GBR teams, who will be competing at international events this summer, giving them a chance to get together to know each other better, meet their coaches and complete some training.
Worlds Team member and winner of the Inlands, Callum Davidson-Guild, said: "It was great to see so many sailors at the event as it gave big numbers on the start line, and because the weekend was very light winds and shifty it was important to get a clear lane off the start line to give you the opportunity to get into the pressure going up the first beat."
Although tricky for racing, the weather was certainly perfect for a weekend spent by the lake, at what is a great venue for camping on site. There was little sailing on Saturday yet a lot of football and rugby played on the grass, with ladies grouped up on rugs watching the Royal Wedding, followed by gatherings around the remains of the fires lit for BBQs.
The event sponsors also had more time to chat to parents and sailors: Volvo Cars UK, who brought the XC90 to show, and Gill, who led a competition for a sailing watch - thank you Volvo and Gill!
Overall Results:
Main Fleet (201 entries)
Boys
1st Callum DAVIDSON-GUILD
2nd William PANK
3rd Jamie GATEHOUSE
Girls
1st (5th overall) Emily MUELLER
2nd (26th overall) Hazel MCDONNELL
3rd (28th overall) Florence BRELLISFORD
1st Junior
7th overall George CREASY
1st Junior Girl
37th overall Ellie CREIGHTON
Regatta Fleet (62 entries)
Boys
1st - Sebastian LYTTLE
2nd - Harry GEORGE
3rd - Jack DONOVAN
Girls
1st (5th overall) Jessica WATSON
2nd (8th overall) Francesca NEW
3rd (9th overall) Olivia LIGHTBODY
For full results go to www.kbsuk.com/optimist/iocaevents/index.asp?EventID=97