Albacore Inland Championship at Carsington Sailing Club
by Mike Banner 10 Jun 2018 06:32 BST
26-27 May 2018
Judy and Paul Armstrong win their 9th consecutive Albacore Inlands at Carsington © Nick Arran
Judy and Paul Armstrong of Scaling Dam SC continued their stranglehold of the Albacore Inlands winning their ninth consecutive annual event at a warm and windy Carsington Water over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.
Eleven boats competed in the event however only Matt Biggs and Mark Fowler (Blithfield SC) got close to the Armstrongs, even to the point of leading the event after the first day! Three races were sailed on each day with a good force 4-6 breeze allowing or plenty of fast reaches and rock n roll gybes. Matt and Mark won the first and third races with Judy and Paul taking the second. Adam Savage and Andy Moore from Elton SC scored a brace of thirds whilst Mike Banner and Louise Carr (Leigh & Lowton/ Shoreham SC) grabbed the other.
On day two Team Armstrong took off – literally! - as they revelled in the perfect conditions and tighter reaches, scoring three bullets to take the event. There were a few new faces on the podium including Peter Snowdon and Jason Upton from Scaling Dam whilst Adam and Andy managed to dislodge Matt and Mark in race five to claim their best result of the weekend, just before a broken main halyard gave them ta discard.
There were some tired legs but happy smiles at the prize giving with everyone wondering just what they have to do to unseat the Armstrong's from their near-decade on the Albacore Inlands throne!
There are a number of upcoming Albacore events with the main event being the Noble Marine Insurance sponsored Nationals at Royal Torbay Sailing Club at the end of July. Full details on the class website.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 8228 | Judy Armstrong | Paul Armstrong | Scaling Dam | ‑2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2nd | 6922 | Matt Biggs | Mark Fowler | Blithfield | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑4 | 2 | 8 |
| 3rd | 8133 | Adam Savage | Andy Moore | Elton | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | (DNC) | 15 |
| 4th | 8233 | Mike Banner | Louise Carr | Leigh And Lowton | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | ‑7 | 5 | 21 |
| 5th | 7920 | Peter Snowdon | Jason Upton | Scaling Dam Sc | ‑6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
| 6th | 8158 | Matthew Metcalf‑Smith | Chris Armstrong | Carsingtonsc | 5 | ‑8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 25 |
| 7th | 6844 | Tim Coleman | Jo Sankey | Nottingham Sc | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | (DNC) | 31 |
| 8th | 6504 | Stephen Bailey | Ieze Bogdanovica | Nottingham Sc | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | (DNF) | 41 |
| 9th | 7428 | Ben Thomas | Sina Stapelfeldt | South Bank | ‑11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 47 |
| 10th | 6956 | Phil Sheppard | Kirsten Sheppard | Nottingham Sc | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | (DNF) | DNC | 49 |
| 11th | 8230 | Dave Whittle | Emma Meltcalf‑Smith | South Cerney | 8 | 9 | (DNF) | 10 | DNC | DNC | 51 |