Supernova Inland Championship at Northampton Sailing Club

Supernova Inlands at Northampton © Chris Hawley

The 2019 Supernova Inland Championship made a welcome return to Northampton Sailing Club over the weekend of 7th and 8th September.

A slightly reduced turnout of 46 boats entered the six race championship in what proved to be a shifty event during in which there were huge gains or losses to be made dependant on where you were when the wind changed. This meant there was close racing throughout the entire fleet.

Race 1

The race officer set his traditional trapezoid course with his legendary port biased start line and the fleet got away cleanly in the near perfect 8 to 12 mph northerly breeze. The front runners were Matt Biggs, Cliff Milliner, Mike Gibson and Tony Critchley. Biggs soon found his way to the front and was never challenged. The following places changed a few times as the sometimes 35 degree shifts played their part and the final result settled as Biggs, Critchley, Milliner, Gibson, Steve Hawley and Colin Anderson. Bronze fleet sailor, Mark Meadows had a great start to the championships with a creditable 11th.

Race 2

Race 2 followed back to back and got under way with Gavin Young leading the way closely followed by his Cotswold clubmate Milliner and the rest of the chasing pack, Biggs, Gibson, S. Hawley and Critchley. On the 3rd lap Biggs stayed out to the right on the beat and picked up a handy shift right to the windward mark and took the lead. Biggs stayed in front to claim his 2nd bullet of the day followed by Young and Milliner. The chasing trio of Gibson, S.Hawley and Critchley crossed the line virtually together and finished in that order. Silver fleet sailor Steve Johnson had one of his best championship races to finish an excellent 7th and Ellen Clancy sailed a great race to finish 14th. The other 4 ladies, Alison Lynnal, Amie KIng, Rachel Vaughn-Johns and Serena Stewardson had a close race to finish 32nd, 33rd, 36th and 40th respectively.

Race 3

After a short break ashore for a hearty lunch the fleet were eager to start again, a little too eager as the port bias had shifted making it difficult to cross on starboard with the inevitable mass trespass onto the course side causing the first general recall. An adjustment was made before the restart and the fleet got away cleanly. Current Inland and National champ Milliner needed to put in a top performance if he was to hold on to his title and he did just that to take his first win of the day. The wind started to play tricks with big shifts and lulls in strength and after many place changes in the chasing pack Gibson was 2nd, Critchley 3rd followed by Andy Flicroft, who hadfound his mojo, in 4th, Biggs 5th and Young 6th. Silver fleet sailor Mike Adams scored his best result of the competition with a great 7th place (in a Mark 1) and Frank McMullen also put in a best race result of 16th.

Race 4

The final race of the day got away cleanly in what was for a time the strongest breeze testing the strength and stamina of the fleet. The usual suspects lead from the line and with Milliner, again on form, taking the lead followed by Young and Critchley these 3 broke away from the pack. Some close racing between Young and Critchley allowed Milliner to pull out an unassailable lead and he took his 2nd race win with ease followed by Young then Critchley. Biggs was 4th followed by Paul Undrell in 5th who had been improving race by race and Flitcroft 6th. Ian Moodie put a decent race together with a 15th and likewise Nick Whiles with an 18th.

The championship was wide open with 2 races to follow the day after. Would we have the first new name on the trophy since 2007? Since then it's been shared between Milliner and Gibson, however the forecast was for very light winds and with an association championship rule of a 5 knot minimum wind strength, all the bar talk was centered around various apps on smartphones looking for the best forecast hoping that there would be enough to race.

The evening saw the customary class AGM which sailed through without any contentious items. We had a great meal in the clubhouse and there was plenty of bar banter in this all inclusive class.

Race 5

The first race was scheduled for 10am and at 9am it wasn't looking good but the wind filled in by 9.30 and the fleet launched. The wind was light and fickle with obvious holes appearing on the course and again the port bias line coupled with a light and shifty wind cause the second general recall of the event. The restart got the fleet away and a huge shift just after the start favoured the committee boat end and S. Hawley took full advantage and shot into the lead. Flitcroft and Milliner had got a clean pin end start and sailed out left to pick up a shift and joined the front runners. The wind shifts and differences in strength played havoc with the rest of the fleet and no one felt safe in any position with major wind shifts changing the fortunes and also frustrating the sailors. Milliner again sailed a steady race to take his 3rd bullet on the run followed by Gibson in 2nd who with one lap to go was down in the teens. Flitcroft continued his form to finish 3rd. Brian Smith, to his great delight, found himself finishing 4th with Biggs 5th and club treasurer Ian Casewell also equally delighted with 6th. Bronze fleet sailor Nigel Davies also did well in the conditions. He finished 18th improving his previous best result by 22 places.

The wind finally gave out and was moving 180 degrees at a time so Race 6 was cancelled and the event was concluded with 5 sailed and 4 to count.

Overall Results:

Other category winners:

Master Matt Biggs (Blithfield)
Veteran Tony Critchley (Bolton)
Ladies Ellen Clancy (Cotswold)
Silver Dana Church (Notts)
Bronze Rachel Vaughan-Jones (Bowmoor)
Mark 1 Mike Adams (Bexhill)