Harken RS200 Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club

Harken RS200, RS400 and RS800 Inlands at Grafham Water © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Olympic Silver Medallist Luke Patience and Mary Henderson take a well-deserved win, but they didn't have it all their own way during a closely contested 2 days of racing at Grafham Water.

It was a remarkable fleet of 53 RS200s that gathered at Grafham, with a much-touted lineup including several team GBR sailors, a trio of former RS200 National Champions and the current title holder. The fleet also included visiting national champions from other dinghy classes, keen to get in some practise ahead of next weekend's Endeavour Trophy. As a testament to the broad appeal of the RS200, the lineup featured sailors as young as 12, with one young pairing competing at their first RS200 event; they picked the right weekend, as this was a Championships that delivered on every level.

Harken RS200, RS400 and RS800 Inlands at Grafham water - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

The weekend started off on a high with Grafham showing the rugby for all those England fans. Shortly after we had our briefing from PRO Peter Saxton, who explained we would be on U flag from the outset and to look out for the shortened course flag (beautifully modelled by fleet model Oliver Turner). However neither of these had much of an effect on the racing with only 4 boats being UFD over the weekend!

Day 1 saw winds of 7-12 knots, and with the majority of the fleet fully powered at points, hard hiking equated to high boatspeed. Race 1 saw a heavily port biased line with two boats caught over, one of those being class stalwart Edd Whitehead sailing with Toby Lewis trying to pull off a port end flyer! The gusts and shifts were apparent from the first beat where falling into holes would be costly with many boats overtaking. The race was won by Luke Patience crewed by Mary Henderson, second was Will and Matt Taylor and third Christian Birrell and Katie Burridge.

Harken RS200, RS400 and RS800 Inlands at Grafham water - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Race 2 proved costly for the early leaders, with Luke Patience picking up a 20th to take into day 2. Edd and Toby made instant amends for their race 1 UFD by taking the bullet, second was Murray Hampshire and Jess Hammett and third was Arron Holman and Will Ward.

The final race of the day saw the leading four boats break away from the pack with tight racing right up until the final run. The gun went to Luke and Mary with James Peters and Charlie Darling in second and Will and Matt in third.

Harken RS200, RS400 and RS800 Inlands at Grafham water - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Once ashore everyone was very interested to see results as no one had been able to achieve three top tens. The best example of this was Tom Hewitson who after a 6,6,12 thought he would be in the teens was shocked when he realised he was 3rd! Top of the pile were David Jessop and Sophie Mear, rewarded for their 4,4,4, consistency with the overnight lead. Luke and Mary were in second and third; Tom Hewitson, sailing with Lucy Preston.

After a wonderful evening meal from Grafham we had our Annual Awards that were worth mentioning these included Best Male Solo Artist to Most Inventive Accommodation, we hope to see more people attend next year and maybe the 400's and 800's will have awards of their own. We managed to drink the bar dry of beer and generally a very chilled evening catching up with friends.

Harken RS200, RS400 and RS800 Inlands at Grafham water - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Day 2 dawned with a bit of rain and more wind than the first day but less than forecast so everyone was questioning whether to drop shrouds or not. As it turned out, dropping the pins was a good move with the breeze picking up through the day from 15 knots to 23 knots. The first race was won by Nick Craig and Emma Clark showing blistering speed in the breeze (ones to watch out for next weekend if the breeze is up), second was Ian Martin and Chloe George who flew down the final run and third Luke and Mary.

The second race was completed in exactly the same conditions with everyone settling into the breezier weather. This race was won by Christian and Katie with James and Charlie in second, followed by Alan Roberts and Arthur Henderson who managed to capsize in the race and still finish in the top 3. Unfortunately after the top 10 had finished PRO Peter Saxton signalled that the final race was abandoned and for the fleet to head back in. Not everyone was happy with this but on the sail in the breeze picked with gusts edging towards and over 30 knots.

Harken RS200, RS400 and RS800 Inlands at Grafham water - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

The overall results came out with the top 7 boats within 9 points of each other! With the differing conditions this is a testament to the fleet and you had to be able to perform in both strong and light winds. The winner of the Inlands was Luke Patience and Mary Henderson, second was James Peters and Charlie Darling with Will and Matt Taylor completing the podium.

It was great to welcome all the new faces in the fleet and hope we see them again soon, especially those competing at the Endeavour.

Overall Results: