K1 Inland Championship 2022 at Wimbleball Sailing Club sponsored by Exmoor Ales

by Dave Stockton 17 Mar 2022 11:22 GMT 12-13 March 2022

After a late discussion on Wednesday evening, it was decided to go ahead with the K1 Inland National Championship despite the forecast of 50 knots of breeze for the weekend of the 12th & 13th March.

Most of the ten visitors arrived at Wimbleball on the Friday afternoon and were welcomed to the club by some friendly faces who helped with rigging and washing down the boats.

Twenty brave souls lined up for the first start on the Saturday morning and they were rewarded with some excellent sailing on Wimbleball Lake. Two races were possible in a force 5 to 6 before the much stronger breeze came in at two thirty in the afternoon.

The first race was dominated by Wimbleball sailors, with Paul Birbeck showing off some impressive speed to win the race with Ben Hawkes and Angus MacAlistair vying for second and third place with Ben coming out on top in the end. John Wayling from Northampton SC finished fourth.

Race two was more of a battle with lots of place changes near the front. Paul had rounded the first mark in fifth place but managed to come out on top within the last fifty metres. John came a close second followed by Angus in third. After a number of boats were flattened by the gusts before the next start the race officer Dave Stockton decide to abandon the last race of the day.

The fleet were happy to be off the water with white horses covering the lake. Competitors enjoyed a warming soup and tales of the day's racing. After a meal and a social at a local pub competitors aching bodies were glad to head to bed and look forward to the following day.

Sunday racing started in a force 5 however the wind moderated throughout the races much to the delight of the lighter sailors.

In the third race Paul won again with John second and Ben Third. Race four was a different matter with Paul in the pack after the first mark and then having to do a 720. The race was on for the top places with many place changes due to some large wind shifts throughout the race. Ben came out on top followed by Angus and John. The last race of the series was started in much less wind, nevertheless Paul managed to win by an impressive margin. Jeremy Hudson from Frensham pond came in second; Jeremy had not been out of the top five all weekend. Ben secured second place in the championship with a second in this race. Paul Harwood who must be close to 65Kgs finished an impressive fourth in this race.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Sail No	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	Paul Birbeck	84	Wimbleball SC	1	1	1	5	1	4
2nd	Ben Hawkes	92	RAFSA	2	4	3	1	3	9
3rd	John Wayling	123	Northampton SC	4	2	2	3	5	11
4th	Angus MacAlister	118	Wimbleball SC	3	3	6	2	6	14
5th	Jeremy Hudson	120	Frensham Pond SC	5	5	5	4	2	16
6th	Guy Woodhouse	130	Lyme Regis SC	10	6	4	6	8	24
7th	Ian Duke	170	Datchet Water SC	9	8	7	9	7	31
8th	Hilly King	161	Frensham Pond SC	8	7	9	8	DNC	32
9th	Paul Harwood	169	Wimbleball SC	11	9	10	11	4	34
10th	Nick Ryles	98	Wimbleball SC	13	11	8	7	9	35
11th	Tony Paine	112	Wimbleball SC	DNF	14	11	10	10	45
12th	John Clear	142	Wimbleball SC	17	15	13	13	11	52
13th	Mike Green	145	Wimbleball SC	18	DNC	12	12	12	54
14th	Chris Dyer	127	Wimbleball SC	6	10	DNF	DNC	DNC	58
15th	Phil King	148	Nantwich & Borders	14	12	DNC	DNC	DNC	68
16th	Jeff Vander Borght	157		7	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	70
17th	Jason King	74	Datchet Water SC	15	13	DNC	DNC	DNC	70
18th	Geoff King	138	Tewkesbury Cruising & SC	12	DNF	DNC	DNC	DNC	75
19th	Gavin Brake	144	Wimbleball SC	16	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	79
20th	Alf Hawksworth	160	Carsington SC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	84

• 1st 60-64 age group and 5th overall, Jeremy Hudson, Frensham Pond SC
• 1st 65-70 age and 7th overall, Ian Duke, Datchet Water SC
• 1st 70+ age group and 13th overall, Mike Green, Wimbleball SC