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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
K1 Inlands at Wimbleball © Tim Moss

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:

PosHelmSail NoClubR1R2R3R4R5Pts
1stPaul Birbeck84Wimbleball SC111514
2ndBen Hawkes92RAFSA243139
3rdJohn Wayling123Northampton SC4223511
4thAngus MacAlister118Wimbleball SC3362614
5thJeremy Hudson120Frensham Pond SC5554216
6thGuy Woodhouse130Lyme Regis SC10646824
7thIan Duke170Datchet Water SC9879731
8thHilly King161Frensham Pond SC8798DNC32
9thPaul Harwood169Wimbleball SC1191011434
10thNick Ryles98Wimbleball SC131187935
11thTony Paine112Wimbleball SCDNF1411101045
12thJohn Clear142Wimbleball SC171513131152
13thMike Green145Wimbleball SC18DNC12121254
14thChris Dyer127Wimbleball SC610DNFDNCDNC58
15thPhil King148Nantwich & Borders1412DNCDNCDNC68
16thJeff Vander Borght157 7DNCDNCDNCDNC70
17thJason King74Datchet Water SC1513DNCDNCDNC70
18thGeoff King138Tewkesbury Cruising & SC12DNFDNCDNCDNC75
19thGavin Brake144Wimbleball SC16DNCDNCDNCDNC79
20thAlf Hawksworth160Carsington SCDNCDNCDNCDNCDNC84
  • 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

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