Please select your home edition
Edition
Craftinsure 2021 - LEADERBOARD

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

Related Articles

Battle of the Hikers preview
No trapeze? Get to Rutland this May! The very popular Battle of the Hikers will take place on the 27th and 28th May 2023. 30+ boats are expected. The Graduates were the biggest class last time. Nick Craig sailing his OK was the overall winner. Posted on 18 Mar
K1 Inlands at Datchet Water
The first class open meeting of the 2023 season Competitors made their way to Datchet Water for the first class open meeting of the 2023 season. Simon Hawkes, the current K1 National Champion, started as the firm favourite having recently won a Selden Sailjuice event. Posted on 14 Mar
Hawkes swoops for victory at The Tiger
Eighth event in this season's Seldén SailJuice Winter Series The trapeze boats had their moment to shine, but no one could match the consistent performance of Simon Hawkes's K1 keelboat which dominated the Tiger Trophy to become the latest winner in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series. Posted on 7 Feb
K1 End of Season Trophy at Broxbourne
Final event in this year's busy schedule for the travellers Saturday 29th October 2022 saw the final event in this year's busy schedule for the travellers series. This year's series saw the K1 helms visiting Loch Lomond and Windermere in the north, Royal Torbay and Wimbleball in the south, and venues in between. Posted on 1 Nov 2022
K1 National Championships at Royal Torbay
First ever honorary life membership awarded The K1 National Championships were held over the long weekend of 9th - 11th September 2022 at Royal Torbay Yacht Club. Competitors travelling from all over the country chose to set up their boats on a sun drenched and windy Haldon Pier. Posted on 16 Sep 2022
K1 Southerns at Datchet Water
A light wind and hot weekend for the fleet The K1 Southern Area Championships were held over the weekend of 9th/10th July at Datchet Water Sailing Club. Datchet is a magnificent piece of water, which has the most wonderful views of Windsor Castle. Posted on 12 Jul 2022
K1 Long Distance Race at Tewkesbury
Race to Severn Sailing Club and back with a stop for lunch The K1 Long Distance Race was held at Tewkesbury Cruising & Sailing Club on Friday 3rd June. The Race starts at the club and continues down river for four miles, which includes going under the M5 motorway bridge and finishes at Severn Sailing Club. Posted on 8 Jun 2022
K1 Open at Windermere
Racing from South Windermere Sailing Club's new location The K1 open series moved up to Windermere on Saturday 21st May 2022. South Windermere Sailing Club welcomed 5 visitors to its new base at the YMCA Lakeside, on the West bank of Windermere for the second round of the 2022 K1 open series. Posted on 25 May 2022
The Exmoor Beastie 2022
Held in a light and variable northerly breeze A bright but chilly morning greeted our competitors as they arrived at Wimbleball Sailing Club for the first Beastie since 2020 after the postponement in 2021 because of the Covid pandemic. Posted on 8 Apr 2022
Ovington take on K1 marketing
See the performance single-handed keel dinghy at the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show Ovington Boats are delighted that from the start of the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show at Farnborough they will be internationally marketing the K1 performance single-handed keel dinghy. Posted on 21 Feb 2022