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

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.

K1 Inlands at Wimbleball - photo © Tim Moss

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.

(l-r) Ben Hawkes (2nd), Paul Birbeck (1st), John Wayling (3rd) in the K1 Inlands at Wimbleball - photo © David Mather

Overall Results:

• 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