Mirror Inland Championship at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club

by Paul Nichols 31 Oct 2023 17:46 GMT 21-22 October 2023

Chew Valley saw the famous red sails return to the lake hosting a two-day Mirror Inlands championship. An entry of 21 boats competed with competitors travelling from 8 different clubs across England & Wales.

As Storm Babet battered the North of England, Chew remained relatively peaceful as the high calibre field, a wash with elite sailors produced close and enjoyable sailing over the two days.

A mid-day start on Saturday saw a mild Northerly going West challenge the race committee to get the fleet away eventually under a U flag to see Ben & Kiara McGrane take honours in the first two races after competitive sailing throughout the fleet. Will & Isabelle Crocker grabbed a 2nd place in race 1, and Toby & Molly Wincer took 2nd in Race 2. Chris & Edward Grube remained consistent picking up two 3rds. The final race of the day saw Toby get away on the beat to lead from the front with Geoff & Zac Carveth picking up 2nd from Ben & Kiara in 3rd as the temperature dropped and winds eased.

Sunday saw a change in the weather as the Sun graced the lake. Ben and Kiara got into their stride winning the first race with Geoff & Zac bagging another 2nd place with Ian & Ted Dobson in their wooden boat taking 3rd. The swirling conditions pushed the fleet in the second race as Chris & Edward battled with Rachel Grayson and Harry Smalley at the front, Chris taking the honours from Rachel with Geoff & Zac finishing 3rd.

The final race of the day Saw Ben & Kiara back to the front with Adam & Arabella Broughton pushing through to take 2nd with Toby & Molly bagging 3rd spot.

Ben & Kiara extended their honours to include the Inlands championship with Chris & Edward Grube runners up and Toby & Molly in third. Top Chew boat and Lady helm went to Rachel Grayson with Harry Smalley in 4th and Geoff Carveth picked up the Over 50 helm trophy finishing 5th with son Zac. Top wooden Boat fell to Ian & Ted in 7th. Lucy & Rosy Searle landed the Race Committee's Anchor trophy for the happiest boat completing all races with the best smiles and Traveller awards were also made to Tim & Molly Hall from Port Dinorwic and Justin & Felix Denny from Arnside.

Chew Commodore Andy Jones presented the silverware to the fleet with trophies also awarded for the Race winners of R1, R4 & R6. Ben paid tribute to Chew for hosting the event and look forward to a regular notch in the Mirror Calendar going forward.

Strength to Strength

With the relentless support of Martin Egan & Chris Balding and the inputs from Ben McGrane amongst others, the class continues to grow and grow. And with regular events now appearing in many clubs calendars the Mirror remains one of the true gateways for many into such a great sport.

With over 71,000 boats since the first wooden kits were built in the early 60's for £64. Now we see many acclaimed sailors using this friendly boat to bring their children and grandchildren into sailing and Racing. Whilst the Mirror Dinghy has changed over the years - it is still competitive throughout - Wooden, and Gaff Rig Vs the GRP Bermudan Rig now flaunted by the stylish GRP version.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1st	70987 ‑ Elsa	Ben McGrane	Keira McGrane	Netley	1	1	3	1	‑5	1	7
2nd	71039 ‑ The Black Pearl	Chris Grube	Edward Thompson Grube	Netley	3	3	4	‑6	1	5	16
3rd	70922 ‑ Wave Catcher Too	Toby Wincer	Molly Wincer	HISC & Netley	‑8	2	1	4	8	3	18
4th	70964 ‑ Primary Cru	Rachel Grayson	Harry Smalley	Chew Valley Lake	6	5	‑13	5	2	4	22
5th	70556 ‑ Stroma II	Geoff Carveth	Zac Carveth	Hayling island	10	‑13	2	2	3	6	23
6th	71042(?) sailing as 70713 (white hull)	Matthew McGovern	Lewis McGovern	SSSC	4	4	‑12	7	6	7	28
7th	54453 ‑ dontlego	Ian Dobson	Ted Dobson	Hayling island	9	6	9	3	4	‑10	31
8th	71014 ‑ Bamm‑Bamm	Adam Broughton	Arabella Broughton	Chew Valley Lake	7	9	10	8	(OCS)	2	36
9th	70832 ‑ Revenge of the Smurfs	Heather Ross	Henry Ross	Netley	5	‑14	7	10	7	11	40
10th	70916 ‑ MoreJosh	Richard Searle	Rupert Searle	Itchenor	‑16	8	8	12	13	9	50
11th	70852 ‑ Blue	John Smalley	Peter Smalley	Chew Valley Lake	13	7	(DNF)	9	10	12	51
12th	70587 ‑ Hummingbird	Leighton King	Penny King	Netley	12	15	6	11	9	(DNC)	53
13th	70573 ‑ Little Miss Chatterbox	Will Crocker	Isabelle Crocker	Welton	2	10	5	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	61
14th	70324 ‑ Starlord	Justin Denny	Felix Denny	Arnside	14	‑16	11	16	15	14	70
15th	70713 ‑ Peanut (grey hull)	Lucy Searle	Rosy Searle	Itchenor	15	‑19	16	17	14	13	75
16th	69971 ‑ Who's Blue	Tim Houghton	Andy Gribble	Chew Valley Lake	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	14	11	8	77
17th	71007 ‑ Dipperforce	Paul Nichols	Gabe Nichols	Chew Valley Lake	17	17	15	15	16	(DNC)	80
18th	70570	Tim Hall	Molly Hall	Port Dinorwic	18	18	(DNF)	13	12	DNC	83
19th	70989 ‑ Fred The Red	Terry Hunt	Charlie Hunt	Netley	11	12	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	DNC	89
20th	71011 ‑ Bede3	Jarrod Simpson	Finn Simpson	Hayling island	(OCS)	11	14	DNC	DNC	DNC	91
21st	70905 ‑ Big Dippers	Alice Semenenko	Ruth Kenyon	Chew Valley Lake	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	110