Fireball Inland Championship 2025 at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club

by Dave Hall 18 Jun 16:23 BST

After a lively Nationals at Looe the fleet were looking to enjoy some freshwater sailing on some flatter water. The forecast was for a moderate breeze on Saturday with and increasing wind on Sunday. It was good to see a variety of mixed teams getting in the mix and definitely making it hard for the usual suspects.

Saturday proved challenging for the Race team with rain showers and storms over the hills changing the direction and strength of the wind. After a delay, three races out of the planned four were sailed in some varying conditions. Not only did the fleet have to contend with the wind but the warm spring had created a number of large weed areas making parts of the lake unusable.

The race team did an excellent job of keeping the race track away from most of the weed, but these areas were best avoided both during and after the racing! Those with fixed rudders had some interesting tasks!

Paul Cullen & Simon Forbes put down an early marker by winning the first race of the day having taken an early lead only to lose it and get it back again. It was snakes and ladders for the next two races with the usual suspects of Tom Gillard & Andy Thompson, Dave Hall & Paul Constable and DJ Edwards & Vyv Townend all having a go with the lead only to find Tom and Andy getting it right at the end of each race to pull off two wins.

Sunday brought a clear sky and from the shore what looked like a perfect sailing day. The breeze was up - and occasionally very up with some sharp aggressive shifts. Most of the fleet at some point in the day either had a windward dump or even an involuntary tack/capsize.

The Race team planned to get an extra race in after losing one on Saturday. Paul & Simon once again started the day with a win, but it was Tom and Andy who won the next two meaning they had won with a race to spare. The last race of the day showed who could deal with the somewhat random conditions, after a number of teams were caught on the black flag Simon Lomas-Clarke & Rob Daniels got the race win making their weekend.

A big thanks go to the members of the club who put on a great weekend and some good food after sailing.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1st	15122	Thomas Gillard	Andy Thompson	SVSC / EABC /SHSC	3	1	1	2	1	1	(DNC)	9
2nd	15144	DJ Edwards	Vyv Townend	Bough Beech SC	‑7	3	2	3	3	2	3	16
3rd	15147	Paul Cullen	Simon Forbes	BBSC/SHSC	1	6	5	1	2	3	(DNF)	18
4th	15172	David Hall	Paul Constable	Blackwater SC	2	4	3	4	5	4	(BFD)	22
5th	15133	Kevin Hope	Richard Bailey	Notts county Draycote water	4	2	7	‑10	9	5	4	31
6th	14928	Anthony Willcocks	James Willcocks	PYSC	10	5	6	5	4	(OCS)	5	35
7th	14941	Derian Scott	Andy Scott	CVLSC	9	7	4	7	‑13	6	6	39
8th	14785	Simon Lomas‑Clarke	Rob Daniels	Norfolk Punt Club	11	15	9	(DNF)	8	7	1	51
9th	15091	Graham Cook	William Cook	Lyme Regis SC	5	13	(DNF)	8	7	DNF	2	51
10th	15145	Steve Goacher	Tom Goacher	RYA	‑13	9	10	6	6	10	BFD	54
11th	15087	Dave Poore	Dave Orrell	Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club	6	10	13	9	16	9	(DNC)	63
12th	15045	Christine Willcocks	Graham Slater	PYSC / PSC	15	16	8	(DNF)	10	8	8	65
13th	14883	Bill Chard	Josh Preater	CVLSC	12	12	11	12	12	(DNF)	BFD	72
14th	15173	Dave Wade	Iain Blake	Draycote SC	8	8	12	11	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	75
15th	14889	Barry Smith	TBC	Thornbury Sailing Club	14	‑17	15	15	14	11	7	76
16th	14556	Sam Waller	Harry Stainforth	Beaver SC	17	11	14	14	11	(DNC)	DNC	85
17th	14391	Jemima Line	Jo Line	Thornbury SC	16	14	16	13	15	12	(DNC)	86