Congratulations to Luke Patience and Mary Henderson!

Wonderful photos thanks to Tim Olin

Report to follow soon

RS Inlands 2019

Grafham Water Sailing Club

Results are provisional as of 13:09 on October 6, 2019

RS200 Class

It was a weekend of chalk and cheese, two days in which the conditions exceeded those of the forecast, albeit in opposite directions. 

On Saturday the weather underplayed its hand as the predicted breeze of 8-10 knots didn’t really hit the mark, at least not the 10 knot part. Instead, the three back to back races were run in 6-8 knots from the SE. Conditions were shifty throughout the afternoon where the only certainty seemed to be that the middle of the course wasn’t the place to be.

For a while there were some big names buried in the 33 boat fleet, yet many of them managed to fight their way to the front of the pack by the finish. 

In the first race, Hamish Gledhill and Simon Dowse (1407) took the win, while in the second Sean Cleary and Annalise Nixon (1377) demonstrated once again that their path to the top of the 400 fleet has been no accident. In the third race of the day it was Mike Simms and Jack Holden (1488) that took the bullet. They too have had their fair share of victories in the fleet this season and along with Steve and Sarah Cockerill (1489) were among the favourites to take the inland championships. Indeed, if the Cockerills had not been UFD in race two the evidence of two second places on the opening day would suggest that they could have been the hot favourites.

Sunday was drama filled. A punchy forecast of breeze in the high teens with gusts into the mid twenties had been doing the rounds for days and had cleared rattled some in the fleet. But when it came to the morning rig, the breeze was only in the low teens. Only the rain made it feel worse. Many who had decided to bend on their older sails were now wondering about the wisdom of such a call.

Even once out on the water and during the first beat the breeze was just 12-18knots and showed little sign of pumping into the mid twenties. But for Sims and Holden a full scale drama had already started.

Having rounded the windward mark in the lead they hoisted their kite on the tight reach across to the outer loop just as a gust came through. For reasons that are yet to be understood, their carbon bowsprit snapped. 

Disappointed, yet undeterred, they retired and headed for the shore where they ‘found’ a replacement alloy bowsprit and fitted it in time to get back out for the next start. This in itself was impressive.

But shortly before the start they realised that they had forgotten to rig the wing/wang lines so, having handed the helm to his crew, Simms led from the front and slid out on the foredeck to fix the problem.

“It was pretty tricky,” he said. “Having untied the lines in the cockpit I  had to get my hands down into the chute to try and re-thread them around the pole. I had my head over the side of the bow and kept getting submerged in the process. It was pretty stressful.”

Surely the understatement of the day given that the breeze had now hit a steady 20 knots with guts into 25 according to the club anemometer. 

Even more impressive was that he fixed the pole and then went on to win the second race. 

By now conditions were full survival for many as the wind was a solid 25knots with gusts hitting 34knots. With every gybe the fleet was thinning out rapidly. Yet for those that stayed upright the downhill sleigh rides were epic.

Consistency remained for the Cockerills throughout the lively conditions with a third and a second. But with the weather now having taken a serious toll on the fleet and the wind speed continuing to climb, the race officer binned the last race.

This left the Cockerills and Simms/Holden on equal points. But with Simms and Holden’s staggering first place comeback they won the event on a tie break. Meanwhile, Russ and Penny Clark (1309) took third overall.

The Inland Championships are well known as being a very social affair and this year’s was no different. But a special mention must be made of a Duckhams’ award on a level we haven’t had for some time in the class. Indeed, so good was the accidental foul-up by someone who has done a great deal for the class recently that it’s recipient Andy Powell should remain anonymous. 

Keen to ensure that a group in the class had a good night out at the Wheatsheaf pub, a large table for 20 or so was booked. But when we all turned up our host was told no such table had been booked and the pub was full. A period of embarrassment on both sides ensued as the pub’s helpful staff tried to find a way of accommodating us, which they did.

As this was going on, a call came through on our host’s mobile from the Wheatsheaf in Rutland asking him where his party of 20 were.

Matthew Sheahan (1435)

Wonderful photos thanks to Tim Olin - link to gallery to follow soon

RS400 Class

A record number of 22 RS800s arrived at Grafham on Saturday for the 2019 Harken RS800 Inland Championships. A light and mild south easterly seemed the order of the day.

Race one saw Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore and Luke and Emma McEwen take the leading two places right to the finish, leaving the rest to do battle with each other (and the shifts) with Ben Palmer and Amy Seabright taking third. 

For the second race the wind built slightly allowing twin trapezing throughout. Once again Tom and Guy followed by Luke and Emma took positions one and two respectively with Robert Gullan and Mari Shepherd sailing home in third.

Race 3 eventually started after the RS400s got away cleanly. Daniel Goodman and Debbie Clark went hard left up the first beat which put them miles in front around the windward mark, a position they kept all race. Leaving second place wide open, the breeze was patchy making the down wind calls difficult. James Penty and Eddie Grayson had a good battle with Chris Catt and Chris Martin all the way to the finish coming second and third respectively.

Sunday morning was wet but we all launched, looking forward to a great north westerly.

Race 4 saw the fleet spilt up the first beat and as the windward mark approached Tom and Guy were first to round it followed by the McEwen’s. Simon Horsefield and Amy Hulley unfortunately lost their mast on the first lap. During the closing stages of the race the wind changed up a gear or two and Tom and Guy dropped the kite going into to the finishing leg, Luke and Emma gave it everything and carried the kite to the finish, passing Tom and Guy just before the line.

While waiting for race 5 the wind continued to build. Even moving the jib track pin out a hole became tricky in the increasing wind. Race 5 got under way in survival conditions, Tom and Guy showing off their skills and Cameron and Darrol Moss launched in the big breeze followed by Ralph and Sophie in hot pursuit. As the race played out it was just a case of trying to keep the mast pointing upwards and trying to survive to cross the line.

After only seven 800s finished race 5 the race officer decided to bin race 6 much to the relief of the fleet.

Congratulations to our Harken Inland Champions Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore!

A fantastic weekend’s sailing, thanks go to our sponsors Harken and Rooster and to the fantastic team at Grafham Water Sailing Club.

James Penty

Wonderful photos thanks to Tim Olin - full gallery and day 2 to follow soon

RS800 Class

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