No wind or water

The 49er and 29er fleet gather at Datchet SC for their Inland Championship

The 29er and 49er inland championships were held at Datchet sailing club over the weekend of the 17 to 18 September. With not a lot of wind forecast and a half empty reservoir, a tricky weekend’s sailing was on the menu (not to mention launching.) This proved to be the case with the best of the racing on Saturday where the PRO took advantage of what little wind there was to get four races completed.

49er

In the 49er class race one saw the battle between Roger Gilbet fresh back from the Worlds and Richard Bone sporting his new sponsorship graphics AllGoodFun.Com fighting it out in the variable winds. In the end it was Bone who took line honours closely followed by Gilbert.

Race two started off very much the same conditions of a light force one with a little bit more at times, with Gilbert setting the standards high by taking a strong lead from which he was never to be challenged. In second place was Josh Wilce who played the shifts well to hold off Bone who was snapping at his heals to finish in that order.
Race three saw a big wind shift with 30 seconds to go with most of the fleet caught out at the pin end Gilbert and Bone both started on Port at the starboard end to take a comfortable lead on the rest of the fleet. The race saw Bone leading at the windward mark which he held right up until the last downwind leg to the finish, to allow Gilbert take the lead to the finish.

Race four saw Bone at the front again this time followed by Jon Emmett. The race saw lots of changes with places being taken and then lost with the wind shifting all over the place. In the end it was Bone who took the race followed by Emmett and the ever consistent Gilbert in third never far behind.

Sunday dawned very bleak and with a forecast not promising much wind the fleet were not too keen to hit the water. However the wind did establish and a course was set. With the course now changed to put the 49ers on the outer loop the short reach soon turned into a beat, with big holes everywhere. At the top mark it was Wilce followed by Emmett, Bone and Gilbert, with a bit of luck and the top three were able to lay the reach to take a healthy lead on the rest of the fleet.

The race saw lots of challenges for the lead with each of the top three seeing the front at some point, but with some consistent sailing Bone reached the front with two laps to go and took the lead to the finish. Followed by an ever closing Wilce, who found a patch of breeze to keep the challenge going right to the line. Gilbert managed to also find a bit of pressure to take the third to push Emmett in to forth and see their third place overall dashed by one point.

29er

On the 29er course the four races on Saturday ended up with a different winner in each one. With the wind in one race turning the beat into a fetch and the run into a beat consistency was going to be required to win the event.

At the end of Saturday after nearly five hours on the water, Dylan Fletcher with his new crew Rob Partridge had a slim one point lead from Sarah Martin and Nicola Groves and Huw Humphries and Max Todd. Only one race was completed on the Sunday as the wind shifted around and then proceeded to die away completely. It was won by new pairing Sophie White and Catherine Alton, with Dylan and Rob second and Phil Walker and Matt Gotrel in third.

With a single discard available, Dylan and Rob are the new inland champions beating Sarah and Nicola by two points who held the same advantage over Sophie and Catherine in third.

29er Results:

1-Dylan Fletcher and Rob Partridge
2-Sarah Martin and Nicola Groves
3-Sophie White and Catherine Alton
4-Phil Walker and Matt Gotrel
5-Paul Turnill and Preston Taylor

49er Results:

1-Bone and Rodway
2-Gilbert and Stewart
3-Wilce and Wilce
4-Emmett and Murray
5-Gill and Gill
6-Morris and Filmore