First taste of winter

The 49er and 29er UK Inland National Championships took place in chilly conditions

For many it was the first taste of winter. A gusty lively breeze greeted the 61 29ers and 26 49ers for their annual last season event at Grafham. Saturday proved hard going for some of the competitors while others revelled in the conditions. Sunday was a little more tame allowing the new 29er teams to get to grips with their boats and have some good racing.

Race officers Roger Wilson and Peter Saxton got all seven races on two race tracks in over the weekend which included a late start for the 49ers and a delay for the 29ers on Sunday to allow for the two minutes silence.

In what was the biggest ever inland fleet the 29ers had some fierce competition. In the end it was the current European champions Huw Humphreys and Max Todd who took the event from James Peters and Oliver Spensley-Corfield. First all girl team was Sophie Weglin and Sophie Ainsworth.

The 49er fleet was as competitive as ever with a guest appearance from Paul Brotherton sailing with Mark Asquith. However it was Dave Evans and Rick Peacock with an impressive scoreline and some very impressive sailing that won overall.

Results:

29er

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot
1	Huw Humphreys	Max Todd	3	2	61	2	1	1	1	10
2	James Peters	Oliver Spensley-Corfield	1	8	1	3	2	3	5	15
3	Phil Walker	Matt Gotrel	2	10	2	1	12	4	2	21
4	Matt Hollis	Nick Hollis	5	3	5	6	3	16	12	34
5	Henry Maxfield	Dicken Maclean	23	1	15	5	19	2	6	48
6	James Hopson	Sam Coombs	7	5	4	10	18	7	16	49

49er

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot
1	David Evans	Rick Peacock	2	4	1	1	1	4	1	10
2	Paul Brotherton	Mark Asquith	4	2	2	2	4	1	8	15
3	Ian Martin	Ben McGrane	3	1	4	3	26	9	2	22
4	John Pink	Harvey Hillary	5	6	3	6	2	2	10	24
5	Roger Gilbert	Oliver Vidal	6	7	6	4	3	8	7	33
6	Richard Bone	Chris Rodway	1	5	14	5	6	11	6	34