Greenwood walks it

The UK Finn Inland Championship was held in light winds at Leigh and Lowton SC

Nineteen Finn sailors from across the UK gathered at Leigh and Lowton SC over the weekend of the 28-29 October to compete for the UK Inland Championship trophy.

Four races were sailed on Saturday despite the breeze rarely getting above eight knots. In race one Simon Percival from Christchurch SC took the gun after resisting considerable pressure from current UK Masters champion John Greenwood from Budworth SC. Adrian Brunton from Hayling Ferry SC slipped into third.

Martin Hughes from Warsash won the second race again from Greenwood. This time John Tremlett from Locks SC took third. Proving his race win was no fluke Hughes also posted a comfortable win in race three. Proving to be the very model of consistency Greenwood recorded yet another second place ahead of Cliff English from South Shields SC. In final race of the day Adrian Brunton sailed an immaculate race to win from the inevitable Greenwood in second and Simon Percival in third.

Despite the fickle breezes and the necessity to set course with short legs but lots of laps, the racing on day one had been extremely tight. When the scores were tallied and the discard applied it was no surprise that John Greenwood topped the results with six points from Martin Hughes and Adrian Brunton both on eight points.

The first race on Sunday was sailed in conditions similar to the previous day but happily a new wind direction allowed the race officer to set a course with longer legs. David Potter from West Kirby SC rounded the windward mark first and went on to build up a significant lead. He maintained his advantage to the end despite having tried to finish a lap early. Greenwood totted up yet another second ahead of Tremlett in third.

In the penultimate race of the championship with the sun now out and the breeze touching ten knots for the first time Greenwood finally managed to secure a race win. After a frantic gybing battle with Tremlett and Percival on the final run David Harcourt from Dalgetty Bay SC snatched second ahead of Tremlett.

By this stage John Greenwood was assured of being crowned champion and attention turned to the battle for the other podium places between Tremlett and Percival. In the final race Tremlett rounded the first mark in the lead ahead of Justin Chisholm and Brunton. These three pulled steadily away from the pack as the race went on. At the finish Tremlett took the gun ahead of Brunton in second and Chisholm in third.

Greenwood’s string of second places and his race win gave him a comfortable overall victory. However Percival’s fifth in the final race meant he was tied on points with Tremlett for second place. Both had the same discard and each had a single race win so the tie was finally decided in favour of Tremlett based on the results of the final race.

In his acceptance speech a delighted John Greenwood on behalf of the competitors thanked the host club and in particular race officer Cathy Partington for running such an excellent championships.

Results:

1-John Greenwood, 11 points
2-John Tremlett, 25 points
3-Simon Percival, 25 points
4-Justin Chisholm, 32 points
5-Adrian Brunton, 33 points