Dogs off chains

With no wind the first time round the RS300 fleet saw big breeze for their re-sheduled Inland Championships

You know it’s going to be windy when you have to dodge fallen trees on the way to the event, so it was for the Gul-sponsored RS300 Inland Championship at Northampton SC on 1-2 December.

Fastest out of the traps in race one was Steve Bolland from Bristol Corinthian with Matt Sargent (Royal Artillery) initially snapping at his heels before a capsize put him off his stride. Bolland, too, dumped it in towards the end of the first lap in a real race of attrition. The main beneficiaries of all this were Will Crocker (Emberton Park) and Nick Bolland (Draycote Water) who finished first andsecond with Steve Bolland recovering third place just before the finish from Phil Underwood (Cotswold).

Showing he’s nobody’s poodle and establishing an early lead in race two was once again Steve Bolland. Again he did his best to throw it all away with at least one capsize along with the bulk of the fleet. Brother, Nick, established a sizeable lead and looked good for a top spot finish until he too inspected the centreboard on the last reach. This allowed Steve Bolland the retrieve the lead, finishing ahead of Sargent and Crocker.

Race three was run in slightly less boisterous conditions and the fleet was positively straining at the leash to get going. Steve Bolland again led at the top mark and managed to stay upright for a whole race to score his second race win. He was hounded all the way, however, by Sargent and Richard Le Mare from Draycote.

Sunday was at least as windy as day one with the added bonus of grey overcast conditions, lovely. Race four was nothing if not lively with capsizes right through the fleet but showing true bulldog spirit, Crocker won from Nick Bolland and Steve Bolland.

Going into the final heat the race was between Crocker and Steve Bolland to see who would be top dog with both counting two wins and two third places. It was nip and tuck all the way up the first beat until Bolland managed to tip it in tacking for the mark. This allowed Crocker some breathing space which he used to excellent effect, overhauling early leader Sam Sutton and winning an extremely windy race from Sargent, Nick Bolland and Le Mare.

So at the end it was Crocker, a newcomer to the class, earning a well deserved win in punishing conditions. The brothers Bolland were left chasing their tails while the rest of the fleet were left to sit down and lick their wounds.

The next event is the 2008 Winter Championships at Grafham on 16-17 February.

Results:

1-William Crocker, 6pts
2-Steve Bolland, 8pts
3-Nick Bolland, 11pts
4-Matt Sargent, 13pts
5-Richard Le Mare, 17pts
6-Phil Underwood, 19pts
7-Sam Sutton, 24pts
8-Jeff Marksz, 28pts
9-Dave Redpath, 43pts
10-Mark Newton, 49pts