Stenhouse once again

The Musto Skiff Inland Championships have come to a close at Grafham Water SC

Despite a nasty forecast, 29 Musto Skiffs arrived Saturday morning to compete in the Ovington Inland Championships at Grafham Water Sailing Club. The sailors arrived to a brisk, bitter breeze, blowing down the lake. With the early start and the Musto’s being first to be released off the startline many sailors where dashing around to launch for the first race of the championships.

Bang on time, the Mustos were on the rampage as the competitive beat up towards the first mark. With a steady breeze strength it was vital to be on the correct shift up towards the windward mark. The boats soon emerged together towards the top mark, across and round the spreader mark and out pops the kites one after another. The boats separated and positioning didn’t change, so Richard Stenhouse finished first, Dan Vincent second and Tom Wright third. With the early timing many sailors where late getting to the first start.

As the day went on the wind gradually grew stronger and stronger, it started to become a challenge to complete the course upright. Strong boat handling skills were the main advantage with boats capsizing left right and centre on the gybes. The fourth race brought top class sailing in high winds with only 13 sailors managing to finish the race.

Sunday brought a light shifty wind. With three races scheduled the first was soon in full swing. With high concentration and high-quality tactics the three youths, Tom Wright, Nick Hollis and Dan Henderson led the way around the course and through the finish. The wind increased for the sixth race of the championships, bringing with it a mixture of results.

The pressure was on in the final race, as points for the top five boats were extremely close. The last race brought interesting sailing; Stenhouse was having a battle as Henderson was trying to defend his first position on the course. Some sailors were risking their position by heading out towards the breeze on a header as others where defending and sailing in safe mode.

The Championship brought a mixture of races from a tricky light breeze to high performance heavy wind sailing testing tactics and boat handling. Very competitive sailing took place.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot	Net
1st	Richard Stenhouse	Rutland SC	1	1	1	1	-5	5	2	16	11
2nd	Dan Vincent	RNSA/Stokes Bay	2	4	2	(30.0 DNC)	6	1	3	48	18
3rd	Tom Wright	Rutland SC	3	-9	6	5	1	4	8	36	27
4th	Mike Palfreman	Stokes Bay	6	3	5	(30.0 DNC)	4	3	9	60	30
5th	Leigh Albrecht	QMSC	5	2	3	2	10	-19	11	52	33
6th	Bruce Keen	Stokes Bay SC	(30.0 DNC)	8	7	7	7	6	7	72	42
7th	Nick Hollis	Rutland SC	10	12	-14	11	2	7	5	61	47
8th	Paddy Gamble	HISC	8	7	9	6	9	9	-12	60	48
9th	Dan Henderson	Thorpe Bay YC	19	(30.0 DNC)	10	30.0 DNC	3	2	1	95	65
10th	Nick Keates	King George SC	-16	13	8	4	15	10	16	82	66
11th	David Poston	QMSC	9	10	4	3	21	20	-22	89	67
12th	Alastair Conn	Derwent Reservoir	4	5	(30.0 DNC)	30.0 DNC	14	16	6	105	75
13th	Matt Hollis	Rutland SC	15	11	15	(30.0 DNC)	11	11	13	106	76
14th	Chris Wright	Carsington Sailing Club	12	6	13	(30.0 DNC)	8	12	30.0 DNC	111	81
15th	Kit Stenhouse	Rutland SC	7	(30.0 DNC)	30.0 DNC	10	30.0 DSQ	8	4	119	89
16th	Alex Cooper	Stokes Bay	-20	20	18	12	13	17	14	114	94
17th	Ian Marshall	Oxford SC	-23	21	17	9	16	23	21	130	107
18th	Grahame Smith	Wilsonian SC	14	16	16	13	24	-25	24	132	107
19th	Jon Simpson	Blackwater	21	14	12	(30.0 DNC)	22	22	23	144	114
20th	Robert Trotter	Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club	17	17	11	(30.0 DNC)	23	24	25	147	117
21st	Tim Chapman	Rutland SC	22	15	(30.0 DNC)	30.0 DNC	20	13	18	148	118
22nd	Iver Ahlmann	Queen Mary Resevoir SC	18	(30.0 DNC)	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	12	14	15	149	119
23rd	Mark Goalen	Queen Mary Resevoir SC	13	(30.0 DNC)	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	19	18	10	150	120
24th	Richard Pelley	Stokes Bay Sailing Club	(30.0 DNC)	18	19	30.0 DNC	18	21	17	153	123
25th	Sergei Samus	Whitstable	11	(30.0 DNC)	30.0 DNC	8	30.0 DNC	26	20	155	125
26th	P Molesworth	QMSC	(30.0 DNC)	19	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	17	15	19	160	130
27th	Tom Conway	Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club	(30.0 DNC)	22	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	27	26	195	165
28th	Martin Fidgeon	Carsington Sailing Club	(30.0 DNC)	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	210	180
28th	Mike Robbins	Castle Cove Sailing Club	(30.0 DNC)	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	30.0 DNC	210	180