A quality fleet of 15 Europes contested the class Inland Championships at Rutland Sailing Club over the weekend of 9th/10th November as part of round four of the Holt RYA National Ranking Series for Olympic Classes. Olympian David Wilkins provided excellent race management in difficult conditions on both days.

Both wind strength and direction on Saturday were at times very fickle but this seemed to suit a number of non-Olympic Development Squad competitors including Laura Baldwin, Chris Gill, Liz McDonald and Ian Stow, who on occasions found themselves competing at the front of the fleet. However ODS member Debbie Winstanley was on particularly good form finishing day one with two firsts and a second, whilst Chris continued to show his potential by holding on to second place overall having scored two seconds and a fifth

Sunday dawned with persistent drizzle and a fresher breeze. However as the weather front moved through the wind abated and with it came sunshine and a changing wind direction. Debbie continued her good form on day two despite losing out in race 4 having followed the Finns to the inner loop windward mark, by achieving 5,1,1. Laura found the conditions to her liking scoring 1,3 and 4 and Chris a 2,5 and 7. Other ODS members Bryony Percy and Kirsty Bonar improved on their Saturday results but these were not sufficient to get them into the final top three places overall.

It was a welcome relief for the class that a full programme of races was achieved, since rounds one and three at Pwllheli and Weymouth had to be cancelled because of unsuitable weather conditions.

Results